Tribute to Bob Rosburg ('49) on 50th anniversary of his PGA win

Bob Rosburg came from six shots back on the final day in 1959 to claim the Rodman Wanamaker Trophy. (Photo: The PGA of America)

The PGA of America offered "A Tribute to Rossie" By Roger Graves, PGA.com Contributor

This month marks the 50th anniversary of Bob Rosburg's PGA Championship triumph at Minneapolis Golf Club.

The table was set, and Bob Rosburg had the dates circled on his calendar. Fifty years after "Rossie" won the 1959 PGA Championship at Minneapolis Golf Club, he was planning to commemorate his Minnesota milestone at Hazeltine National Golf Club during the 91st PGA Championship at the age of 82.

However, the articulate Rosburg passed away on May 14 from injuries sustained in a fall two days prior outside a restaurant in Indio, Calif. But Rossie's victory half a century ago, in the first stroke-play PGA Championship conducted in Minnesota, will be remembered, celebrated and commemorated at Hazeltine National when the world of golf converges this week.

Rosburg, a native of San Francisco who resided in La Quinta, Calif., in recent years, chuckled earlier this year when recounting his 1959 PGA Championship triumph. He certainly earned his major title with closing rounds of 68 and 66 to finish a single swing superior to Jerry Barber and Doug Sanders. But when reviewing his '59 victory during a taped interview, Rossie acknowledged that he was "very fortunate" to win the 1959 PGA Championship after coming from six shots back on the final day.

"I've always said timing is everything in golf, and I was on the good side of timing at the PGA Championship in 1959 after being on the other side of timing at the U.S. Open earlier that year (at Winged Foot Golf Club)," recalled Rosburg, who didn't hit a single practice shot all week due to the scorching heat. "Looking back, I probably should have won the Open and not the PGA (Championship). I had a good final day at the PGA (his 66 was the low round), but Jerry Barber bogeyed the last two holes and kind of gave it to me. I had finished a little earlier, and Jerry looked like he was going to win it. I was surprised when he bogeyed the final two holes."

Rosburg used a similar, late-charging strategy to nearly win the 1959 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y. In those days, the final 36 holes of the U.S Open were played on Saturday, but a rainstorm pushed the fourth round to Sunday. On another blustery day, Rosburg's 71 matched the low round of the day by host PGA Professional Claude Harmon and longhitting Mike Souchak, but third-round leader Billy Casper posted a final-round 74 to edge Rosburg by one shot at 282. Ten years later, Rosburg missed a three-footer on the 72nd hole and finished in a three-way tie for second at the 1969 U.S. Open, one stroke behind Orville Moody.

Casper remembers Rossie as a superb putter and a supreme competitor. He also recalls Rosburg's sense of humor and sense of golf history, which served Rossie well during a 30-year career as a roving on-course reporter during ABC-TV golf telecasts.

"Rossie and I were both considered pretty good putters and we were both from California, so we had some things in common," notes the 78-year-old Casper. "During those years, the greens on most courses we played were scraggly and slow, so we were always figuring out a way to punch the ball with our putters. After Bob finished second at Winged Foot, I was happy to see him win a few weeks later in Minnesota at the PGA Championship (where Casper tied for 17th)."

At Winged Foot, Casper made headlines with the unique strategy of laying up short of the deep bunkers on the par-3, 216-yard third hole each day. Rosburg never let him forget the ploy.

"Bob was mad at me. He says, 'You beat me by one shot and laid up on the third hole every day.' Every time he saw me, he mentioned it," says Casper. "It was a 2-iron or 4-wood to the green, and I hit a 5-iron or a 6-iron short of the green and pitched up every day. Fortunately, I pitched close enough to hole four putts and make par every day.

"Rossie thought that was crazy, but he mentioned it on television several times years later when he would be part of the U.S. Open telecast for ABC. He never forgot that."

At the age of 12, Rossie earned local acclaim when he defeated retired baseball Hall of Famer Ty Cobb in a club championship match at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. After losing to the 12-year-old prodigy, Cobb was seldom seen playing at Olympic. The son of a doctor, Rosburg went to Stanford and earned a degree in humanities after leading the Cardinal to the 1946 NCAA Golf Championship.

The complete article can be found here at the PGA.com website. A 5-part video interview with Bob Rosburg in 2008 was completed by the Stanford men's golf program and can be found here: http://stanfordmensgolf.com/stanford_greats/bobrosburg.htm .

The first part of this video interview is included below in which Rosburg talks about trouncing Ty Cobb at age 12 & recalls his Stanford teammates & winning the 1946 NCAA national championship:

Joseph Bramlett finally able to compete again

Senior Joseph Bramlett is on the mend and finally able to compete again. A major step back to the 2nd team All-American caliber play Joseph had in 2007-08 was his recent qualifying once again for the US Amateur to be played at Southern Hills Aug 23-30. Joseph finished 2nd in sectional qualifying to teammate Jordan Cox with a 138 total at the Peninsula Golf and Country Club in San Mateo, CA.

In an article written in the San Jose Mercury newspaper, Joseph talked about what it's like to compete again after his injury battles.

"I'm excited to get back to competition," said Bramlett, a long hitter who tore ligaments in his right wrist. "When bad stuff happens to you, you tend to grow. I appreciate the game so much more. When I make double [bogey], it's not the end of the world." "It's just fun getting out and competing again," Bramlett said. To read the article click here.

GolfWeek writes about Joseph Bramlett and his injury problems

4/15/09
GolfWeek Online Magazine
Ron Balicki



Stanford’s Joseph Bramlett could be the poster boy for an old saying: if it weren’t for bad luck, the Cardinal junior would have no luck at all.

Bramlett entered Stanford after a highly touted junior career, especially after he became the youngest player to qualify for the U.S. Amateur at age 14 in 2002.

He didn’t disappoint as a freshman, earning second-team All-American honors after posting seven top-10 finishes, including a victory in Puerto Rico, and a 71.5 stroke average in 13 events.

He ended his inaugural college season with a tie for 39th at the NCAA Championship while helping Stanford capture the team title. After an opening 78, his next three rounds (68-70-69) counted in the team score.

In the fall of his sophomore season, Bramlett had three top 25s in five starts. But in January 2008, while working out in the school’s weight room, he slipped and fell, injuring his right wrist. He missed the entire spring and didn’t play again until July.

So when the current season got under way in the fall, Bramlett was filled with anticipation and high expectations. More -- to read the complete article click here.

Notah Begay is featured in Sports Illustrated Article

Feb 2009 issue of Sports Illustrated features this interview with former
Stanford All-American and PGA tour member Notah Begay III ('95).


The soccer ball seemed more like a lottery ball, bouncing lightly in the air, from knee to foot, from foot to knee. A 10-year old
Navajo girl kept the juggle drill alive while PGA Tour pro Notah Begay watched her team practice on a soccer field outside Albuquerque last fall. “Her dad is an alcoholic; she lives in poverty,” said Begay, a fullblooded Native American, who described the girl’s skills in a recent telephone interview. “Two years ago she couldn’t juggle once. Now she can do it 30 times without the ball ever touching the ground. This is her outlet, her escape.” The girl is part of a four-year-old soccer program that
Begay started and helps fund for the children of the Pueblo of San Felipe in New Mexico, where median household income on the reservation is $29,800 and 38% of the population lives below the poverty line. And that was before the recession.

“I think about disparity all the time, making the type of money that professional athletes make, and yet probably 95 percent of my family lives at or below poverty,” Begay says. “It’s worse now for everyone.” Begay grew up on the Isleta reservation, a dozen miles south of Albuquerque, in a house with a futon as the only piece of furniture; and yet he got out—one
leap at a time. As a kid he jumped a chain-link fence to get to a municipal golf course, where he cleaned bathrooms in exchange for playing privileges. By 2001, at only 28, Begay had won $3 million on the Tour. Back trouble has bedeviled him in recent years, but with four victories and $5 million in career earnings as he enters his 13th PGA season, he gets it: He’s one of the lucky ones — especially now.

“There is guilt because I can have what I want when I want,” he says. “I haven’t seen a credit-card bill or mortgage statement in God knows how long because I have people who take care of that. But I know life is paycheck to paycheck in Indian country. The economy hits the poorest first, and hits them the hardest. It makes you think.”
L ife on the Tour can have an almost Stepford-like sameness, but Begay remains wonderfully different, a man grounded in his unique perspective.

Before Obama made personal accountability more hip, Begay understood the math of circumstance. “I’ve been put in a category because I’m from a certain place,” says Begay, who can recite by heart the suicide rate (3.3 times the national average) and high school dropout rate (twice the national average) on reservations. “And 80 percent of Native American
kids who do make it to college will drop out by the second year. From an economic standpoint, that’s not a very good use of your resources.” Begay has a plan, though. Through the consulting arm of his nonprofit Notah Begay III Foundation, he is pushing his own economic stimulus package to increase revenue streams in Indian reservations with
new infrastructure, including the development of golf courses next to existing casinos.

“We have to have more than hope,” Begay says. “For years, that’s all we had.” He returns to the New Mexico reservations a dozen times a year to watch over his youth soccer and golf programs and to consult with local
businesses. Begay served a seven-day sentence for DWI in 2000, and he admits it took him a while to “trade my partying days for community service. I realize I can’t change everything for everybody. But whether you’re rich or poor, you have 24 hours in a day. That’s your resource. As an athlete, you ask yourself, What do you do with it?” Be part of a revolution.

Hall of Famer Charlie Seaver shares thoughts about Stanford golf

Editor's Note Oct 2008 - Recently the Stanford men's golf team received a copy of a 1990 letter written by Charlie Seaver, charter member of the Stanford Hall of Fame, in which he responded to questions about his Stanford golf memories in addition to his other experiences playing golf. This letter was written to Gordon Ratliff who has done extensive research into the history of Stanford golf editing a book entitled Stanford Golf Clippings published in 1996.

The transcribed contents of the letter which include references to Lawson Little, Hogan, Hagen, Watson among others are included below. A scanned in version of the letter can be found at the following website: http://www.stanfordmensgolf.org/SeaverLetter.htm

Saturday, 8/19/90

Dear Gordon (Ratliff)

Sometime back you sent me a letter and enclosed information about golf at Stanford that you plan to include in your second book. You also requested that I provide pertinent data about earlier people, events, etc, of the 1929-1930 era that I can recall regarding Stanford.



1) I started playing golf with my father & teacher when I was 9 years old. He was a fine golfer and student of golf having won the Southern Calif. Amateur in 1920 and the Trans Mississippi Championship in K. C., Mo in 1908 when that Tournament was considered #2 in the U.S. Also, because my Dad was such a great golfer I enjoyed many opportunities to play with leading professionals including Hogen, Diegel, Farrell, Sarazen, MacDonald Smith, Bobby Jones & others. All this added up to be a valuable learning experience.




2) Lawson Little & I were the Freshman team leaders in 1930; we had a very strong team. Lawson beat me on the 37th hole for the 1st University Championship & I won the 2nd on the 38th. Great Competition. Eddie Twiggs had come down from the Olympic Club to coach the team - a very fine gentleman & an impeccable stylish dresser. He was an amateur member of Lakeside & a good but not great golfer.

3) The Stanford golf course was laid out & built by William P. Bell (Willie). He was a good friend & had built a number of golf courses in Southern Calif. where we both lived. Prior to attending Stanford I had played in 2 exhibition matches at fee golf courses he constructed at Sunset Fields - S. E of LA. – once with Hagen & Johnny Farrell & then with Hagen & Diegel. Also the brothers Olin & Mortee Dutra played as my guests in a quiet exhibition match shortly after the Stanford Course opened & then we went to the stadium for the Stanford - Dartmouth football classic. Ernie Cadell of Stanford was the star of the game & later became a Pro football player of fame & great ability.

4) In the thirties and forties when possible I used to play in the Alumni golf Matches. It was great experience - played with Sandy Tatum , Warren Berl, Chares (Bud) Finger. Later for years Stanford’s Golf Coach. Also Jim Rheim, Kent Winton, Chuck Van Linge & Grant Spaeth.


On one memorable occasion when playing Tom Watson we were in the middle of the fairway on #1 past the left bunker & at least 20 yards in front of our respective playing partners. My ball was about two yards ahead of Tom's. So while we waited for the others to hit their second shots I looked at Tom & said, "You had better check your ball. I think its dead”. He looked closely at his ball for an instant & then looked back at me & that broad boyish grin came over his face. We both laughed, but not a word was said. After that I did not think my ball was within 15 yards of his on any tee shot for the rest of the round.

5) I did not know Bennett & knew Van Gorder only slightly. I know nothing about Sylvia Potter Cain. I did not play with either Douglas or Joseph Grant but remember Douglas who was a great good friend of my father's. Douglas however was here at Cypress Point to congratulate me when with Mike Fetchik we were leading the Crosby the first day with a best ball of 58; - later he won in 1964.

6) I knew Almon Roth, the Stanford Comptroller to be a serious but pleasant person. He always looked & dressed well and looked every inch a banker.

7) There is a picture somewhere in the Stanford golf files - circa 1929-1930; - showing 6 or 8 Stanford University golfers with highest handicap 2. Also I played a lot of golf with Dink Templeton the famous track coach & with the even more famous Ty Cobb at Stanford.

Hope this helps - all the best Charles Seaver.

Interview with Stanford Hall of Famer Steve Smith ('60)

Editor's Note - In a continuing effort to accurately compile the remarkable history of Stanford's men's golf team, we feel fortunate to get a first hand report on a Stanford Hall of Fame golfer, namely Steve Smith who graduated in 1960. Mr. Smith was kind enough to respond to our request to learn about his background that took him to the Farm from Green Bay, Wisconsin, to first team All-American and near NCAA champion and then on to a Wall Street career and his current role as Director of the Long Island Golf Association.

Steve responded to a series of questions we sent him by telling his own story below that includes his upset victory over Jack Nicklaus in the 1960 US Amateur only a week after Nicklaus was runner-up in the US Open at Cherry Hills.


"I have been Executive Director of the Long Island Golf Association since 2004 after an almost 30-year career on Wall Street as an institutional salesman for various firms. I spent my last 18 years with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc.

As Executive Director of the LIGA, I am responsible for a golf event schedule of about 16 events a year including our Open Championship, several low handicap amateur tournaments and the usual array of other tournaments serving other demographic groups. I am also the Executive Director of the Long Island Caddie Scholarship Fund, which is a 501c3 charitable organization.

I still play golf, my handicap is 5.6 up from 2.6 at one point last year, but I don’t play a lot of competition anymore. I belong to The Rockaway Hunting Club and National Golf Links of America, both Long Island clubs.

I had a good junior record winning some local events in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where I grew up. I was sectional low qualifier for two USGA Junior Championships and competed in 1955 at Taconic GC in Williamstown, MA and in 1956 at Purdue University GC in Lafayette, IN. I did not go far in either event.

I entered Stanford in the fall of 1956. At Stanford I played on the freshman team and was on the varsity for three of the next four years, but I was usually fighting for the fifth or sixth spot. Stanford had a good team while I was there, although we did not do all that well in the NCAAs.

The better players included Ron Lucetti, Alf Bertelson, Bill Seanor, Kent Winton, Pete Choate, Wheeler Farish and Jim. By the way, Bill Seanor had a fantastic junior record in California and, I believe, either won or was runner-up in the USGA Junior before he came to Stanford.

I stayed out of school for a portion of my junior year and red shirted to keep my eligibility for a fifth year. In 1960, what would have been my senior year, I was playing in matches for Stanford, but usually as the 5th or 6th man. Coach Bud Finger decided to have a 72-hole play-off to see who would be the fifth man to travel to Colorado Springs to play in the NCAA. Since he was having a play-off anyway, he threw everybody in, including some guys who had no chance. It came down to the last four holes between Phil Underwood and me. I beat Phil and was the fifth man to go to Colorado Springs.

On the way we stopped in Denver and watched the US Open. I believe we were there for the first or second day. Some of us watched Palmer, Nicklaus, Tommy Bolt, hoping for a tantrum, and Ben Hogan, competing in one of his last Open Championships.

My game was pretty honed after that 72-hole play-off and I won my first two matches in each shooting around par (the NCAA individual championship was a match play competition with a 64-player draw). My toughest match was in the second round. I can’t remember my opponent’s name, but I do remember making a lot of crucial putts to win the match.

In round three, I had the privilege of playing against Jack Nicklaus. By the way, he finished second at Cherry Hills the week before and was the reigning US Amateur Champion.

To make a long story short, I had good luck, birdieing four holes on the front nine including a chip-in on #2, a shot from under a tree to 12” on #5, and birdie putts of 30’ and 40’ on #6 and #8, respectively.

Despite that I was only one up teeing-off on nine. With the fairway sloping sharply from left to right, the best tee shot was one that landed in the left rough, the only risk being a small bush about eight feet in diameter. Jack nailed the bush for an unplayable lie. As a result I turned three up.

The turning point in the match was on #13 where I hit a seven iron short and Jack had a flip wedge up to the smallish back section of the green where the pin was set. He left it short in the bunker, and recovered to 8 feet. My chip went 17 feet past the hole. I made and he missed! I finished the match on the 15th hole. I can still remember seeing both Jack and his dad eyeing me from across the green, hands on their hips, trying to figure out how he lost to this nobody.

I won my next three matches to get to the finals ( the semis and finals were each played over 36 holes). My opponent was Dick Crawford, the defending national champion. By the way, Dick also had to play in a play-off to get to Colorado Springs, despite being the defending champion. Dave Williams (Houston’s golf coach) was a tough guy! In the finals I shot around par in the morning 18 holes and was 6-up.

My head was elsewhere in the final 18 holes and I lost 2-up on the 18th hole. Great story has a sad ending! I obviously had him and let it fritter away. The turning point was the 14th hole. I don’t know how the match stood, but I was still up. He putted first. His caddie was frozen holding the pin and Crawford screamed at him to pull the pin out. Just as the kid pulled the pin out Crawford’s ball hit the back of the hole, bounced into the air, and fell back in the hole. I can still feel the pain from that one. On 17 we had fairly equal 6 foot putts for birdie, measured, and he putted first. He made the putt and I missed to go 1-down. End of story.

As a result of this showing in the NCAA, I made first team All-American in 1961. In 1961, I had another good run in the NCAA at Purdue University. I beat some good players and got to the 36-hole semi-finals. Among my victims were Jack Rule and Jim Wright, both big names at the time, with the latter going on to bigger things. I played Mike Podolski, a classmate of Jack Nicklaus at Ohio State, in the semis. Jack, along with a few others, witnessed our 36th hole.

We had equi-distant birdie putts, but mine was trickier coming from above the hole. I three-putted to lose. Bud Finger’s son was sadder than me. Perhaps I was lucky. Nicklaus beat Podolski 10-8 in the finals. I suspect he would have done the same to me, given the added incentive.

In retrospect I played my best golf when I was in my teens and early twenties. I won the Wisconsin Amateur Championship the same year I beat Jack, 1960. Later I qualified for three US Amateurs, 1975, 1978 and 1981. I wish I had tried to qualify for the US Amateur when I was at Stanford, but it usually conflicted with something.

Right after Stanford I went into the Air Force, and then to business school. I did finish fourth in the All-Air Force tournament in 1962 and 11th in the Inter-Service. Orville Moody won the Inter-Service that year. It was at Westover Air Force Base in Springfield, MA.

I also played in three British Amateurs, two at St. Andrews and one at Troon. The second time at St. Andrews, I got to the round of 64, losing on the first extra hole to a Scotsman. My golf career in the New York area has been undistinguished. I won some member-guests and came close in a few other things, but I can’t claim any major championships. As a senior player I have struggled, and I never have qualified for a USGA Senior Amateur, a sad omission from my resume.

Well, perhaps this will help flesh out my story. I would be pleased to answer more questions or field a phone call. Please tell Conrad that I intend to make a donation in memory of my fond friend, Kent Winton, who died of cancer just this April. I will be in touch with Conrad. Kent thought he was doing a fabulous job and I think the results are self-evident.

Perhaps we will have the chance to meet sometime or talk on the phone. Thanks for your persistence."

Regards,
Steve Smith
Stanford Class of 1960

Jordan Cox Interview about '08 US Open by Brian Murphy

Here's an excellent interview with Jordan Cox after his experience of playing in the US Open at Torrey Pines. As Jordan says it was a "surreal" experience as he talks about the qualifying rounds, the highlight of playing practice rounds with Tiger Woods and what it was like playing in the tournament.