GOLF SENIORS AT INDIAN WELLS : At 56, Player Is Not Ready to Slow Down

Gary Player was considered one of golf’s best-conditioned players when he was on the PGA Tour. His energy was boundless, and he traveled all over the world, enhancing his reputation as a global star.

Not much has changed about Player, now 56 and playing the Senior PGA Tour. Except that now, besides keeping a schedule that includes about 25 tournaments a year, he finds time to breed and race horses, build golf courses and design equipment.

And he does it all without neglecting his game.

Player, No. 9 on the money list, uses tournaments for fun and relaxation.

He will be one of the top contenders in the $500,000 Vintage Arco Invitational at the Vintage Club. The 54-hole tournament, which has drawn most of the top players on the 50-and-older circuit, begins today. Other strong contenders are Lee Trevino, winner last week at San Antonio, and Chi Chi Rodriguez, runner-up two weeks in a row.

This will be the last year of the Vintage, because the tour and the members of the club could not reach agreement on a new contract. There are four other sites in the desert being considered for next year’s event.

Player is one of the seniors who is sorry about that.

“The Vintage is one of the most beautiful golf courses in the world,” he said. “At the same time, it is a true test of golf.

“Playing on this fine course reminds me of the changes that have come in professional golf since I started nearly 40 years ago.

“Everybody knows about the changes for the better in equipment. But there have also been major changes in courses. Some of the fairways we play on now are better than the greens we played on years ago.

“I remember shooting a 59 in the final round to win the Brazilian Open. What was most amazing about it was putting. The greens were about as smooth as a cornfield.”

Two tournaments in Brazil are among the 152 worldwide that Player has won. He is one of four players to have won all four Grand Slam events--the British and U.S. Opens, the PGA and the Masters. He has also won the senior slam: U.S. and British Opens and PGA.

His first love remains golf, but Player, who with Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer made up the sport’s “big three” in the 1960s, is excited about racing, too.

“Most people are surprised about my devotion to racing,” Player said. “But, there’s a similarity to championship golf and racing. Most people think the top golfers win all the time. It’s not so. We win about 10% of the time. In racing, it’s about the same. You lose 90% of the races.

“It takes determination, perseverance and a lot of patience to succeed in golf or racing. It also takes some luck.”

Player has a thoroughbred farm in South Africa and has racing interests in this country, too. Allen Paulson, a top breeder and half owner of Kentucky Derby favorite Arazi, recently sent a sire, Mistral Dancer, to Player’s farm in South Africa.

“He’s a son of Northern Dancer, just the best sire ever,” Player said. “Mistral Dancer is the leading sire of juveniles right now in New Zealand. He was bred to 38 of our mares. It’s very exciting.

“Allen and I also own a yearling. I brought the mare, Serena, who won two Grade I races. He brought the sire, Theatrical. I think he’ll be training out here.”

The yearling is named Stylin, because of Player’s longtime caddie, Rabbit Dyer.

“One night Rabbit came down to the lobby dressed to the teeth,” Player said. “He had on a sharp outfit and looked great.

“When I asked him what was going on, he said, ‘I’m stylin.’ That’s how we came up with the name.”

Player’s course designing and developing company has 30 golf courses being built worldwide. When they are completed, his group will have built more than 150 courses. Recently, Player completed the North Course at Mission Hills in Indian Wells.

“If somebody is trying to build a course that nobody can play, it’s not for me,” Player said. “Someone else can build it.”

Although he is just getting into the equipment business, he has already induced several members of the senior tour to try his sand wedge.

“Dave Hill and Frank Beard both raved about the club,” Player said. “We are using aluminum with bronze in the clubhead. It gives it a soft feeling.”

He says the other enterprises do not detract from his No. 1 goal--to keep winning senior tournaments. He has won 16. His goal this week is to stretch his record of at least one victory a year to eight seasons.

And Rodriguez, for one, is chagrined at Player’s longevity. Said Rodriguez: “I remember telling him 25 years ago that he’d never make it with that swing.”