Owens and USGA at Odds on Golf Carts for Seniors

When the doors of the Brooklawn Country Club swing open this July for the USGA Senior Open, Charlie Owens will be standing there with a 50-inch putter and a short fuse.

The 57-year-old member of the Seniors Tour is determined to “get mean enough” to walk the 6,599-yard, par-71 course in Fairfield, Conn. Not that Owens has a choice: according to the rules of the U.S. Golf Assn., golf carts are about as welcome as noisy galleries.

Owens isn’t challenging the USGA’s stance because he’s lazy. His left knee was fused in 1965 after four operations for a 1952 parachute exercise injury at Ft. Bragg, N.C. He qualified for the PGA Tour in 1970 and won the ’71 Kemper-Asheville Open before three operations on his right knee forced him off the Tour.

“The USGA is living in the past,” says Owens, who earned $318,081 in his first six years on the Seniors Tour. “What they should do is jump over the past and get into the present. I think it’s pure meanness on their part. I started to hire me a lawyer to fight the ruling, but I don’t have the time to be in a court all the time.”

Instead, Owens has begun a fitness program designed to help him walk the 3.8 miles of the course each day during the July 9-12 Senior Open. The USGA has been petitioned by Owens for a medical exemption, but the sanctioning body of the Senior Open will not allow any golf carts across the ropes.

“We think that walking is an essential part of championship golf,” says USGA Executive Director Frank Hannigan. “I think it’s unfortunate about Charlie Owens’ case, but sometimes, if you can’t play, you can’t play. If we allowed an exemption, it would be very difficult to decide who is or isn’t worthy of playing with a golf cart. I’m glad to hear Charlie is planning to play and we wish him the best of luck.”

Owens doesn’t want to be fortunate, just furious.

“It all depends on whether I get mean enough,” he says. “These are the kind of things that motivate me--when people try to keep me from doing something. Every player wants to play in the Open and win it. If I feel up to it, I’ll play, but I’m not gonna hurt myself. Don’t forget, I’m not the only person affected by the rule. Julius Boros and Sam Snead don’t play in the Open, either. That’s costing the USGA money because whenever Sam comes to a tournament, you see a lot of people following him around.”

Owens tried to play in the 1984 Senior Open in Rochester, N.Y., but he missed the cut by one stroke. He returned home to Tampa with no additional money but a lot more pain.

“It took me 10 days before I felt like playing golf again,” says Owens, who uses a self-constructed 50-inch putter that weighs 3 1/2 pounds. “My back was hurting, my ankle was hurting and my knees were sore. I’m not gonna kill myself to play in it this year. If I feel I’m gonna hurt myself by walking, I won’t get involved in it. I’ve already sent in my entry fee, though, and I’m eligible to play.”

Owens can’t understand why the rules of the game suddenly change for one of the Senior Tour’s most prestigious events. At all other Senior events, golf carts are permitted.

“Ninety-eight percent of the guys on the Tour use golf carts,” he says. “Then a different outfit runs the Open and they don’t want the Seniors to ride. They don’t have a reason.