Amateur Golf's Bobby Riggs- I got beat

[Glenn Spencer]

I innocently signed up for tournament and found out that a girl was playing. My "friend" bet me that she would beat me. Well, she did, by 2 shots. She is a class act and a whale of a player. 71-71-72-72-286 on a short course, but still, she had a lot of woods in her hand. Amazing putter!!!Emma Jandel is her name and I think you will hear quite a bit from her in the future. She has won the Ohio Womens Amateur two years in a row. Here is the link www.miamivalleygolf.org

[Craig Van Egmond]

So Glenn, are you telling us that you are an old sexist guy well past his prime who got spanked by a superior athlete?    

Congrats to Emma and hopefully big things are in her future.

Nice avatar though, Charisma Carpenter!

[Glenn Spencer]

So Glenn, are you telling us that you are an old sexist guy well past his prime who got spanked by a superior athlete?    

Congrats to Emma and hopefully big things are in her future.

Nice avatar though, Charisma Carpenter!

Craig,

If I ever had a prime, I am past it. All but the sexist part is true. Emma will be at The Womens Amateur at Crooked Stick next week and I feel a deep run in match play coming up for her.

[Craig Van Egmond]

Its all good... there used to be this 75 year old guy at the tennis club who used to run my ass ragged on the court every week and I was 1/3 his age.

Actually Bobby Riggs was quite the athlete in his hey day, probably the best of his era until Jack Kramer came along. I also think he was more of showman than a sexist, but I could be wrong.  

[Dan Moore]

How many of us could make the cut at St. Andrew's this week?  They have it set up at 6,638 par 73.  

[Tom Huckaby]

How many of us could make the cut at St. Andrew's this week?  

That's a good question.  I have no doubt guys like Jamie Slonis and JES II definitely could do so.  Figure 150 or so to make the cut?  There's no doubt they could score that.  Hell I have a odd feeling that even I could, and I'm a struggling 4 handicap.

That being said, I have no doubt that the best lady players could kick my ass sideways at this great game.  But I'd take Jamie against Lorena Ochoa.

TH

[Patrick_Mucci]

Glenn,

Don't feel bad, a friend of mine got hustled at GOLF by Bobby Riggs.

He was at a restaurant, met Riggs, who after chatting asked if there was a golf course nearby that he could play.

My friend invited him to play as his guest the next day.

He said the Riggs had a odd assortment of whippy clubs, and didn't LOOK much like a golfer.  He made a substantial bet with him (my friend was about a 4 handicap) and got thoroughly waxed.

My friend's handicap was on the board at his club for all to see.
Riggs's handicap wasn't published anywhere that my friend was aware of.

He did say that he thoroughly enjoyed the day, that Riggs was a delight to play with, but, he realized early in the round that he had been had by a great hustler, he just didn't know at the start of the day that Riggs was a multi-sport talent and good card player to boot.

In my dad's generation, before there was any real money in Professional golf, hustling was an art form.

Guys used to winter in Florida, wear long sleeve shirts and hats and put calamine lotion on their skin to look pale, and then hustle the visiting snow birds at a number of resorts and course famous for this activity.

Snead wrote in his book about such activities.

I watched Snead play with and against my dad and his friends for years.

I'm firmly convinced that it was Snead who invented the portable or traveling ATM.

[Rich Goodale]

Good stuff, Pat

People often forget that Riggs (who was 26 years past his prime--US #1 in 1947) beat the best woman player in the world, Margaret (Smith) Court, 6-2, 6-1 a few months before he played Billie Jean.  There was a lot of hustle and a lot of talent to that man.

[Craig Van Egmond]

Poor Margaret, she was beaten before she ever got on the court, Riggs first thrashed her mentally and then thrashed her physically. He was quite the hustler thats for sure. He made more money betting on himself during the 40's than from playing tennis.

[Steve Kline]

At this point not only do I think I'd make the cut at the Women's Open but I'd have a chance at a top 10. Without wind TOC is not that difficult.

[Robert Mercer Deruntz]

From 1989 until his death in 1995, I played money games with Bobby Riggs.  He essentially sponsored a few pros by setting up high stakes games with a large cadre of pigeons.  The successful cut was 10% of the winnings.  I made 9K one day in 1994.  He had this group of Mexico City based German Jewish bankers, whose families had escaped Hitler, who were worth high hundreds of millions, who really did not mind dropping a few hundred thousand a year in their games.  Bobby was an allworld putter.  He once nailed this group for 20,000 first by taking 10 strokes putting from the back edge of LaCosta's 9th green to a pin all the way front with 5 balls.  As a double or nothing, he did the same putting across the 7th green.  Before he came down with cancer in 1988, he could play to a 4 hadndicap, but probably never listed under 8 or 9.  I first met him in 1989 when one of his pros had to bow out and he wanted 2 pros with the pigeon.  This was his favorite game--2 pros playing good golf so that the pigeon would be distracted by the aeriel game of the pros and not realize that Bobby was quietly playing efficient golf.  Also, the pigeon would be playing us for much smaller money, but be consumed with the idea of beating the pros. Bobby did get beaten a few times when some Vegas guys would bring Monte Carlo Money (Real name and he could really play--tour card a couple of times in late 70's and early 80's) as their ringer.  I never played in these games which happened in the mid-80's.

[Rich Goodale]

Great stuff, Robert!

I remember hooking up randomly with a guy at Coto de Caza in the early 80's.  He sprayed the ball everywhere, but was always first on the tee.  After I figured out that I was only 2 or 3 over and he was killing me, I asked him what his handicap was.  He produced a card saying 11, but confided that he was practising for a big money game in Vegas and could play close to scratch if and when he wanted to.

Rich

[Kalen Braley]

Wheres HamiltonBHearst when you need him to hold his chin high and look down on such deplorable behavoir and nonsense.  

Some great stories everyone...and yes Rich intentionally spraying the ball off every tee would certainly be a great way to make someone's else wallet lighter.

[Tim Leahy]

Mr. Riggs came to a club that I was working at as a bag guy in the early 80's in Sacramento and hustled the rich members for mucho dinero. He actually played one guy nine holes using only a shovel and beat him! After his rounds he would tip the bag guys with $20 bills and the waitresses with $100's.

[Mike Hendren]

How many of us could make the cut at St. Andrew's this week?  

That's a good question.  I have no doubt guys like Jamie Slonis and JES II definitely could do so.  Figure 150 or so to make the cut?  There's no doubt they could score that.  Hell I have a odd feeling that even I could, and I'm a struggling 4 handicap.

That being said, I have no doubt that the best lady players could kick my ass sideways at this great game.  But I'd take Jamie against Lorena Ochoa.

TH

I'm both amused and astonished at this sentiment which is echoed elsewhere on this thread.    I fall back on Mid-Amateur champ Danny Green winning a significant bet by posting 160 at his first Masters.  

I don't know Jamie or Sully but have little doubt that they are outstanding players.  Not sure what their credentials are but they obviously have game.  

Lorena Ochoa is as strong as new rope and nobody on this site would touch her over 72 holes.  

Making the cut?  Ladbrokes would give 10 to 1 on that one, I'm guessing.  

Let's give these wonderful women their due.  I doubt there's a player on this site who has experienced the type of pressure the ladies are under in their first Open at The Old Course.  

Mike

[Dan Moore]

Mike,

I don't know what if any sentiment you derived from my comment.  In the context of Riggs pasting by Billie King though I was implying most of us don't appreciate how good the women pros are.  I pulled out an old golf file with some cliuppings from the 1980's the other day.  One news clipping noted the ave. driving distance on tour was 265 yds.  I believe Ms. ochoa is a bit longer than that.  

[Tom Huckaby]

Mike - you are probably right - those gals are good. Put me down for temporary madness.

[Glenn Spencer]

I would bet Sullivan or Slonis. I think they would have chewed that course up on Thursday and thrown another low round in. Ochoa wanted someone to give her a hard time, but nobody was willing. The tournament that I played was my first of the year and I hit two out on the same par5. I would gladly take 10-1 to make the cut. On those guys?? Name the bet!!! Not a chance in hell they would shoot 151 or whatever the cut was with all those people around at St. Andrews.

[Rich Goodale]

Dan

Billie Jean didn't "paste" Bobby--she won in three sets.  And, you must remember, as good a hustler as he was, as a tennis player Bobby wasn't anywhere near one of the world top 1000 men players in 1973.

Watching the ladies occasionally strike the ball between endless and, hilarious and ultimately tragic pre-shot routines, I'd put my money on any +2/+3 man to finish top-10 in the Ladies British Open--and if you had enough of them in the field, Ochoa would probably not have won.  IMO.

[JESII]

My money would be on the women, but I'd hedge that by taking part in a syndicate to let Jamie prove me wrong...

[Rich Goodale]

Jim

I'd put my house on TE Paul.  The way the course was set up he wouldd eat it alive, and no matter who he played with, he'd talk them to death.  He's the Bobby Riggs for this game, and this day and age.

Rich

[Mark Chaplin]

Observation without comment. The St.Andrews Links Trophy is played off the stones, a top amateur field, entry cut around +2.5, played 3 x TOC 1 x Jubilee course.

Wales internationalist Llewellyn Matthews is the new St Andrews Links Trophy holder after he completed a final round 67 for a total of 273, 15 under par. 'I've always loved St Andrews. The courses were fantastic,' he said after breaking the tournament record by two shots