Tony Lema

[Pete_Pittock]

The discussion of Tiger vs Jack and strenght of the competition they faced brought up Tony Lema's name.
For you limber-backs, Lema was 32 years old when he was killed in a small plane accident in 1966. He had just finished the PGA Championship and was flyiing to an exhibition. We will never know what he would have accompllished had he lived. He should be considered for the World Golf Hall of Fame, maybe they'll induct him on the fiftieth anniversary of his death. With a SF connection and realationship with Eddie Lowery maybe Ken Venturi could be influentiual.

His only major was The Open on the Old Course, beating Jack Micklaus by five shots. It was his first visit, but he countered by hiring Arnie's caddy Tip Anderson. Could he have bested Jack in other majors? From '63 to '66 he was oft in contention at majors, finishing in the top 10 more than half the time and was 2nd at Augusta in 1963.

Once he learned how to win (it took a few years)  he had twelve tour victories, including five in 1964. In playoffs he was 3 for 4, losing only to Arnie.

For more details his wiki entry is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Lema. He was the co-author of Golfers' Gold, an autobiography.
 

[Bill_McBride]

He pretty much defined cool, got the nickname "Champagne Tony" by buying the bubbly for the press corps.  We were close to the same age and both from Northern California, so I followed his career closely.   It was heartbreaking when he died at the peak of his success - or maybe just the beginning. 

[Tim_Cronin]

I wonder what Lema would have done just as I wonder what Payne Stewart would have accomplished had his plane not crashed in October of 1999. Three majors, holder of the U.S. Open title. Who knows?

[Matthew Rose]

Payne would be 56 now.... that just doesn't seem right. I'd bet he'd have at least one Senior Open, maybe two.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Tony w/Cosell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhQMZTBpMqE

[BCrosby]

It's rare that books by professional players are much good, but Lema's book is. An interesting read, interesting guy. No telling how big the dent he might have put in Nicklaus' majors record.

Bob

 

[Patrick_Mucci]

Tony Lema was about to become a client of ours when he was killed in a plane crash.

We were introduced to him by Fred Cochrane (sp?) his manager and a friend of my dad's.

Fred lived next to the 15th hole at WFW, and at a party, Tony entertained the guests by hitting irons off of the patio.  No tee, just right off the stone patio, but pure, like they were teed up.

He was a personable fellow.

In 1966, when playing with Weiskopf and two friends, in a Pro-Am, Tom wasn't very social.
One of the other golfers owned some big companies and was the CEO of another big company.
After I had a few words with Tom, I told him how Tony Lema made $ 50,000 by agreeing to play 18 holes with three (3) clients of a big contractor that he had met while playing in a Pro -Am.  In 1966 $ 50,000 was a lot of money.  Tom was complaining about playing in Pro-Ams and I told him that playing in Pro-Ams was an opportunity to meet valuable business connections that could be a source of significant non-tournament income, just like Tony Lema did.

Tony was naturally social but I could see that it was going to have to be an acquired skill with Tom.

Ed Lowery, a great name in golf, sponsored Tony

In addition to Lema, one has to wonder if Venturi, another great golfer from San Francisco, would have challenged Nicklaus had his career not ended a year after Lema's demise.

It's unfathomable to me, how a pilot can run out of gas.  That's why I'll never fly with amateurs.

[Pat Burke]

Tony Lema was about to become a client of ours when he was killed in a plane crash.

We were introduced to him by Fred Cochrane (sp?) his manager and a friend of my dad's.

Fred lived next to the 15th hole at WFW, and at a party, Tony entertained the guests by hitting irons off of the patio.  No tee, just right off the stone patio, but pure, like they were teed up.

He was a personable fellow.

In 1966, when playing with Weiskopf and two friends, in a Pro-Am, Tom wasn't very social.
One of the other golfers owned some big companies and was the CEO of another big co
After I had a few words with Tom, I told him how Tony Lema made $ 50,000 by agreeing to play 18 holes with three (3) clients of a big contractor that he had met while playing in a Pro -Am.  In 1966 $ 50,000 was a lot of money.  Tom was complaining about playing in Pro-Ams and I told him that playing in Pro-Ams was an opportunity to meet valuable business connections that could be a source of significant non-tournament income, just like Tony Lema did.

Tony was naturally social but I could see that it was going to have to be an acquired skill with Tom.

Ed Lowery, a great name in golf, sponsored Tony

In addition to Lema, one has to wonder if Venturi, another great golfer from San Francisco, would have challenged Nicklaus had his career not ended a year after Lema's demise.

It's unfathomable to me, how a pilot can run out of gas.  That's why I'll never fly with amateurs.

Not a surprise.  I got kicked off Geoff Shackelford's site for among other things, saying that Weiskopf was a dick.
Geoff doesn't like my language

[David_Tepper]

Peter P. -

Thanks for bringing up Tony Lema. I knew he was really good and he had won the British Open, but I did not know he had 12 PGA Tour wins as well, all by the age of 32. That is very impressive.

DT

[Bob_Huntley]

Pat,

You wrote:

"Not a surprise.  I got kicked off Geoff Shackelford's site for among other things, saying that Weiskopf was a dick.
 Geoff doesn't like my language ."

One only has to remember the tirade he directed at his amateur fellow competitor in the Senior Open, over the chap's marker. He was a boor.

Bob

[JLahrman]

One only has to remember the tirade he directed at his amateur fellow competitor in the Senior Open, over the chap's marker. He was a boor.

Bob

That was Jim Stahl from Cincinnati, who was the US Senior Amateur champion. He is too classy to have been treated like that (and also too classy to publicly respond to Weiskopf's comments).

[Bob_Huntley]

JL,

Thanks,  I couldn't remember his name. Weiskopf should have been grounded from entering the tournament for a couple of years. I concur with your comment, he was a dick.

Bob

[Joel_Stewart]

JL,

Thanks,  I couldn't remember his name. Weiskopf should have been grounded from entering the tournament for a couple of years. I concur with your comment, he was a dick.

Bob

Should have but wasn't.  The public outcry over his behavior is something he will never live down.  He blames it on the booze.

My favorite Weiskopf story is after he shot 63 in the opening round of the US Open at Baltusrol, his wife flew in to be with him.  Weisfopf was rumored to be staying with his girl friend and the s^%$ hit the fan.  Next day shot 81 and a missed cut.

Good to see a thread on Tony Lema.  I never met him but his instructor at Lake Chabot in Oakland was Lucius Bateman who taught me the game.  He has a golf course in the Bay Area named after him.

[Colin Macqueen]

Joel,

I agree it is nice to see a thread on "Champagne" Tony. He sticks in my mind as I have vivid memories, as a teenager,  of his winning The Open in 1964.
Particularly so as my Mum got caught up in his somewhat rags-to-riches story. With us living on the outskirts of working class Dundee, just across the water from St. Andrews, Mum kept rabbiting on about him as he forged his win. This most unusual response from Mama made a number of her offspring tease her about why he caught her fancy … cheeky little blighters that we were!
But, yes, in those early years of my golfing odyssey he would be the 4th person that entered my golfing firmament after Hogan, Palmer and Nicklaus.

I found the article below to be pretty informative and fun to read.

http://www.sabotagetimes.com/reportage/open-championship-legend-champagne-tony-lema-the-rabble-rousin-golfer-with-a-heart-of-gold/

Cheers Colin

[Tom Fagerli]

JL,

Thanks,  I couldn't remember his name. Weiskopf should have been grounded from entering the tournament for a couple of years. I concur with your comment, he was a dick.

Bob

Should have but wasn't.  The public outcry over his behavior is something he will never live down.  He blames it on the booze.





My favorite Weiskopf story is after he shot 63 in the opening round of the US Open at Baltusrol, his wife flew in to be with him.  Weisfopf was rumored to be staying with his girl friend and the s^%$ hit the fan.  Next day shot 81 and a missed cut.

Good to see a thread on Tony Lema.  I never met him but his instructor at Lake Chabot in Oakland was Lucius Bateman who taught me the game.  He has a golf course in the Bay Area named after him.

Sadly your favorite Weiskopf story is just that. He did not shot 81 and miss the cut. He shot 63-75-76-75--289. He may well be  dick and a philanderer (I for one will not pass judgment on that) but he did not shoot 81 and miss the cut.

[Jim_Kennedy]

JL,

Thanks,  I couldn't remember his name. Weiskopf should have been grounded from entering the tournament for a couple of years. I concur with your comment, he was a dick.

Bob

Should have but wasn't.  The public outcry over his behavior is something he will never live down.  He blames it on the booze.





My favorite Weiskopf story is after he shot 63 in the opening round of the US Open at Baltusrol, his wife flew in to be with him.  Weisfopf was rumored to be staying with his girl friend and the s^%$ hit the fan.  Next day shot 81 and a missed cut.

Good to see a thread on Tony Lema.  I never met him but his instructor at Lake Chabot in Oakland was Lucius Bateman who taught me the game.  He has a golf course in the Bay Area named after him.

Sadly your favorite Weiskopf story is just that. He did not shot 81 and miss the cut. He shot 63-75-76-75--289. He may well be  dick and a philanderer (I for one will not pass judgment on that) but he did not shoot 81 and miss the cut.

 
Wrong tournament, right year. She caught up to him on the 12th hole at Augusta where he proceeded to hit a 7 iron into the front hazard, then doinked 4 sand wedges into it. His 13 on the hole led to a back nine 47 and a total of 85 that day, followed up by a 79 in the next round. Tom’s best friend, Tom Culver, was there with Mrs. Weiskopf when it happened and he asked her, “Ya don’t think Tom’s using new balls, do you?” To which she replied, "He sure is, I have his old ones right here"