[Phil Burr]

Every golfer know that Sam Snead and Mickey Wright are among the all-time greats.  Numbers freaks know they each won 82 tournaments on the PGA & LPGA tours, respectively.  Can you explain the circumstance that leads Sam to being credited with one more (non-senior) win than Mickey on their two tours?


Coming from an era in which the athleticism of golfers was certainly in question, Sam was the exception.  His ability to kick a ceiling well into his 60s is the stuff of legend.  However, how many know he played in the 1937 US Pro Tennis Championship (which was at the time considered a major on the tennis circuit)?

[David_Tepper]

"However, how many know he played in the 1937 US Pro Tennis Championship (which was at the time considered a major on the tennis circuit)?"

Are you sure about that?

[Jeff_Brauer]

Sam once had breakfast at the Western Open with a then 26 year old me, and I didn't even know it was him, even though he was my Dad's favorite golfer.  In my defense, he didn't have his straw hat on.  I started to get some inkling from the stories he was telling, and that southern accent, but wasn't sure until Joe Black (who I was meeting) came to the table exclaiming, "Sam, you old goat, what are you doing here?"


We got seated together because the breakfast room at the hotel was so crowded and neither had any objection when the host told us it was the only way we would get seated soon.

[David_Tepper]

Pete Bostwick did play in the U.S. Open golf tournament and the US National tennis championships at Forest Hills. I think his brother Jimmy may have as well.

https://www.tennisandrackets.com/news/peter-bostwick-still-a-legend-at-86

https://www.tennisandrackets.com/real-tennis/Quest%20-%20July12_%20-%20The%20Brothers%20Bostwick%20-%20pp.%2074-77.pdf

[SL_Solow]

Ellsworth Vines

[David_Tepper]

Yes!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellsworth_Vines

"Henry Ellsworth Vines Jr. (September 28, 1911 – March 17, 1994) was an American tennis champion of the 1930s, the World No. 1 player or the co-No. 1 for four years in 1932, 1935, 1936 and 1937, able to win Pro Slam titles on three different surfaces. He later became a professional golfer, and won three titles on the PGA Tour."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcY4pkX5GC8

[Tommy Williamsen]

"However, how many know he played in the 1937 US Pro Tennis Championship (which was at the time considered a major on the tennis circuit)?"

Are you sure about that?

It appears that he did.


https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Sam_Snead

[Ira Fishman]

The talent of supremely gifted athletes never ceases to amaze me. This is the 35th Anniversary of Bo Jackson being first by Tampa Bay even though he told them he would not play for them because they misled him and cost him his senior year of baseball eligibility at Auburn.


Ira

[David_Tepper]

Phil & Tommy -

I wonder just how good a tennis player Sam S. really was and if he ever played in another tennis tournament anywhere. Those games he won in each set could have been what are known as a "courtesy game."

On the other hand, Ellsworth Vines was the real deal.

DT

[Tommy Williamsen]

Phil & Tommy -

I wonder just how good a tennis player Sam S. really was and if he ever played in another tennis tournament anywhere. Those games he won in each set could have been what are known as a "courtesy game."

On the other hand, Ellsworth Vines was the real deal.

DT

I can't find much about his tennis skills except that he excelled in HS. I'll bet he had a good serve.

[Jeff_Brauer]

More to the point of the post, Sam said he had a 100 foot put at Turnberry once, playing with Don January.  January supposedly marked his ball in the wrong location, but noticed it before he left the green, so it was a one stroke penalty.  Snead said he had a 100 footer on the next hole, marked it on the lip, sunk it for three, and assessed himself a one stroke penalty. 


Joe Black chimed in that it was that incident that got rule no. 1 amended - If it is technically true and legal by the rules, but not in the spirit of the game, it's not legal.

[Kevin_Reilly]

I don't know if the first question in the OP has been answered, but I remember seeing it on this board in the past...he won an unusual LPGA event...one that was Sam vs women.

[SL_Solow]

David and Tommy,  remember that tennis was not "open" at the time in question.  The best players remained "amateurs" and managed to play major tournaments on several continents while subsisting on "expenses".  In the late 40's, the best players began to embark on barnstorming tours for money with only an occasional tournament.  Kramer and Gonzales were 2 who did this and it continued through Laver.  After Laver had spent a few years in this way, professional circuits began to develop and the powers that be decided they had better open up the game and allow pros at Wimbledon, Forest Hills . Roland Garros etc.  I would not be surprised if the tourney Snead played in was not comprised of too many great players, although Kozeluh was quite good, and Snead may have been a novelty invite. It is clear that Snead was an outstanding athlete but I can find no evidence that he ever played serious tennis.

[Phil Burr]

Kevin, yours was the answer I was looking for.  Sam Snead is indeed credited with an official LPGA tour win in something called the Royal Poinciana Invitational in '62 or '63.  It was just a 36 hole event played over a par three course, but in the LPGA's early struggles for some sort of legitimacy they counted this as an official event.  I can usually win a few beers in a 19th hole bet over whether a man has ever won an LPGA event.

[David_Tepper]

Shel -

Yes, professional tennis in the 1940's & 50's was mostly a small group of 4 to 8 pro players "barnstorming" around the country, mostly playing one-night events. There were very few bonafide tournaments played with a draw of 16 or even 8 players.

In 1963, the year Rod Laver turned pro, I saw a pro tournament held at Forest Hills that involved most of the competitive pros of that time. I followed the prospects of "open" tennis closely in the mid-1960's. I even wrote a term paper about that for a high school English class.

But, if you read the wiki entry for Ellsworth Vines, it does appear there was some form of pro tennis in the 1930's, which kept Vines involved from 1934 to 1940.

DT

 

[mike_beene]

I believe a golfer named Frank Conner and been a successful tennis player but perhaps someone knows more. I saw the WCT in Dallas as the open era kicked off. I love tennis to this day and have been to multiple Wimbledon’s and us Opens. My dad was not a fan: after the first set of Stan Smith -Arthur Ashe he said “all that for one to nothing?”

[David_Tepper]

Mike B. -

Yes, Frank Connor played in both the US tennis and golf Opens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Conner_(golfer)

DT

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