Pete McDaniel
Contributing Editor
African American Golfer’s Digest
Blog: August 2013
Father Time can be a pretty unforgiving adversary.
I was sitting with my usual companions —three empty chairs— enjoying fried fish (don’t tell my PCP) and an assortment of other cholesterol raising but equally palatable items from the J&S Cafeteria menu when I heard a familiar voice.
“Can’t find anyone to share a meal with, huh?’’ says former Champions Tour player and longtime friend Bobby Stroble. “Mind if I join you?’’
I was only half surprised to see Bobby because I had just left him and Paul Everette, another journeyman pro from Miami, at Asheville (N.C.) Municipal Golf Course and the cafeteria traditionally served as the preferred eatery for players on a strict budget.
(Left: Bobby Stroble)
Every dollar counts when you fork over a $225 entry fee and are rewarded with a return on your investment of $25 (for the math challenged that’s a $250 paycheck for a top-10 finish) for three days work. At five hours per round, that’s a net of around $1.67 an hour, amplifying the phrase “for the love of the game.’’ Small purses and small fields are part of the aging process, as well, when you’re one of the few survivors of a black golf tour forever challenged by piggy bank sponsorship despite platinum dreams.
The 54th Skyview Open had just concluded and the two men were waiting for tournament rep Lee Shepard to hand out the white envelopes containing their winnings for the 54-hole event. The “cash-and-carry’’ payoff at chittin’ circuit events is also a tradition born out of necessity to combat unscrupulous promoters and shady tournament financiers who promise the moon but instead deliver a “Moon Pie.’’ Old-timers and shade-tree pros swear there have been more than a few beat-downs and near-shootings when the promised purse has mysteriously gone missing at payoff time.
Stroble finished seventh in a field comprised of five 50-plus gray beards and eight flat-bellies. On the strength of a final-round 66 and a 12-under-par finish, Everette took second behind winner and local favorite Greg Parker, a former All-American at the University of North Carolina who spent nearly two decades chasing a dream on various developmental tours. Everette is also the road dog of Peter Horrobin, who as a qualifier shot 70 in the opening round of the U.S. Senior Open in Omaha before crashing back to earth 10 strokes worse to miss the cut 24 hours later.
“Please do,’’ I said. “This is the norm for me, Bobby. I guess my colleagues at Golf Digest and Golf World must have thought I was the most anti-social prick because rarely did I participate in group meals on the road. Truth is I enjoy eating by myself. Provides me with a little quiet time to reflect on the day.’’
The conversation quickly turned to the absence of so many players who for years had made the Skyview a part of their schedule. Players like Jesse and Johnny Allen, Chuck Thorpe and Horrobin. The usual suspects. Their loyalty to one of the oldest remaining events on the circuit had always been expected and appreciated. However, the tournament lost Michelob as its lone corporate sponsor several years ago leaving both the field and purse to suffer ever since.
“This is probably my last time playing here,’’ said Stroble, who played against doctor’s orders. The 68-year-old has various ailments, including diabetes. “It’s pretty much over for me what with all the stuff that’s wrong physically.’’
Despite his physical limitations, Stroble sought to use one of the few remaining three-day tournaments on the vanishing Black tour as a barometer for future events on the Invitational Golf Tour of America (IGTA) where handicaps level the playing field. The IGTA website purports to have paid out more than $3 million over the years.
That brings to mind the art of “sandbagging’’ where hustlers scrape it around early in a match to induce the mark to press the bet or when amateurs throw off strokes toward the end of a round in order to win a flight. Like any hustler worth his salt Stroble was a master at sandbagging an opponent.
“Well, as you can see I’m no clothes horse now but I would show up in tennis shoes and wrinkled shirt and “holy’’ pants, and unshaven, kind of like I look now,’’ he said rubbing his stubble. “I had an old pencil bag with only a few clubs in it. Looked like I couldn’t play a lick. Got a lot of games that way and won most of them.’’
The Skyview has seen many colorful characters over the years—guys who hustled their way up the east coast en route to Asheville. Some even arrived early and partnered against local business types with more money than game. Easy pickings for players like Lee Elder, George “Tater Pie’’ Wallace, James Black, the Thorpes, especially Chuck and Jim, and George (G.G.) Johnson, a former tour player as well, who won a satellite event in the ’70s.
Back then the North American Golf Association sponsored events in most southern states. The United Golfers Association oversaw the Black tour north of the Mason Dixie Line. Both organizations are on life support as evidenced by the diminishing returns in Asheville.
Several years ago the Skyview Golf Association sought to breathe new life into its annual tournament by adding a junior division. Sixty enthusiastic juniors battled rainy, muddy conditions at the historic Donald Ross course in the 54th Skyview Open. Certainly a move in the right direction and wonderful to witness. However, of the 60 not one was an African American.
That’s a sad commentary on the prospects of furthering the tradition of minority golf in my hometown. Just as troubling, though, is the failure of Asheville’s corporate community to preserve this iconic event. Unless a sponsor steps up Asheville will go the way of Knoxville, Greenville (S.C.), Atlanta, Charlotte, Greensboro and a handful of other southern towns where the Black golf tour is but a distant memory.
This year reinforced many things including the fact that the Skyview Open is on the clock.
* * * *
Pete McDaniel is a veteran golf writer and best-selling author. His blogs and books are available at petemcdaniel.com
Comments on this topic may be emailed directly to Pete at: gdmcd@aol.com
