Although this story concerns the Golf Heritage Society, I think there are many members of the SoHG who can relate to the serendipity of circumstance. This kind of thing happens quite often whenever SoHG members get together, too. – jim
By Jim Davis
It could only happen at a meeting of Golf Heritage Society members.
It was to have been a typical meeting of the GHS board, one of a more casual nature to wrap up the year and toast the new one. One exchange during the hour-long call in late December typifies why the GHS is such an extraordinary group.
As often happens, GHS members, anywhere, who gather for more than 10 minutes at a time begin to share a few reminiscences or stories. Taba Dale, an author and artist from Arizona, shared a story of Jack Fleck and wondered how many on the call even remembered who he was or was noted for.
Ben Hogan, right, fans the hot putter of Jack Fleck who just tipped the golf legend to win the 1955 U.S. Open. Fleck used a set of Ben Hogan golf clubs and putted lights out.
It took Region 1 Director George Petro only a moment to reach to his right – barely leaving his chair! – to come up with the 1955 U.S. Open gold medal that Fleck received for winning that championship, beating Ben Hogan, by the way, who was going for his fifth U.S. Open title. (Fleck, then a club pro from Bettendorf, Iowa, tied Hogan after four rounds at the Olympic Club in San Francisco and defeated the heavily favored Hogan in an 18-hole play off.)
Jack Fleck’s 1955 U.S. Open Championship medal and the ball he used to win the tournament.
Petro also produced the ball Fleck used, holding int proudly for the camera before dropping it on the floor. At least he did not drop the medal! Petro acquired the items from a Kevin McGrath Sporting Antiquities auction in 1993. They had come directly from Fleck himself.
“Supposedly,” said Petro, after recovering the runaway golf collectible, “Jack parted with them when his golf course had earlier suffered heavy rains making it unplayed, devastating his income.”
Not to be outdone, or at least to add fuel to the fire, Bill Reed shared a personal story of Fleck.
A past GSS president and current director-at-large, Reed casually announced to the group that he had participated in a 2007 hickory golf tournament with Fleck who was then living in retirement at Ft. Smith, Ark. The event was the Arkansas Hickory Championship at the Hardscrabble CC in Ft. Smith. The host professional at that time was Jeremy Moe, a five-time winner of the U.S. Hickory Open, who is now based in Boca Raton, Fla. The tournament was sponsored by Breck Speed, who was then the CEO of Mountain Valley Water Co. of Hot Springs, Ark.
Reed, who is executive director of the Hickory Golf Association, provided many of the hickory play sets for the event.
Reed was paired with Fleck for the practice round and scheduled to be in the first foursome with him for the first tournament round the following day.
At the 2007 Arkansas Hickory Championship. From left: Chuck Howington, Breck Speed, Jack Fleck, John Berggren, and Bill Reed.
“Fleck was really a shy and introverted person unless he really knew those around him,” Reed recalls. “He leaned very right politically and didn’t spend too much time with those that he felt were more liberal. At the cocktail reception the evening of the practice round he savored his bourbon on the rocks and tried to avoid the spotlight, although he was aware of his guest and fame status. After quizzing me over a whiskey or more, Fleck determined that I was a fiscal conservative and leaned politically the same direction as he did. After a few more “doubles” he gave me a heads up that he would not be playing the next two days. He said he just couldn’t get the hang of the hickory clubs and as a past National Open Champion he was not going to dishonor himself or the game by shooting an embarrassing score.”
Fleck announced the next morning that he had a severe case of intestinal discomfort and would not play. Reed kept the secret and said he was honored that Fleck felt comfortable enough with him to share the confidence.
These are the kinds of stories and golf treasures that surface whenever two or more GHS members get together and start swapping tales. No wonder it’s the kind of organization that appeals to so many who honor the history of the game.
Golf Digest magazine cover from 1955 with the U.S. Open champ on the cover.