FORE the Good of the Game

World Golf Hall of Fame member, Gentle Ben looks back on his youth, learning the game under the watchful eye of Harvey Penick, his second father, and being challenged by a young Tom Kite. Learn about the eerie history of Brookline in Ben’s life/career, where he discovered his love of the history and traditions of the Game at age 16. Ben and Bruce recount how their paths first crossed as the “Devil...

Three-time winner of major championships, Mary Mills, recounts making four back-nine birdies en route to her third major victory at the 1973 LPGA Championship at Pleasant Valley CC where Bruce Devlin won his final PGA Tour event the previous year. Mary recalls her record in the majors and reflects back on putting woes that led to her retirement from competitive golf. She talks about her love for t...

Mary Mills, winner of three majors, continues her story by reflecting back on her early wins on the LPGA Tour, including the 1964 LPGA Championship played at the Stardust CC in Las Vegas. Mary looks back on the many places in the world where she was able to play and introduce golf to the local population. She talks about where she got her nickname "Pipeline"  and discovers that she and B...

Three-time major championship winner Mary Mills begins her story by sharing her memories of growing up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast where she took up the game the game at age 11. With regular lessons from 1935 PGA Champion Johnny Revolta, Mary enjoyed early amateur success winning the Women's State Am eight times in a row starting at age 14. She met Messrs. Hogan and Jones at age 14 and foun...

Winner of the Masters Tournament and the Open Championship and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, Sandy Lyle looks back on his later professional wins and the thrill of playing with Jack Nicklaus in the final round of the 1986 Masters. Sandy takes us through the transformative years of the Ryder Cup competition that he witnessed first-hand as a player from 1979, the first year including player...

Two-time major championship winner Sandy Lyle takes his through the mid-1980's, the most productive period in his professional career, beginning with his Open Championship win at Royal St. George's in 1985, becoming the first British winner since Tony Jacklin in 1969 and the first Scot since Tommy Armour. After getting his first PGA victory in the U.S. at the 1986 Greater Greensboro Open...

World Golf Hall of Fame member Sandy Lyle begins his story remembering his days as a young lad growing up and learning the game under the watchful eye of his golf pro father in the West Midlands of England. He recounts his many early successes as a young amateur including his participation in the 1977 Walker Cup. Turning pro at age 19, Sandy had his first win on the European Tour a year later on s...

18-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Meg Mallon finishes her career with a flourish by winning her 4th major, the 2004 Women's U.S. Open over Annika Sorenstam with a brilliant bogey-free closing round of 65, the finest final round in the 59-year history of the event. Meg remembers the golf history she witnessed playing with Sorenstam when she shot 59, with Juli Inkster when she won the LPGA for h...

Winner of four major championships, Meg Mallon takes us through many of her 18 tour wins including the 1991 LPGA Championship where she birdied the last to win, the 1991 Women's U.S. Open just two weeks later where play was so slow Lori Garbacz ordered a pizza on the 14th hole and had it delivered on the 17th tee, and the 2000 du Maurier Classic where she won her third different major. In bet...

World Golf Hall of Fame member, Meg Mallon takes us back to her younger days growing up in Michigan with sporting parents and five siblings. Competition came naturally to Meg in that environment and she was introduced to golf at age 7 with some early lessons. Typical of many of golf's greats, she competed in a variety of sports and was a big fan of Babe Zaharias. Listen is as Meg share her hi...

Jerry Pate, who had a Hall of Fame-destined career cut short by injury at age 28, completes his story with a look back on his crowning achievement as a golfer, winning the 1976 U.S. Open at Atlanta Athletic Club in a PGA Rookie of the Year season. He had several other close calls in majors including the 1978 PGA Championship at Oakmont CC where John Mahaffey won in a 3-way playoff with Pate and To...

U.S. Amateur winner and holder of eight PGA Tour titles, Jerry Pate recounts each of those wins including his first non-major win at the 1976 Canadian Open by four shots over Jack Nicklaus and the final one at the 1982 Tournament Players Championship, the first one played at its current home, the Pete Dye-designed TPC Stadium Course where he won with an orange ball and tossed both Dye and Commissi...

Winner of the 1976 U.S. Open as a 22-year-old Tour Rookie, Jerry Pate shares his early days growing up in the South, walking-on to play golf at Alabama and his deep affection for their legendary football coach, Paul "Bear" Bryant. Jerry recalls his U.S. Amateur title in 1974 and his team and individual win in the Eisenhower Trophy representing his country that same year. He fondly rememb...

World Golf Hall of Fame member Sandra Haynie continues her story with the 1973 season and fondly recalls her six titles the following year including two majors, her second LPGA Championship and the Women's U.S. Open where she birdied the final two holes to win. Sandra explains her decision to step away from the Tour in 1977 citing  the toll various injuries were taking on her body, impacting...

4-time major championship winner and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, Sandra Haynie begins her story as a young girl in Texas, learning the game under the watchful eye of her father Jim and A.G. Maxwell who shaped her game and instilled the fundamentals she relied on her entire career. Sandy knew at age 9, when she had a chance to play with Babe Zaharias, what she wanted to do in life. From...

Bobby Nichols, winner of the 1964 PGA Championship, looks back on his later Tour wins and that fateful day in 1975 when lightning struck at the Western Open. Bobby recounts his close calls in the majors and his regret at not playing the British Open. He recalls his 1967 Ryder Cup experience with Captain Ben Hogan when Arnold Palmer was benched on the first day, presumably because he "buzzed&q...

Bobby Nichols recounts his early PGA Tour wins, several of which Bruce Devlin later won including the site of their first victories, the St. Petersburg O pen. Bobby takes us back to his 1964 PGA Championship at Columbus CC where he played the final round with Ben Hogan and secured a wire-to-wire win, setting a scoring record that was to stand for thirty years. He gratefully remembers his relations...

Major championship winner Bobby Nichols tells us about learning the game, as a young man in Louisville, Kentucky, while caddying for $1.00 a loop. Hoping to be the next Johnny Unitas playing high school football, Bobby was in a horrific auto crash that put him in the hospital for 96 days. With the help of an inspirational letter from Ben Hogan, he not only survived but was awarded a college footba...

Gloria Ehret takes us back through her LPGA career which began with a confidence-building 5th place finish in the 1965 LPGA Championship, her first year on tour. That led to her one major win the following year at Stardust C.C. in Las Vegas. Gloria prevailed by 3 shots over the great Mickey Wright and earned her Most Improved Player on the LPGA Tour in 1966. Listen in as she recalls her wins and c...

Winner of the 1966 LPGA Championship, Gloria Ehret, takes us back to the days of her youth growing up in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Gloria, a multi-sport athlete, was introduces to golf by her father and uncle who needed a fourth to round out their group. Under the watchful eye of the pro at the local muni, she developed her game and, after an exhibition by Tommy Bolt at their local course, she was...

We conclude our visit with major champion Jeff Sluman with him recalling a "mystical" week at the 1999 Sony Open that found him in a mental state that he had never experienced before or since. After recalling his other Tour wins the conversation kiddingly turns to his 1-6 playoff record and later life on the Champions Tour where he matched his number of PGA regular Tour wins with six on...

This episode with Jeff Sluman begins with his crowing achievement, winning the 1988 PGA Championship at Oak Tree Golf Club, closing with a final round 65 to best Paul Azinger by three shots. Listen in as Jeff relates perhaps his most thrilling golf experience, playing as the defending champion with "THE" Arnold Palmer in the first round of the PGA Championship the following year at Kempe...

Winner of the 1988 PGA Championship, Jeff Sluman, looks back on his college days and how his game quickly developed when given the opportunity to play golf year round. He recounts physical challenges that he overcame with grit, grinding and determination to succeed at the collegiate level. Given the opportunity to compete in the 1980 U.S. Open at Baltusrol, Jeff realized that he "could play w...

We begin our four-part series with major championship winner Jeff Sluman who recounts his early life growing up in a working-class family in Greece, New York. Smitten by the game at an early age and with the encouragement of his father and two older brothers, Jeff showed early promise, first as a left-hander and later as a convert to the right side. Listen in as he recalls attending a practice rou...

Two-time U.S. Open winner Andy North recalls his second win at Oakland Hills in 1985, made famous by T.C. Chen for his "two chip" on the fifth hole of the final round. Andy became the first player to break par there in winning that major and was the only player under par for the week. He takes us back to the 1985 Ryder Cup at the Belfry, when the Europeans began asserting themselves in t...