Golf : Charles’ Winning Touch Is Better Than Ever

Twenty-five years ago, Bob Charles established himself as the best left-handed golfer.

This year, he has proved to be the best golfer on the Senior PGA Tour. The 52-year-old New Zealander, long regarded as one of the best putters, has won 5 tournaments and set a record for most money won in a season by a member of the 50-and-over group.

When he finished in a tie for second with Bobby Nichols in the $250,000 tournament won by Larry Mowry at Las Vegas Oct. 30, his earnings reached $512,729, breaking Chi Chi Rodriguez’s mark of $509,000.

The tour record, however, will not go down as a major achievement to Charles.

“Setting a record like that doesn’t mean a thing,” he said. “Somebody else will break it next year. The way this tour is growing, with more money and more tournaments, it’s certain to happen. It’s a temporary record. All I want to do is keep winning tournaments. Those are achievements.”

Charles had to overcome a major problem to set his record. In a routine physical examination last March, it was discovered that Charles has a hernia. He will need an operation.

“When they told me I could probably play this season without a big risk, I decided to give it a try,” Charles said. “Each time I thought I should have the surgery, there was some reason to continue playing. I have been so busy, I will wait until December now.”

Charles joined the pro tour in 1962. The next year he became the first left-handed player to win a PGA event, the Houston Open. Later that year, he beat Phil Rodgers in a 36-hole playoff for the British Open championship, his only major victory.

Although he never played a full year on the tour because of commitments in his homeland, he was a consistent player. In 1967, he won $72,000 and finished 11th on the money list. That amount now would send a golfer back to qualifying school.

“I’m a better golfer than I was 25 years ago,” Charles said. “I hit the ball farther, and, maybe, the short game isn’t quite as good . . . but, I’m a lot smarter than I was then.”

It is a big surprise to Charles that he is even playing golf professionally. When his tour days were over, it appeared that he would spend the rest of his life as a farmer in New Zealand, occasionally building a golf course. Suddenly, though there was a place for older golfers. By the time he became eligible March 14, 1986, the senior tour was booming.

“Instead of leisurely growing old, I’m now busier than I ever was in my life,” Charles said.

An hour after completing play in Las Vegas, he was returning to New Zealand for 2 weeks. With golf booming in his country, he is building golf courses in his spare time.

“This trip isn’t for relaxation,” Charles said as he hurried to the plane. “Almost every waking minute will be spent on business. It would be easier playing in tournaments.”

Although he didn’t win a tournament in 1986, Charles has earned well more than $1 million in less than 3 full seasons. Lack of playing competitively, he felt, prevented him from winning a tournament. However, he had one spree in which he shot par or better in 22 consecutive rounds.

Last year, he was off to a great start, winning both Southern California tournaments, the Vintage at Indian Wells and the GTE at Wood Ranch in Simi Valley. He made it 3 in a row with the Sunwest tournament in Albuquerque, N.M.

“My putting touch deserted me and I didn’t win again,” Charles said. “In fact, that is my one concession to being older. My putting is not nearly as consistent as it used to be. When I was younger, I didn’t worry too much about errant shots, because I figured I could make up for it on the green.

“I also came down with food poisoning and I was in a weakened condition for 6 weeks. I didn’t really feel well most of the season.”

The slender New Zealander--he’s 6 feet 1 1/2 inches but weighs only 160--went on another streak this year. In one run of 11 tournaments, he finished in the top 10 in all of them, winning 4 and finishing second in 4 others.

“Except for the hernia, which really doesn’t seem to affect my golf, I have enjoyed good health,” Charles said. “I’m as fit as I have been in a long time. It also helps that I am young compared to most of the others.

“You will find that most of the winners on this tour will come from those under 55. The fellows who have just joined the seniors, have the best chance. That’s especially true if they stayed competitive.

“It seems that every year we add several more good ones. The cream (Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus, for instance) will join us in the next couple of years.”

The hernia probably was a result of Charles’ determination to keep fit. He does aerobic exercises 3 days a week, and stretching exercises every day. During the off-season, Charles, who has a home in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., in addition to his place in New Zealand, lifts bales of hay.

“I’m afraid I won’t be doing that this winter,” he said. “I was going to have the surgery right after the Vantage championships (Oct. 9), but (Gary) Player and (Orville) Moody were playing so well I kept delaying it. Now, I’ll wait until after the tournament in Hawaii, the first week in December.

“That way I should be ready for the new season.

“As Chi Chi keeps pointing out, we better win our tournaments now before the big boys get here.”

Golf Notes

LPGA wrap-up: Patty Sheehan defeated Liselotte Neumann in sudden death for the LPGA season-ending Mazda Japan Classic in Tokyo and, with a first-place check of $67,500 and a bonus of $125,000, vaulted into a runner-up finish in the 1988 LPGA money standings with $326,171. . . . Sherri Turner finished first on the money list at $350,851; Rosie Jones was third at $323,392, followed by Nancy Lopez at $322,154 and Colleen Walker at $318,116. Neumann earned the most money as a rookie at $188,729.

Lopez, who skipped the Japan Classic, still had enough points to win her fourth player-of-the-year award, determined on points awarded for tournament finishes. Lopez, who played in 22 of 32 tournaments, had 3 victories and finished in the top 10 at 16 tournaments. . . . Ayako Okamoto, last season’s money winner and player of the year, finished first in scoring average at 70.94 and sixth in the money standings at $300,206.

The Terrible Twenty, a monthly golf club in Los Angeles, will hold its 750th consecutive monthly tournament on Dec. 2, at the Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage. The group played its first tournament on June 15, 1926 at Flintridge Country Club. . . . Marie Kuhn won the Sepulveda Women’s Club championship at Encino Golf Club with a score of 243. . . . The Professional Golf Tour (PGT), which attracts non-PGA Tour players who pay membership and event fees, will offer a 20-event schedule and $2.15 million in purses in 1989. The PGT offered $1.8 million in prize money in 1988, its first year.

Herb Graffis, 95, of Ft. Myers Beach, Fla., received the PGA’s award for distinguished service. Among his contributions, Graffis founded the National Golf Foundation and monthly publication, Golf Business, which today is Golf magazine. . . . The Golden State Golf Tour will have two divisions in its senior tour in 1989--ages 45-59, and 60 and up. . . . Jim House, of Brawley, was elected president of the Southern California Golf Assn. . . . Don Young, former owner of Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, received the Lynn Smith award by the SCGA, for his contributions to amateur golf.

Al Rackin, of Glendale, aced the No. 2, a 121-yard par 3, last week at Topanga Plaza Golf Center--his first hole-in-one in 60 years of golf. Rackin is 83. . . . An amateur qualifying tournament for the Andy Williams Open will be held at Torrey Pines Golf Course on Dec. 10. The entry deadline is Nov. 28. The Open is slated for Feb. 14-19 at Torrey Pines.

Five Southlanders are scheduled to compete in the American Junior Classic, Nov. 24-27, at Innisbrook Resort in Tarpon Springs, Fla. Entered in the boys’ division are Joon Lee, 17, of Fullerton; Austin Maki, 16, of Costa Mesa and Jeffrey Manson, 18, of Long Beach, the defending champion. Heidi Voorhees, 16, of North Hollywood and Brandie Burton, 16, of Rialto are entered in the girls’ division. Lee, Manson and Voorhees and Paul Mickelson, 18, of San Diego and Christy Erb, 18, of Bonita have been selected junior All-Americans by the American Junior Golf Assn. . . . The final of the USF&G; National Skins Team Championship will be held Nov. 24-25 at PGA West.