Now that Frank Sinatra is dead, it seems sad that no mention is made in the official USPGA handbook of his brief flirtation with tournament sponsorship. Interestingly, it has been suggested that officials preferred the more wholesome image of Bob Hope, when choosing a personality to head their desert stop-over at Palm Springs.
But Frank Beard hasn't forgotten. And he has been telling his fellow Americans of the marvellous thrill it was to become the only winner of the Frank Sinatra Invitational Open. The former Tournament of Champions winner has also recounted fascinating instances of the singer's personal kindness to him.
The tournament was played in the autumn of 1963 when, as a 24-year-old, Beard had to pre-qualify before being rewarded with free accommodation, meals and cashmere cardigans. "The contenders on the final day were guys I'd heard a lot about coming up - Tommy Bolt, Bob Rosburg and Jerry Steelsmith," he recalled.
"Down the stretch, I managed some crafty long-iron play and finished birdie-birdie-par to beat Steelsmith by one. Winning my first professional event was huge; winning in the next best thing to Hollywood was even better. They were all there, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jnr and Peter Lawford, like the Rat Pack were giving a mandatory command performance for their chairman. And somewhere, I still have a picture of me with a dumbstruck look on my face, standing next to the stunning Jill St John."
Yet Beard soon learnt that he was only a bit player in what was essentially an excuse for the Rat Pack to have themselves a golfing party. He wasn't even invited to join their revelry. So he departed the scene somewhat disillusioned after celebrating his first tour win with a room-service cheeseburger.
Then, seven months later, it happened that he became seriously ill and lapsed into a coma, causing his mother to become extremely worried. One day, at the height of her anguish and before heading for the hospital to see her son, she received a phone call at home. It was Sinatra. "I just wanted to see how Francis is doing," he enquired in the famous, silken voice.
Beard takes up the story: "Long before I ever met him and long before he melted my mother onto the kitchen floor, I had been a fan of Sinatra's. And when I recovered from that illness, I probably went to see him on stage about 10 times over the next four or five years.
"I still don't know how he pulled this off because after my win, I never had any kind of contact with him. But every time I'd go to his show, he would point me out to the crowd. And the great Sinatra, who was famous for not taking requests, would say: `My man Francis Beard is in the audience tonight. He won my golf tournament in Palm Springs a few years back. Francis take a bow and pick a song.' And I would invariably select `All the Way."'
He concluded: "How a kid from Louisville ended up winning the first, last and only Frank Sinatra Open Invitational I'll never know. But I relish the memory."
"I'm going to be the centre of attention and I wish it weren't so." Casey Martin, he of the golf buggy dispensation, after qualifying for next week's US Open at the Olympic Club.
"IT was stronger than four acres of garlic," was the typically expansive Texan description from club official, Dick McHargue, regarding the presentation by Colonial CC as applicants for the 2003 Ryder Cup. And perhaps we should be grateful that Irish applicants for the 2005 staging couldn't hope to match its key elements.
We are informed that there were two videos, including a virtual 3-D tape. And the package, titled "The Ryder Comes to Texas", came in a leather-bound cover and included letters from former US President George Bush, Texas governor George W Bush and the late Ben Hogan.
There was also an original poem from country and western singer Red Steagall and an array of proposals that included everything from a tram system to a corporate village at the Fort Worth zoo. "It was unprecedented," said one source. "It's probably the future of where these presentations will need to go."
It is doubtful, however, if Ken Schofield, executive director of the PGA European Tour, would have quite the same thing in mind from aspirants such as Portmarnock, The K Club, Druids Glen and Mount Juliet. Either way, the Irish front-runners may know their fate within the next few months. Indications in the US are that a decision on 2003 will be made by the PGA Championship (August 13th to 16th) at the latest and it is expected that the European announcement regarding 2005 will come soon afterwards.
Donald Trump proudly announced recently that he was building "one of the greatest golf courses in the world." The local media have taken considerable delight, however, in reporting that apart from its proximity to a 12-storey jail complex, the $40 million facility in Florida's West Palm Beach will have some interesting neighbours.
Like a strip joint, a bail-bonds building and a soon-to-be-opened "retail boutique" called Condoms Galore. "I don't think Donald knows about us yet," the store owner told the Palm Beach Post. He does now.
Despite having only one victory since his third US Masters triumph in 1996, Nick Faldo appears to retain considerable clout in the endorsement market. Indeed his recent, five-year contract with Adams Golf in the US could be considered quite lucrative, insofar as part of the deal gave him 900,000 shares of the company stock and five per cent of its international sales.
But he is also guaranteed minimum annual payments starting at $1.5 million next year and rising to $4 million in 2004. And if Adams Golf doesn't go public by the end of this year, Faldo can force the company to buy back his shares for $5 million.
Two of the last three US Opens at the Olympic Club went to play-offs. And 72 holes have also failed to decide the outcome of the championship on four occasions in the last 10 years - in 1988 when Curtis Strange beat Nick Faldo; 1990 when Hale Irwin overcame Mike Donald; 1991 when Payne Stewart outscored Scott Simpson and 1994 when Ernie Els beat Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts.
Against that background, golf scribes should leave their wives well-prepared next week for the possibility of an extra day in San Francisco - especially if they wish to avoid the problems Bob Drum encountered in 1955. That was when the US Open first went to the Olympic Club and in a shock outcome, Jack Fleck forced a play-off with Ben Hogan.
Like a dutiful husband, Drum telephoned his wife at their Pittsburgh home to advise her that he would be delayed. Whereupon she promptly accused him of lying and skulduggery, pointing out that NBC had reported on a Hogan victory. So Drum, who would later become closely associated with Arnold Palmer's exploits on tour, was prepared for squalls when he eventually got home.
In the meantime, however, his wife discovered that NBC had predicted wrongly and that there was, in fact, a Sunday playoff, which Fleck won by 69 to 72. And, no doubt, she greeted Drum with welcoming arms, and assurances that she never doubted him.
This day in golf history . . . . On June 13th 1893, Lady Margaret Scott, the dominant woman golfer of her day, captured the first of three successive British Amateur titles, an achievement equalled only by Cecil Leitch and Enid Wilson. For the first of them, the 18-hole final was played over the nine-hole women's course at Royal Lytham, where she beat Issette Pearson by 7 and 6.
Reputed to have what was described as an old St Andrews swing, Scott's backswing had a corkscrew motion with both elbows bent and the club almost bouncing off her neck. After her third British triumph, she retired from golf, relinquishing membership of the three clubs to which she belonged - Cotswold Hills, Cheltenham and Westward Ho!
TEASER: After holing out, a player observes that the edge of the hole is ragged. He pats the ragged edge with his hand and smooths it. Does the player incur a penalty under Rule 1-2 if his opponent, fellow-competitor or partner has not holed out?
Answer: If the player smoothed the edge of the hole as a courtesy to following players, which seems likely, there is no penalty under Rule 1-2 (Exerting Influence on Ball). However, he incurs a penalty under Rule 1-2 if he smoothed the edge of the hole for the express purpose of influencing the movement of the opponent's, fellow-competitor's or partner's ball. Since the player had holed out, he is not subject to penalty under Rule 16-1a (Touching Line of Putt). If a four-ball competition was involved and the player's partner had not completed the hole, the partner is not subject to penalty under Rule 16-1a.
