Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture Discussion Group => Topic started by: Adrian_Stiff on June 24, 2013, 03:01:34 PM
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Just a quick note to let you know that Frank Stranahan passed away yesterday. His son Lance told me it was all pretty quick and he died peacefully, he was still going to the gym three times a week up to a couple of weeks ago and he was still hitting it pretty good on the range. Frank was one of the great Amateurs perhaps his story is only second best to Bobby Jones, Frank came second in the US Masters and in our Open was runner up in 47 to Fred Daly and in 53 to Ben Hogan, he had quite a few other top 10s in Majors. He was an American that supported our Open throughout the 50's. As some of you may know we named our second course 'The Stranahan' which opened a couple of years back. Frank worked on weights and was an inspiration and friend to Gary Player, he would have been 91 in August.
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Just a quick note to let you know that Frank Stranahan passed away yesterday. His son Lance told me it was all pretty quick and he died peacefully, he was still going to the gym three times a week up to a couple of weeks ago and he was still hitting it pretty good on the range. Frank was one of the great Amateurs perhaps his story is only second best to Bobby Jones, Frank came second in the US Masters and in our Open was runner up in 47 to Fred Daly and in 53 to Ben Hogan, he had quite a few other top 10s in Majors. He was an American that supported our Open throughout the 50's. As some of you may know we named our second course 'The Stranahan' which opened a couple of years back. Frank worked on weights and was an inspiration and friend to Gary Player, he would have been 91 in August.
I learned a lot about Frank Stranahan while researching "From Fields to Fairways." Stranahan was the glamor boy at the 1950 U.S. Amateur at Minneapolis Golf Club: He was heir to a Toledo spark plug fortune, he had a fabulous physique from his dedication to body building, he was reigning British amateur champ, and he had Byron Nelson for a swing coach. Stranahan knocked off a relative unknown named Arnold Palmer in the first round, and was odds-on favorite to win after defending champ Charlie Coe was eliminated.
If somebody wanted to make a movie from the opposite point of view of "The Greatest Game Ever Played" -- i.e., from Goliath's side of the story -- the 1950 U.S. Am would make great source material. Stranahan breezed his way to the finals -- Byron Nelson left town before the semi-final match, apparently convinced Stranahan didn't need any more help from him -- but he couldn't win over the fans. "They certainly weren't very appreciative of my efforts out there today," he said after reaching the semis. "You'd think they'd at least have applauded a little when I won."
It was going to be worse in the finals. He was up against Sam Urzetta, the longest of long-shots, an unemployed former college basketball player who played golf to honor his older brother, who'd been the better player but was killed in World War II. The headline in the Minneapolis Star the morning of the final match said "Millionaire's son vs. janitor's son."
Urzetta had the crowd from the first tee, and finally won it on the 39th hole when Stranahan drove out of bounds. It was a wildly popular win, but sportswriter Charlie Johnson of the Minneapolis Tribune had the good grace to write that Stranahan was a total gentleman despite the crowd's animosity. "Yes, we'll tab this Stranahan boy as a victim of circumstances and conditions over which he had not control, but he is a real sportsman every inch of the way."
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Rick, thanks for sharing that.
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With family in Toledo, I have always been aware of the Stranahan legend. Last week, I even took some time on the way to my mother's memorial service to go by the old family estate to my golfing son, just to show him where they lived. Sorry to hear of his passing.
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Frank was light years ahead of his time and most sports, in terms of conditioning.
He was working out with weights regularly, before even the contact sports gave it any thought
Later he became a runner.
I remember playing The Breakers one afternoon when a rail thin man ran past me.
It was Frank.
I was shocked at his gaunt appearance because he was a very chiseled figure as a golfer.
He and my dad used to play on occasion.
One time he was staying with us and my dad went to pick up his suitcase, thinking it contained his clothes.
My dad almost threw out his back as the suitcase contained his weights.
I've got some nice photos of my dad and Frank when they played at my dad's club in NJ
He had movie star good looks
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I interviewed Frank for the WGA's centennial book, and rarely have I run across a more intriguing character. Proud of his accomplishments but not overly proud. A health nut, by the '90s he had taken to staying out of the sun for the most part. When he came to the WGA's centennial gala in Chicago, he brought his own jugs of water. None of that Lake Michigan variety for him.
The 1950 U.S. Am was similar to the 1946 Western Am at Northland, where he played Smiley Quick, an other-side-of-the-tracks type, before the title match. Quick picked up Stranahan's mark and threw it back at him at one point, hitting him in the leg. Frank took it in stride and won.
He didn't win the U.S. Am, but he might have been the most accomplished amateur on the world stage between Bob Jones and Jack Nicklaus. RIP.
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I interviewed Frank for the WGA's centennial book, and rarely have I run across a more intriguing character. Proud of his accomplishments but not overly proud. A health nut, by the '90s he had taken to staying out of the sun for the most part. When he came to the WGA's centennial gala in Chicago, he brought his own jugs of water. None of that Lake Michigan variety for him.
The 1950 U.S. Am was similar to the 1946 Western Am at Northland, where he played Smiley Quick, an other-side-of-the-tracks type, before the title match. Quick picked up Stranahan's mark and threw it back at him at one point, hitting him in the leg. Frank took it in stride and won.
He didn't win the U.S. Am, but he might have been the most accomplished amateur on the world stage between Bob Jones and Jack Nicklaus. RIP.
One more quick Stranahan story from that 1946 Western Am at Northland. Local star Glen Weld of Duluth was playing Stranahan in an early match; on the downhill par-5 11th hole, Weld reached the green in two shots after Stranahan's drive landed in the pond that bisects the fairway. Weld was expecting to win the hole until Stranahan took his drop behind the pond and holed out from 215 yards for an eagle 3. Weld missed his putt and lost the hole with a birdie.
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There are some great stories about Frank
Reportedly, the old 1950's MacGregor deep face driver, the "LFF" was named after Frank. You should be able to work the acronym.
Also, in one of the books on Augusta, the story is told how he was banned from Augusta for several years by Cliff Roberts...reportedly he had "spent time" with Cliff's secretary, and how Cliff had fancied her himself.
We has ahead of his time...
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Some interesting stories here.
http://157.166.226.103/augusta/stories/040698/gp/gpstranahan.html
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Obit in today's NYT:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/28/sports/frank-stranahan-top-amateur-golfer-and-ardent-fitness-advocate-dies-at-90.html?hpw (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/28/sports/frank-stranahan-top-amateur-golfer-and-ardent-fitness-advocate-dies-at-90.html?hpw)
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8)
(http://m2.toledoblade.com/image/2013/06/25/75x75_a1-1_cCM_z/stranahan-lifting-weights.jpg)
see more from toledo blade link http://m2.toledoblade.com/gallery/Frank-Richard-Stranahan-1922-2013
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Pat Mucci, maybe Mr. Stranahan mistook your home for a hotel:
Stranahan persisted, taking weight-lifting gear to tournaments because there were few fitness centers for workouts on the road.
He relished telling of his favorite gag: he would ask bellhops to carry his luggage to his hotel room, then watch them stumble under the weight of his unseen barbells.
(From the NYT obituary.)