The Jeremy Ranch Golf Club, celebrating its 10th year as a host tournament for the Senior PGA Tour, has produced many memorable moments over the years.
Everyone from Slammin' Sam Snead to Arnold Palmer to Gary Player to Greg Norman to Lee Trevino has played here.It started out as the Shootout at the Jeremy Ranch, one of a handful of Senior Tour events in 1982, moved into a highly successful best ball event featuring PGA Tour pros paired with seniors. It became the Showdown Classic and went back to its present 54-hole seniors-only format in 1987.
As one of the only media types to cover all 10 years, I have my own "special" memories of the tournament.
1982 - That was the year everybody wanted to talk to Arnie. The only problem was, Arnie shot an opening-round 79 on the very course that he had helped design. So it was with much trepidation that I followed Mr. Palmer out to the parking lot for some comments.
But after putting his clubs in the trunk and changing his shoes, he sat back on his car and graciously answered every question, even calling me by my first name (Well, I did have a name tag on). How many other golfers would have taken the time to talk after a poor round like that and be nice about it at the same time? 1983 - Call this one "the crowd and the cloud." After Billy Casper and Jim Nelford blew a big lead on the back nine, the unlikely duo of Bob Goalby and Mike Reid took a one-shot lead into the final hole. As they walked up the final hole, they saw the biggest crowd ever assembled at Jeremy Ranch overlooking the 18th green and fairway. And just above them was the biggest, blackest cloud I've ever seen.
Casper/Nelford had one last chance when Casper's blast from the sand stopped inches short of forcing a playoff. It was a good thing too, because minutes later it started pouring, drenching thousands of fans heading to their cars.1984 - Wandering out to the 18th green one day to watch some groups finish, I saw a golfer's second shot on Jeremy's toughest hole bounce onto the green. The ball rolled and rolled, right into the cup for an eagle-2. Wow, I thought. I've never seen a shot holed out from so far away, maybe a couple of hundred yards away. Who was that golfer?
Turned out to be Bob Rosburg's partner, Curtis Strange, who would become one of the top golfers in the world a just few years later.1987 - There was that tantrum out on No. 15 in the final round when not once, but twice Miller Barber couldn't get out of the fairway trap cleanly and flung his club into sand. Then after recovering and hanging on to win by one, the Mr. Bartles look-alike stopped in the press tent before his interview and called home to Texas to talk to his wife and young son about his victory while everybody in the press tent listened.1988 - This was the poorest field the Showdown ever produced, so it seemed appropriate that an unknown named Smith, Ben Smith, led right from the opening gun. But he bogeyed five of the last 10 holes on Sunday to lose his large lead. The one I remember most was a 14-incher he missed at No. 14. After blowing that short putt, Smith reeled backward like he'd been shot. Although he still led at that point, he never recovered and eventually lost by two.1989 - This was the year Orville Moody and I became close, personal friends. I was doing a story on the extra long putters and since Moody was the most successful with the long stick, I needed to talk to him. After talking to several other pros, I waited in the locker room for Moody for over a half hour while he fussed around, joking with fellow pros etc. We finally started the interview, but he said he had to go pick up someone in Park City. I said something cheeky like "How come you can hang around here for a half hour doing nothing and can't give me a couple of minutes now?'
Not a great idea. Moody gave me a piece of his mind, turned and stalked off. End of interview.1990 - This is when I found out the Mex was not-so-merry. Trevino, who always enjoyed a very positive public image, complained all week, like Jeremy Ranch was the last place on earth he wanted to be. Then one day in the press tent he mercilessly railed on a local reporter for a mistake, embarrassing him in front of his peers. Finally, after losing by one shot on the final day, Trevino walked straight to his car without stopping to talk to anyone.
One thing I learned - Lee Trevino is certainly no Arnold Palmer.
STRAY SHOTS - The Women's State Amateur will be played Wednesday through Friday at Eagle Mountain in Brigham City . . . The men's Mid-Amateur championship will be contested Friday through Sunday at Hobble Creek in Springville . . . On Saturday, the West Bountiful Best Ball will be played, while on Sunday, the annual Forest Dale Amateur will be played . . . Utah's two club pros at the PGA both missed the cut with 154 scores. Mountain View's Milan Swilor shot 74-80, while Alpine's Kim Thompson went 76-78 . . . The PGA's third-round leader John Daly is the same golfer who impressed locals a year ago when he came to Utah and won the first Ben Hogan-Utah Classic at Riverside Country Club . . . The University Hospital-Utah Open, which usually is playd before the Showdown, gets its week in the spotlight next week, Aug. 19-25.