Part II is now posted with Mr. Tatum. One of the last great lions of the game, he is connected to it in a way that my generation (I'm forty-five) can only read about from the likes of Darwin, etc.
Think about what this man has seen and done: was at the 1936 Olympics with Hitler and Jesse Owens, helped lead Stanford to back-to-back victories in the 1941 and 1942 NCAA golf tournament and won the individual title in 1942, attended Oxford as a Rhodes scholar and was the first American to play on its golf team, joined the Navy, played in several President's Putter, worked with Jack Neville at Pebble Beach (bet you didn't know that!) in preparation for the 1972 U.S. Open, was president of the USGA, started the successful First Tee program at Harding Park, and has worked on several golf projects including Spanish Bay with his good friend Tom Watson and the Preserve. No wonder Pine Valley Golf Club decided to give him an honorary membership as few people have done more to help the game than this man.
Mr. Tatum is currently 88 and still plays weekly, remains a practicing attorney, has been married to the same woman (Barbara) for over fifty years
, and has raised six children and eleven grandchildren (no surprise, he considers this his greatest accomplishment). And to top it off, he has played CPC over 1,000 times.
Given how relentlessly busy he is, it may not come as a surprise to learn that he has not a clue who - or what - Sponge Bob is (remember: you first heard this breaking news flash here!
).
We owe a debt of gratitude to Joel Stewart for taking the time and making these two Feature Interviews happen. He met with Mr. Tatum on several occasions and taped their conversations, which were then transcribed and signed off by Tatum. We are so fortunate to have Tatum's unique perspective shared with us here and I kick myself for never having done one with Mr. Easterly. I hope to have the opportunity to interview Bill Campbell this winter. Both Joel and Mr. Tatum were very gracious with their time. Indeed, when I flew out to
San Francisco at the start of the month, Joel did the honorable thing and lost
to me at Kidd's TPC - Stonebrea, though I congratulate him for extending that match all the way to the sixteenth hole before he disintegrated in the face of my eagle putt.
Next up in two weeks: a Feature Interview on the new Pete Dye Book followed shortly thereafter by one with Mark Rowlinson and Dan Wexler on the new World Atlas of Golf. In the meanwhile, savor this one because it reflects a life well lived and the game has been unbelievably fortunate to count Sandy Tatum as a dear friend for over seven decades.
Cheers,