FOG Board members and tournament participants join Ken Venturi, Rocco Mediate and boxer, Oscar De La Hoya.
Jack watched Tiger hit balls and predicted Masters greatness
By Eddie Merrins GOLF Magazine Top 100 Teacher
Published: April 04, 2008
Thinking about Masters week reminds me of the first time I met Tiger Woods. In April of 1991, I was the coach of the UCLA golf team and the head pro at Bel Air Country Club in Los Angeles. Tiger was just 15 and hadn’t yet won his first national junior tournament. (He would win the U.S. Junior Amateur later that year.)
We were hosting our annual “Friends of Golf” tournament to benefit student golfers and we had an impressive lineup of attendees: Byron Nelson, UCLA players Steve Pate and Duffy Waldorf, and our guest of honor Jack Nicklaus. We invited Tiger Woods to represent high school and junior golf. read more
Hollywood’s Dean of Golf
The Bel-Air pro on a Rat Packer’s bad bets and why carts are all wrong
March 17, 2007; Page P10
LOS ANGELES — Bel-Air Country Club, confected during the Roaring ’20s, is a golf Shangri-La in the hills overlooking Tinseltown. Howard Hughes, trying to impress Katharine Hepburn, once landed his plane on the eighth fairway. Bentleys and Maseratis vie for parking spots in the Italianate porte cochere, and players use an elevator to return to the clubhouse after finishing their rounds on the 18th hole. read more
50 Greatest Golfers of All Time : AND WHAT THEY TAUGHT US
If you aspire to be the greatest, you must at first have a clear picture of greatness. Mine appeared bigger than life, towering over opponents as he dominated professional golf. So you can imagine my surprise when I first met Jack Nicklaus and discovered I was taller.
Mr. Nicklaus, as I called him back then, was conducting a clinic at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, a short drive on the expressway from my home in Cypress. I was part of the show, sponsored by the Friends of Golf (FOG) tournament, having been selected by head pro Eddie Merrins to put on a ball-striking exhibition. I was 15 and a Nicklaus disciple from the time I was able to understand his stature in the game. “Hello, Mr. Nicklaus,” I said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” read more
