Seniors Will Meet Their Match at Oakland Hills

Jim Albus isn’t worried about Jack Nicklaus or Lee Trevino. He’s already proven he can handle them.

It’s Oakland Hills that has Albus worried. The famed golf course outside Detroit will host the U.S. Senior Open this week and Albus has to be considered among the favorites to win.

“I’m undefeated in Michigan,” Albus said. “I’m one-for-one.”

And indeed he is.

Albus, the only player without a logo on his shirt, shocked everyone -- including himself -- by winning the Senior Players Championship last month at the TPC of Michigan course in nearby Dearborn.

In the process, he turned back the pressure of national television and all challenges by Nicklaus, Trevino and Dave Hill.

“I’m not in their league,” Albus said. “They’re there every week. I have to play well and do it every week. But it’s nice to know that you can do it. I have that behind me now and that’s nice.”

The reason Albus isn’t a household word, even in golfing households, is because he’s spent his life in the slow lane. He’s the pro at Piping Rock Country Club in Locust Valley, N.Y. That’s on Long Island where the money is old.

But he does more than just sell sweaters and give lessons. Albus has been one of the best golfers of the club pros in the New York metropolitan area for more than a decade. He played in a few PGA events, mostly the Westchester Classic.

But when he turned 50 a couple years ago, he was eligible to play in some Senior PGA Tour events, golf’s mulligan in life. The $150,000 he won at Dearborn put him high enough on the money list to gain a spot in the U.S. Senior Open.

He has spent his time working around the club since his triumph. He has played in only one tournament since then, finishing 12th in the Newport Cup.

“I’m playing well,” Albus said. “I’m going to be surprised if I’m not in the hunt. I’m feeling good.”

That might be good enough.

Nicklaus is a three-time winner in Senior events this year, but his heart doesn’t seem to be in it lately. He almost withdrew from the British Open after a poor practice round.

“I just don’t have the desire anymore,” Nicklaus said. “The desire doesn’t come by just saying I want to do it.”

Trevino also has three victories this year. He and Nicklaus battled it out for the U.S. Senior Open championship last year at Ridgewood. Nicklaus fired a 5-under-par 67 in the third round to take a one-stroke lead over Trevino. But Trevino won the championship by two strokes with a final-round 67.

Albus tied for 27th at Ridgewood, fading in the final two rounds after a 70-72 start.

This is the second time the U.S. Senior Open has been played at Oakland Hills. In 1981 another club pro, Jim Stone from Independence, Mo., ended up in a three-way playoff with Billy Casper and Arnold Palmer.

Stone, in fact, built a six-stroke lead by the fifth hole in the 18-hole Monday playoff. But Palmer, mounting one of his famous charges, battled his way back into contention and won with an even-par 70 against Stone’s 74 and Casper’s 77.

Oakland Hills is that kind of golf course. After the first round of the 1951 U.S. Open, Ben Hogan, seeking his third Open title, studied his scorecard which showed a 76 and said, “This course is a monster.” And the challenging South Course has been called the “Monster” ever since.

“Everybody who has ever played there has stories about it,” Albus said. “I remember watching the 1985 PGA Championship there on television, watching Andy North screw up the last hole and winning anyway. You also remember the double chip by T.C. Chen.”

North’s 279 was the only sub-par total in 1985. Chen had a four-shot lead evaporate with a quadruple bogey on the fifth hole of the final round, the result of hitting the ball twice on his approach shot.

Oakland Hills was founded in 1916 and has been the scene of five U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships. All 18 tees have been rebuilt since 1985 and many fairways and bunkers have been reworked slightly. But it remains one of America’s premier golf courses and will identify the best of the seniors in a hurry.