Editor’s Note: Recounting memories of the Neck Bone in his article below, 91-year-old Co-Founder Tom Robinson still has those good times at heart and he continues to gain joy from those very special moments shared with friends.
I have been asked several times about The Neck Bone Golf Tour. Who started it? Why in Miami? When did it start, etc.?
Golfing every Saturday out of town we met Leon Ponder and The Sharon Travelers Golf club and began hooking up with them every Saturday to golf.
The Neck Bone Golf Tour actually began 1974 when Pete Ball met Tom Robinson and they became golf buddies. Robinson in Erie, Pa and Pete Ball from Ashtabula. Ohio. So now its Pete Ball, Tom Robinson and Leon Ponder golf buddies.
Robinson would go home to Nashville, Tennessee for the summer and to golf with Toms brother-in-law Sam Jordan, George Warfield and wife liz. So, Pete would come to Nashville in July to golf with us. Now the crew is Pete, Tom, Leon, Sam and George. And Pete talked us into going to Florida in February to golf.
In February 1978 we went to Orlando, hooked up with The Cleveland golfers. Robinson and Pete Ball were roommates, Sam Jordan & George Warfield the Nashville guys were roommates and Leon Ponder had his Sharon guys were together. Leon said, “It’s too cold in Orlando, lets go to The Bahama Is next year!!”
Pete was our leader and knew a place to stay in Miami and guaranteed summer type weather, so in 1979, we began going to Miami and through word-of-mouth we had picked us some more friends….from Nashville, Tennessee, Sharon, Pennsylvania, and ole friends of Leon Ponder….that became the Neck Bone staff. Pete Ball, Tom Robinson, Leon Ponder, Phil Williams and Walt Mangham. We had meetings at Robinsons home in Erie, Pennsylvaia.
Our leader Pete had picked a week that we could play in Miami Saturday to Friday then drive, or fly, to Orlando to play The Central Florida golf tournament. Pete was our leader. We didn’t have tee times and would tip the starter to get us out.
In Miami we met a group of golfers from Pittsburgh and a foursome from Cleveland which hooked up with us in 1981, now with 60 guys. Pete set up our own tournament three flights of 20 golfers each flight! We sort of copied off the Pittsburgh guys with our tournament, We bought some grills and grilled steaks and had our awards poolside at The Air Ways Motel.
The following years the number of golfers kept increasing, one year we had 164 for our tournament!! People came from everywhere: Canada, Puerto Rico, Bermuda —and we didn’t advertise!!
We lost Leon Ponder in 1989 and lost Pete Ball in 1992. In 1993, Robinson took over running the Neck Bone and also the year we began having groups of women. And we made them welcome. We tried to make sure that a lot of people would win a little money instead of the good players winning it all. Jungle rules, you still have to make par or better !
So, I named the Group Neck Bone. Being a coach, I would set up the groups.
Everything went well with no registration or fees, Pete and I used our own money to make contacts, mailed out the fliers, etc…..remember back then all the phone calls to Miami were considered long distance and it took postage stamps to mail out the fliers and getting them printed up!!
After Miami now we had the Spring Neck Bone that ended Father’s Day at Pete’s Duffers Tournament in Ashtabula, Ohio, and it was big. Pro Athletes from Cleveland and golfers from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Canada, New York….no trophies, all prizes CASH MONEY…. Mid-April to Father’s Day, Neck Bone, then Mid-July in 90 degree weather we had a Middle Tennessee, then Neck Bone in Nashville that was a blast, a cook out at someone’s house. The Nashville guys would bring 50 guys to Miami and one of the first women was Pat Gregory.
The mid-winter getaway to The Sun & Fun Capitol had a cross section of golfers from Chief Justices to wannabee gangsters. But at The Neck Bone, check your credential at the door, no one cared. My roommate Sherman Cottingham was with the Negro Baseball League function and no one knew he even played baseball! We had ex-Pro athletes, Hall Of Fame members! There were fun times, like when a guy fell into a lake, and serious times, I.e, golf courses sold and I didn’t know it, our course no longer has food service for our awards dinner. But my saying is “There’s No Substitute for Brains,” we worked it out.
One year we had our dinner and awards at LPGA player Paula Tucker’s house yard, Hurricane Katrina destroyed the club house at one site, so we got a big tent for the dinner and our last year down the course didn’t have food service any more. We had the room but no food. My guys got on the phone, got food catered and everything went very well!
All in all, it was a great 42 years ……people asked me how did I keep all those people in line? Ran it just like my gym classes or athletic teams, organized and, like I said, give a lot of people a little money. I forgot, we even had a NFL Official from Chicago. Cazzie Russell College Hall Of Fame Basketball, Lawrence Taylor, Football Hall Of Fame, and my room mate Sherman Cottingham, the winning pitcher of the last Negro baseball League All Star game, he was called “Little Satch” Paige!! YOU WERE INVITED!! I gave all my ladies a rose on Valentines Day! ——My way to steal a kiss! Even the years my wife came down! I guess that covers it: Pete Ball was the God Father
First staff: Pete Ball, Leon Ponder, Phil Williams, Walt Mangham, Tom Robinson
Why Miami: Weather
When: 2nd week of February
Hole in One: Funds To Meharry Medical Hospital for Sickle Cell research!
Final Staffers: Sam Jordan, who never miss a year, 42 straight, Sam II, Don Crenshaw, Jeb Bowen, John Alberstadt.
My Co-honcho, whom I could have never done it without, The Minister of Finance Roger Ball, son of The GodFather!
My sincere thanks to them it was one hell of a ride!! The God Father Pete Ball and The Golf Father Tom Robinson
This was the real Neck Bone character
We originals. Sometimes a guy’s money may be short and we would tell him, just get here we’ll take care of the rest….that meant, room, golf, food and a few bucks to gamble with. We’d take up some money from our original friends to take care of each other. Just get to Miami, at times a guy may have to sleep on the box springs (rough it!).
So this was the greatest thing that ever happened; First, a guy came down like that and won enough money in the skins to take care of himself. Ok, this took the cake. While we were at dinner, after dinner riding back to hotel, I noticed my case was missing with all the money for the finals of the tournament….gone, stolen! Next day at the banquet I told the gang the money had been stolen and they began donating money to cover the loss, like an auction, I believe it was the Chicago guys first that yelled out, “The Chicago guys will donate $300.” Then, the Nashville guys yelled out; then the Virginia guys; then Indiana….I had to stop them!! They made it up PLUS and I never forgot that! That was my Neck Bone friends for ever. So, after that we opened a bank account in Miami!!
From then on, I began carrying extra money because someone will always be in need !! Just get there!! One year we had a white boy that didn’t have enough money to get back home…he drove the 17th hole, made eagle skin and enough money to get back home. He wasn’t one of the guys but we would have given him money to get home….thats the way the Neck Bone was!!
