Simi Valley Senior Golf Tournament : Henning Romps by 3 Strokes as Mowry Founders on 8th Hole

More than the wind blew Sunday at Wood Ranch Golf Club, so it was steady Harold Henning who won his first Senior PGA medal play tournament.

A major collapse by Larry Mowry, who took a 10 on the innocent-looking eighth hole, and lesser blowups by other challengers enabled Henning to win the $275,000 GTE Senior tournament at Simi Valley by three shots.

Henning, a maverick on the 50-and-over tour, posted his second consecutive one-over 73, for a 214 total, but after what happened to Mowry, he was never in danger of losing. With other players faltering, Bruce Crampton and Dale Douglass finished in a tie for second at 217, one over par for 54 holes.

Mowry was tied with Henning for the lead going to eight, at 329 yards, the shortest par 4 on the difficult 6,727-yard course, but after hitting three consecutive wedge shots into the water, he went from three under to three over.

The eighth, with an elevated tee and water guarding the front, is the hole that Arnold Palmer challenges with his driver, but the other golfers lay up on the left side and pitch over the water.

A little too late, Mowry will forever try to emulate Palmer on the hole.

His iron off the tee landed in perfect position, just 105 yards from the front edge of the green. He hit a pitching wedge that landed a foot short, skipped once and hit near the top of the bank, then fell back into the water.

Mowry had the option to go back onto the fairway and drop a ball for his next shot, but, figuring he could use a sand wedge, he dropped in the rough, into a divot. His shot went a little more than halfway across the water. His next drop was on the fairway and it also was in a deep divot and he shanked that one into the water. He finally made the green, two-putted and had a 10. It didn’t matter that the rest of the round he beat Henning by a shot. The damage was done.

“After parring seven holes and just missing a couple of birdies, I thought I was ready for a run,” Mowry said. “Only thing, I ran in the wrong direction.

“Sure, it’s disappointing, but it isn’t the end of the world. With that disaster, I still finished in the top 10, didn’t I (tie for eighth)?

“I tried to put a lot of spin on the ball on the first wedge shot. It started out fine, then seemed to just take a dive.

“I was down a little, but I didn’t feel I was out of it even then, until I bogeyed 11. Then, my spirits really sank. I promise you that next year, I’ll go for the green.”

Mowry showed his class by patiently answering all questions with no display of anger. Even the winner, Henning, admitted he felt sad when he saw what happened to the popular Mowry.

About the only thing similar to last week was that the winner again was using the long-handled putter with the three-sided face, designed by the late Dr. Joe Corvi, a space scientist. Whereas Orville Moody broke all sorts of scoring records at the Vintage and finished 25 under par, Henning, at two under, was the only golfer to finish under par at Wood Ranch.

Henning’s victory also ended a string of back-to-back wins in Southern California in Senior tournaments. The first three Los Angeles area events were won by the man that won the Vintage in Indian Wells the previous week.

Henning, whose younger brother Brian is Senior PGA tournament director and serious, is fun-loving and disdains practice.

Most of the pros spend many hours practicing. Not Henning. On a typical day he will arrive at the club early in the morning, eat breakfast, read the papers and, while others are practicing, will talk with anyone around. Half an hour before tee time, he goes to the range, hits 10 or 12 shots to loosen up. Then he putts a little and is ready to go.

After the round, Palmer, Mowry and others, spend long sessions working on their problems. Henning has a drink or two and does what he says he does best--nothing.

“If he didn’t have to play in one of the pro-ams, he wouldn’t arrive until just before the tournament starts,” his brother said. “As for going to the practice tee after a round, forget it.”

The only other Senior tournament Henning won was the Tucson Match Play in 1985, but since he learned to use the long-handled Corvi putter, he has shown marked improvement.

“I went from third two weeks ago, to second last week, and now first,” Henning said. “I think I should take next week off, because I can’t improve.

“Obviously, the putter has much to do with it. I am a poor putter, but this club makes me a better putter. It’s not like waving a wand, though. It took me 18 months to get it right. There are others who could benefit, too.

“Orville will win lots of tournaments with the putter and I’ll win some, too. However, it isn’t really an advantage in the wind. The pendulum motion makes it too wide an arc to be effective in wind.

“When I saw what the wind was like, I figured a par 72 today would win easily. When I went to (hole) 16 leading by three shots, I knew it was over. But, I never sank a putt longer than the eight-footer to save par on (hole) 1. But, I won because I made all my short ones.”

The crowds for the second GTE at Wood Ranch, improved every day. There was an estimated 15,000 in attendance on Sunday. Although he started on No. 10 and was second off at 9:50 a.m., the always popular Palmer had the biggest army. The cheering fans couldn’t improve his putting. Using his third different putter in three days, he shot a 79 and had a 233 total.

Defending champion Bob Charles shot a 77 and was at 225, 17 strokes higher than he shot last year.