Tom Weiskopf RIP

[John Blain]

Legendary golfer and respected course architect Tom Weiskopf has passed away. TW was 79 and died of pancreatic cancer. Tom Watson posted Weiskopf's passing on Twitter.

[cary lichtenstein]

Very sad, I was a big fan

[Matthew Rose]

Would it be fair to say he made driveable par-fours fashionable?

[Ken Moum]

Would it be fair to say he made driveable par-fours fashionable?

That might very well be. It would be a decent legacy IMHO.


Although, for me at age 74.9, almost every course has at least one or two disguised as par threes.

[Steve Sayre]

https://golfweek.usatoday.com/2022/08/21/golf-obituary-tom-weiskopf-dead-at-79/

[Jeff Schley]

RIP to TW. He was a gentlemen and respect him for his honesty of himself. Very talented golfer. Also remember him IIRC being the voice on the 86 Masters with Nicklaus winning down the stretch. He is so linked to JN being from OSU and who could ever measure up to the Golden Bear?  Wonderful career that almost all would be happy and proud of.

[Jeff Churchill]

Fell in love with desert golf playing Troon North
RIP Tom

[Eric_Terhorst]

His course at Forest Dunes in Michigan is one of my favorites anywhere.  It has three of his wonderful short par 4s, design elements borrowed from Scotland in several of the greens, and a variety of interesting strategic challenges.  The course has a terrific routing, playing at some time toward all points of the compass, taking full advantage of the natural beauty of the sandy site.  I liked his course at Cabo del Sol too.


Thanks to Tom Weiskopf for his contributions to the game.

[Peter Pallotta]

While few of us can excel in even one discipline, he excelled in three: golf, golf broadcasting, and golf architecture -- all while battling privately demons only he knew about and publicly an addiction to alcohol that many could understand. His ball striking was a thing a beauty and grace, and his work during that 86 Masters holds its own against the best examples of extemporaneous commentary in sports broadcasting history.
Rest in Peace, Tom Weiskopf.

[Dan Boerger]

My older brother served in Vietnam with TW.


He (TW and my brother) sent me some first flight aluminum clubs when I was 12 years old.


Later, I met with TW at the DT open in Memphis (mid 80s). My brother had just passed away.


He bought me drinks the rest of the night.


RIP TW

[Tommy Williamsen]

TW had one of the most elegant swings in the history of the game. I loved just watching him hit a golf ball. His golf courses are fun and enjoyable. I know he didn't live up to his own high standards, which is a shame because he excelled. May you rest in God's embrace.

[David_Tepper]

Nice tribute from Lorne Rubenstein here:

https://scoregolf.com/opinion/lorne-rubenstein/tom-weiskopf-was-a-giant-of-the-game-even-if-he-sold-himself-short/

[Jim Sherma]

While reading TW's obituary in the NYTimes there is a quick quote about him praising the location of Torrey Pines. I was wondering if he left behind any in depth writings about GCA.


https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/21/sports/golf/tom-weiskopf-dead.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage&section=Obituaries

[Tom_Doak]

I posted a photo on Instagram last night with a small tribute to the original "Terrible Tom".


I met Tom Weiskopf when I was 21 through a mutual friend, and though I never spent a lot of time with him, he always made a bit of time for me.  He was very wary of golf writers because he thought many were looking to burn him [which was true of some], but he trusted me not to do that, and was always happy to give me his thoughts on whatever I was writing about.


He was not afraid to be controversial but always with the integrity of the game in mind -- very similar in that way to Pete Dye -- and that made a real impression on me.  As mentioned above, he was also one of the most eloquent proponents of the drivable par-4 [which Mr. Dye was not], and eventually I came around to agreeing with him there, too.


I wrote something here years ago about how TW was not especially fortunate at finding the best clients for his design work -- just as in his playing career, he often played second fiddle to Jack Nicklaus, working in many of the same markets for clients without such deep pockets.  And of course many of his projects were somewhat compromised by real estate, because his name appealed most to developers who wanted to sell house lots.  Along with Ben Crenshaw, he was the only Tour pro-turned-designer who shared credit equally with his design partner, and that was a good indication of how much he valued the work.


My favorite course by Weiskopf and Morrish was Forest Highlands -- the Instagram story explains why I might have some bias there -- but his own favorite was always Loch Lomond.

[David Cronan]

When I was living in Chicago in the 90s, my best friend and I were guests of the sponsor of a Senior Tour event somewhere in the suburbs (Aurora?). I can only recall two things from that day, and not because of an alcohol-induced fog.


1. Late in the afternoon, we were sitting in the stands behind the 18th green and decided that when the group putting on the 18th finished, we'd head on back to the city. Simon Hobday was a member of that particular threesome. When they finished, we thanked our host and told him we were going to head on out. He told us that his company (Ameritech?) was hosting a party at the hotel where most of the players were staying, and that we should stop by as it was on our way home. Our host had been kind enough to give us parking passes that were located in the parking lot of the clubhouse, so within a few minutes, we were in our car and heading the the hotel, which was maybe 10 minutes away. When we walked into the room (hotel bar) where the party was being held, the first thing we noticed was a ruddy looking guy sitting at the bar, with a full schooner of beer resting on his head, all while he was drinking a beer, without spilling a drop from either glass.


It was Simon Hobday. I'm still amazed that in the time it took us to thank our host, walk to our car and drive to the hotel, he finished up his round, signed his scorecard, switched shoes and beat us to the party. Stunning.


2. Earlier in the day, when we first arrived at the course, I dragged my buddy to the range to watch some of the players warm up. As we were walking down the range, it sounded like one of the players either shanked or thinned a shot. It was Tom Weiskopf. Curiosity got the best of me as I wanted to see how pros recover from a case of the shanks. After maybe a minute, he hit the most beautiful, towering 3 iron I'd ever seen. And it sounded identical to the shot he'd just hit. It sounded like "click". Long story a bit longer, I ended up watching him hit balls for about a 30 minutes and every, I mean EVERY shot looked perfect to my eye and the irons all had that "click" sound.


Both of these were truly impressive feats.

[David_Tepper]

The official film of TW winning the 1973 Open at Troon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCB5NjjrptQ
 

[Jason Topp]

The first time I played Troon North in the 80’s I loved it.  It was the first turf limited desert course I had played that felt like a golf course rather than an experience of bumping the ball from island to island to keep the ball in play.  Most desert courses built thereafter followed suit to the point that when I returned a few years ago Troon North seemed tight.  It seemed to me that Troon North was a game changer but do not recall reading anything confirming that impression.   

[Jason Hines]

#14 at my home club - Shadow Glen in Olathe, KS. and forgive me this is not the best photo of the hole.  Par 4 that plays 285 yards from the tips.  It's real name is "Wild Turkey", we have always called it "College Girlfriend" - so sweet, so vicious, all in the same day.  RIP - TW.

[Wayne_Kozun]

The official film of TW winning the 1973 Open at Troon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCB5NjjrptQ

Interesting hat that Johnny Miller was wearing!

[Greg Clark]

Sarazen acing the Postage Stamp at age 71 early in the video is worth the watch alone.  Thanks for posting David.