GOLF / DAN HAFNER : Ferree Battles Cancer, Becomes Super Senior

Jim Ferree, at 62, has had his best golf season in every way since he turned professional 38 years ago.

Simply being able to play in 30 events would have been an achievement, but he has set new personal standards, too.

Two years ago, he thought his career was finished when he was stricken with prostate cancer. But he fought the disease and resumed his career last year.

Even he is amazed by his performance this year. Besides winning a record-tying nine super-senior events, tournaments within tournaments for those 60 and older, he earned $409,000 on the Senior PGA Tour, by far his biggest money-winning year.

Moreover, he came close to becoming the first man to win a regular tournament run in conjunction with a super-senior event. In the Doug Sanders Classic in late March, he led by two shots with four holes to go, played them in one under and lost. Bob Charles birdied the last four holes and beat Ferree by one stroke.

“I’m grateful just to be able to play golf,” Ferree said. “But it would really be an achievement to win the super-senior event and then go on to win the real thing, too. I’m not the only one who has come close. Don January and Miller Barber had a chance to do it, too. It would be something to be the first.”

Before winning the regular tournament, a 60-year-old must win the first part, the super-senior division. Ferree did that nine times, a feat Joe Jimenez and January performed in other years.

After three of those victories, including the Doug Sanders, Ferree remained in contention in the regular tournaments, posting three seconds. He was also fifth twice.

He became eligible for the 50-and-older circuit in 1981, when the tour was in its infancy, with only five tournaments and total purses of $750,000.

This year his winnings are $130,000 more than in his best previous year, 1991. His super senior earnings this year were a record $255,000. With first prize only $14,000, that is a remarkable total.

Ferree, who won one tournament on the regular tour and $100,000 in 11 years, earned his second senior victory in 1991, only 15 days before his 60th birthday.

“I know I’m capable of winning again,” Ferree said. “When you finish second three times and in the top five five times, it’s no fluke.”

For his age group, Ferree is best in driving distance and reaching greens in regulation. The 268.7 yards that the 5-foot-9, 165-pounder averaged this year is seventh best on the senior tour. He also is seventh best in reaching greens.

A couple of things make Ferree stand out on the senior tour. First, he is a flashy dresser, wearing colorful plus-fours and a Ben Hogan-style hat. Also, he uses a putter with a 50-inch handle. The first one of that style Ferree used was a gift from fellow pro Charles Owens, who pioneered the pendulum style of putting.

“I putt pretty well with the long putter,” Ferree said. “In fact, it’s when my putting gets hot that I threaten to win the big prize.

“The other parts of my game are stronger than ever. I hit the ball longer and straighter than I ever did. My irons are accurate, and, when I’m putting, I can play with any of the young guys (in their 50s).

“The separate tournament for the guys 60 and older is one of the great things about this tour. I get to see all my old friends that I played with years ago when golf was played for almost no money at all. Without the super-seniors, you would never see Tommy Bolt, Billy Maxwell, Doug Ford and most of the other old-timers. They are a credit to golf.

“I really am amazed at the good year I’ve had. You have to realize that every year this tour gets tougher.” With only one tournament left, the Tour Championship in Puerto Rico in December, Dave Stockton has practically clinched money and senior golfer of the year titles.

But Ferree certainly qualifies as the comeback senior of the year.

Golf Notes

Tom Kite and Davis Love will defend their championship in the Franklin Funds Shark Shootout, Nov. 18-21 at Sherwood Country Club. The tandem, which won by a stroke last year, also produced a key 2-and-1 victory over Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal at the Belfry in September as the United States defended the Ryder Cup. . . . Lowell English of Hacienda Golf Club in La Habra is the new president of the Southern California Golf Assn. English, 64, succeeds Newell O. Pinch, longtime SCGA administrator. . . . LPGA star Brandie Burton, John Cook and the late George Lake have been voted to the Southern California PGA Junior Hall of Fame. They will be inducted at the banquet of junior champions Nov. 21 at Almansor Court in Alhambra. . . . Late entries in the seventh annual Don Drysdale Hall of Fame invitational, which will be held at Pelican Hill Golf Course in Newport Coast, Nov. 17-20, include Julius Erving, Mike Ditka and Warren Spahn. There will be 60 Hall of Famers playing--59 men and Ann Meyers Drysdale, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. A few playing spots remain open, and a list of Hall of Famers competing is available by calling 1-800-DRYSDALE.