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The mission of the Middle Atlantic PGA is to Promote Growth in the game of golf; to provide ongoing education and professional development for our members; and to actively improve employment opportunities for PGA Professionals across the region.
MAPGA 1963
By Dr. Harold Guy
As the golfing season got underway, a goodly number of MAPGA professionals played in the PGA National Golf Club Championship in Port St. Lucie, Florida, in the second week of February. Ansel Snow, Keswick CC, tied for first with 281, including a 66, but lost in the playoff and collected $1,250. Fred McLeod, 81 years old, won his age group in the PGA Seniors Trophy Championship played at Port St. Lucie as well. Overall, Jack Isaacs finished in fourth tied with Errie Ball, Clarence Doser seventh, Harold Oatman sixteenth and Andy Gibson fifty-sixth. Jack Isaacs' four rounds included a second day 66. Errie Ball had held the Head PGA Professional position at Farmington CC between 1937 and 1943. Later in the spring, Jack Isaacs resigned from Langley Air Force Base, where he had been the Head PGA Professional since 1938. His career highlights included the honor as the first MAPGA player to play in "all" the majors: US Open, PGA Championship, British Open and Masters.
The Section held its Spring Meeting at Belle Haven CC. The membership named George Bird and Max Elbin as delegates to The PGA Annual Meeting and, more importantly, nominated Max Elbin for national office, Treasurer. At the meeting Wiffy Cox reviewed plans for holding the US Open at Congressional in 1964.
In an unusual occurrence the 1963 MAPGA tournament year did not open at Rolling Road because of a renovation project at the course, which expanded the size of many tees. So at nearby Ft. Meade, Clare Emery shot 68 to edge out John Medved by one and Charlie Bassler and Paul Haviland by two. The following Monday at Belair CC in Bowie, Maryland, the 1934 Assistant Champion and 1935 Section Champion, Johnny Bass, had only twenty-five putts while tying Billy Phillips for the pro-am title. Johnny Bass was the only player to win the Assistant and Section Championship in back-to-back years until recently when Wayne DeFrancesco won the Assistants Championship in 1999, followed by the Section Championship in 2000 and 2001. The 1934 victory took place at Five Farms and the Section Championship at the "original" Indian Spring. In 1935, Bass ousted four well-known players of that era in the Section Championship contested at match play: Mel Shorey, Charlie Betschler, Alec Taylor and George Diffenbaugh, all of whom would eventually serve as a President of the Section. Then in successive weeks Dave Collingwood won at the CC of Fairfax, Charlie Bassler at Bethesda, Clarence Doser at Chartwell, and then Dave Collingwood again in a tie with Lou Graham in a Pro-Lady at Turf Valley.
The US Open local qualifying took place at three sites in the MAPGA area during the last week of May. At Pine Ridge, Paul Haviland led the qualifiers followed by Paul Quinn, Bill Sporre and Lou Graham. The same day at Prince Georges CC, Jimmy Clark led the field of qualifiers, which included Perky Cullinane, Jimmy Bellizzi, Chick Evans, Charles Easton, Clarence Doser, Bob Chandler, Rod Myers, Larry Wise and Charles Knowles. In Richmond, Wayne Jackson, Ronnie Gerringer, William Entwistle and Leo Steinbrecher made it through to the sectional. Mac Main qualified at Southern Pines, NC. Errie Ball and Bobby Cruickshank, both with MAPGA credentials dating to the late 1930s, qualified in their respective areas. Two weeks later at Congressional, Deane Beman, Charles Knowles, Clarence Doser, Wayne Jackson, Lou Graham and Mac Main gained entry to the US Open through the sectional. None of the qualifiers made the cut at The Country Club in Brookline, the year that Julius Boros defeated Jackie Cupit and Arnold Palmer in an eighteen-hole playoff.
The pro-ams got back on track the next week with Lou Graham winning at Chestnut Ridge. The following day, June 18th, the MAPGA held its PGA Championship qualifier in Richmond at the CC of Virginia, James River Course. Melvin Rowe, Clare Emery and Jack Isaacs earned berths in the Championship. In the morning eighteen, Ward Burgess finished birdie, hole-in-one, birdie for a 68, but shot 80 in the afternoon to miss by two. From the Middle Atlantic region, Sam Snead, Bill Collins, Chandler Harper and Dick Sleichter held exempt status for the Championship played at the Dallas Athletic Club and won by Jack Nicklaus. Only Sam Snead made the cut. Later on Friday of that week, another "oldster," John O'Donnell, won the pro-am at Norbeck. The first and only "Harford Invitational," with a $3,000 purse, took place on June 24th and 25th at Maryland Golf and CC. Al Besselink, from Philmont CC in Pennsylvania, fired 74-70 to win by two over Jimmy Clark, Lou Graham, Dick Sleichter and Clare Emery. Clare Emery had the low round, 68, on the first day, but came back with a 78.
Bill Sporre of Ft. Meade, and Lou Shue of Cavalier Yacht and CC, tied in the Sunday Fredericksburg CC Pro-Am with 69s. Sporre won the playoff and triumphed for the first time in an MAPGA event. Clare Emery and Cos Tiso tied at Argyle the next day.
A week later, Suburban Club hosted the Maryland Open and for the only time in the event's history, the players produced a three-way tie. Clarence Doser, Cos Tiso and Dick Whetzle, the defending champion, all shot 212. Tiso, Whetzle, and the 49 year old John O'Donnell led the first round with 68s. O'Donnell, who had won the Maryland Open in 1939 and 1954, unfortunately shot 79-76 the second day. Clarence Doser came to the clubhouse first with second day scores of 69-71, including a third round double bogey on the par three 13th. He then watched Tiso and Whetzle, who played together, salvage pars with 11 and 12 feet putts to gain a tie. Tiso shot a third round 74. Doser's 70 won the playoff and he became the oldest to win the event at age 54, a record, which still stands. Dick Whetzle shot 33 on the front side despite an out-of-bounds tee shot on the first hole, and then came in with a 40 with another out-bounds off the fifteenth tee.
A trip to Richmond found the Section professionals at Willow Oaks for a Thursday pro-am on July 19th organized by the MAPGA President, George Bird.. Lou Graham's 69 overtook the field by three.
The pro-pro at the MAPGA Summer Meeting hosted by Belle Haven ended with four teams shooting 66: Clare Emery and Dennis O'Leary, Gordon Murray and Don Miller, Fred Mayer and John Medved, and Billy Phillips and Tom Dougherty.
In early August, Carl Rasnic and Colonel Ed Quarantillo from Fort Meade won the Section Pro-President at Fountain Head with George Pigott and Colonel Jack Statz taking the Pro-Official title. The next week, Tony Marlowe and Alvin Dulcan captured the MSGA Pro-Sratch at Green Hill Yacht and CC.
Though not an MAPGA event, the United Golf Association held its National Open at Langston in Washington, D.C. Lee Elder, who learned the game from Jackie Burke and Jimmy Demaret in Houston won with a 281. Pete Brown, the defending champion from Detroit, finished two strokes back. Joe Flowers, a Baltimore native, took third, and Ted Rhodes from Los Angeles came in fourth. Howard Brown finished seventh. In subsequent years, Lee Elder (1971), Joe Flowers (1972), and Howard Brown (1973) won Middle Atlantic Opens held at Hobbit's Glen and Allview. This Open also featured a women's and an amateur division.
Paul Haviland led many of the Washington area PGA Professionals in the Hillendale Pro-Member. Over the weekend though, Tom Strange took home the $1,200 winner's check at the Tom Ferguson Memorial Pro-Am Tournament with a 270, that included a 65 on the second day, at his own Bow Creek GC in Virginia Beach. Avery Beck, Claude King, Jack Isaacs, Lou Graham, Harold Oatman and Mac Main finished on the leader board in that order. Jimmy Clark posted a winning 69 at Andrews Air Force Base. Charlie Bassler set a new course record, 64, at Argyle CC in the Pro-Junior and followed that with a win by four strokes at Sparrows Point. At the end of the same week, Claude King won the Virginia State Open at Roanoke CC by five over Joe Cannon and seven over Jack Isaacs, with a 206. Nelson Long and Wynsol Spencer led the field the first day with 69s, with Joe Cannon and Claude King a stroke back, and ahead of Clare Emery by one. However, King came back with two 68s for the large victory margin.
Unfortunately for the professionals, two amateurs, Johnny Cavin and A.E. Hardister won the Quantico Pro-Am by two over Charles Muck and another amateur Jack Doser. Cos Tiso followed that with a win at Indian Spring.
The Section held its annual Assistant Professional Championship at Fort Meade, and the host PGA Assistant Professional Lou Graham won with a 75-68-143, by three over Lloyd Kelley, and four over Larry Wise and Paul Mosca, the 1953 winner. Graham's first round 75 finished with an out-of-bounds tee shot on the eighteenth. Charles Knowles, from Army Navy, won the long drive contest with a 349-yard blast over the first green. Reportedly, Frank Highland hit one even farther, however, it veered into a nearby parking lot and car. Johnny Musser and Charlie Bassler shared first place at Washington Golf with 67s.
A regional event of note, the $2,000 Salisbury Open at Green Hill Yacht and CC, covered the September 14th and 15th weekend. Billy Bassler won with 73-72-145. He finished ahead of a contingent from the Philadelphia PGA Section: Pat Schwab, John Berry, and Al Besselink. John O'Donnell and Skee Riegel led the first day with 71s, but both fell back. Lloyd Kelley and Dick Whetzle shared the honors in the Pro-Lady at Suburban with 68s by a shot over Dennis O'Leary. In an exhibition at Lakewood, Sam Snead bested Julius Boros by a shot, 71 to 72. Snead noted that he had played an exhibition with Arnold Palmer at the club's dedication in 1960.
Bob Hamilton, the 1944 PGA Champion who defeated Byron Nelson in the final match, won the Washingtonian Invitational at the national course with a 69-71-140 for the $1,000 check during the last weekend in September. Charlie Bassler fired 71-70 for second; Al Besselink, the Harford winner, went 67-76 for a third place tie with tour players Ray Floyd and Bert Yancey. Lou Graham, Paul Haviland, Dick Whetzle, Carl Lohren and Dick Sleichter also finished well. Over the same weekend, Walter Romans won the 11th Annual Hot Springs Pro-Am.
In October, Jimmy Clark took the Turf Valley Pro-Member, Walter Romans the Rolling Road Pro-Am, and Charlie Bassler and Lou Graham won at International Town and CC. Graham posted the low score at Green Spring Valley in the prelude to the Baltimore City Match Play Open. The Baltimore City Match Play Open, doubling as the Section Match Play Championship, opened with Don Stough shooting 69 for the medal. In the last match, Walter Romans defeated Lou Graham 2 and 1 at the 35th hole. To make the final, Romans defeated Charles Herling, Carl Rasnic, Tony Morosco and Dick Sleichter, while Graham dispatched John O'Hara, Dick Whetzle, amateur Chuck Will and Charlie Bassler, though Bassler had to retire after injuring his wrist at the fourth hole. For Romans, it was his sixth match play title since 1946, and he made the finals twice more. However, he would lose the final match in 1967 and 1968. In short order, Walter Romans had won the Hot Springs Invitation Pro-Am, the Rolling Road Pro-Am, and then The Section Match Play Championship in Baltimore to cap a fine early October.
George Bird, the Section President, and Melvin Rowe won the Fall Meeting Pro-Pro at Fountain Head with a 65 in the event preceding the Section Championship. Dick Sleichter repeated as the Section Champion with 68-71, a stroke ahead of Cos Tiso and Paul Haviland. Sleichter and Tiso led the opening day with 68s putting them a stroke up on Clare Emery, Billy Phillips, Billy Bassler and Paul Haviland. Both of the second place finishers came to the 18th hole needing a par to tie, but bogeyed the hole. John O'Donnell, 71-72, won the senior title by two over Andy Gibson. The Lincoln Mercury dealers sponsored the hole-in-one contest and almost paid off when Johnny Musser lipped out his tee shot on the 6th.
In the year's final big event, the Howard County Open at Allview, John Berry from Philadelphia CC won a playoff over Melvin Rowe and Wynsol Spencer after the trio fired 143s. Amateur Jack Doser, Carl Lohren, Dick Sleichter, Paul Kern and Don Stough finished a shot back. Mike Rooney from York won the senior division. Denny Shute, a friend of the host, Johnny Musser, scored two 76s. Shute had won the 1936 and 1937 PGA Championships as well as the 1933 British Open in his younger days.
The season concluded with the Section's first Pro-Salesman Tournament and the Fall Meeting on November 4th and 5th at Turf Valley. On the first day, three PGA Professionals played with a golf salesman. In the professional segment of the competition, Al Houghton, Clarence Doser and Jimmy Dawson won when Houghton birdied the last hole for a group best ball of 64. That threesome plus Horace Horton from Dunlop won the Pro-Salesman event. At the dinner that evening the salesman group honored Al Houghton with a plaque for "meritorious service."
The next evening, the MAPGA membership reelected George Bird their President. However, some of the other leadership positions changed hands. Bill Strausbaugh moved from being a Regional Vice President to become the Section Secretary, a position vacated by Jimmy Duke. Ralph Beach replaced him as the Maryland Vice President. Frank Cronin took on the Treasurer's job with Jimmy Clark's resignation, because it took up too much of Clark's time. The MAPGA expanded the Executive Committee to eleven seats and added Tony Marlowe, Max Elbin and Ted Sleichter. Max Elbin and Bill Strausbaugh were named the delegates to The PGA Annual Meeting. Lou Graham won Player of the Year honors. And the Section named Wiffy Cox as their Professional Golfer of the Year, which meant nomination for the National PGA Club Professional of the Year Award.
The MAPGA's year opened with a new cadre of officers elected the previous fall. George Bird, the forty-one year old Head PGA Professional from Willow Oaks CC and onetime Washington Senators pitching prospect, became the first ever MAPGA President from Virginia. The Vice Presidential ranks included Bill Strausbaugh, George Pigott and Leo Steinbrecher. Jimmy Duke served as Secretary and Jimmy Clark the Treasurer. Melvin Rowe was named Tournament Chair at the Spring meeting. Bill Clarke became the Honorary President, an honor accorded to the out going President. Henry Girardi headed the Nominating Committee that named the slate of officers elected by acclamation.
Before the winter gave way to spring, Columbia CC honored its long-time professional Fred McLeod in his fiftieth year as their leader. Joe Dey, the USGA President, presented Fred with a replica of the 1908 US Open Champion Trophy. Earlier, Gene Sarazen and Fred McLeod defeated Jock Hutchinson and Billy Burke over eighteen holes at Columbia in a match pitting the greats from yesteryear. Additional guests at the banquet included Chick Evans, Jimmy Thomson, Fred Corcoran, Bertie Way and George Sargent, all of whom were important golfing figures or organizers of The PGA in its formative years. In 1963, Fred McLeod was the oldest living US Open Champion.
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