Cooper Went Off Line With His Nine in ’27

A 1924 Studebaker on sale for $995. Six dollars for a train ticket from Los Angeles to San Diego. Eyeglasses for $2.90. Shoes for $2. Theater tickets for $1.

Ah, life in 1927 was certainly cheaper, but the golf wasn’t any easier.

El Caballero Country Club in Tarzana hosted the Los Angeles Open in 1927, the last time the tournament was played in the San Fernando Valley.

The tournament is remembered more for the nightmare nine Lighthorse Harry Cooper took on the 110-yard No. 17 hole than the six-stroke victory by Bobby Cruickshank.

Cooper led by two strokes going into the final round but finished with an 83 and tied for 11th place. His nine on the par-three 17th left onlookers stunned.

The hole was surrounded by sand traps, and Cooper hit his initial shot over the green.

“I could have thrown the ball onto the green,” said Cooper, who is 93 and living in Hartsdale, N.Y. “I had a bad time getting out of trouble. We didn’t have sand wedges back then. I had a nine iron and you had to hit it just right, and I wasn’t feeling well.”

Cooper received praise for demonstrating how a professional athlete can deal effectively with adversity. He soon forgot about his nine.

“On the next hole, I lipped the cup,” he said.

Sportswriter Bill Wise of The Times wrote: “Cooper will never be accused of quitting--for after the nine that would have broken the heart of the gamest golfer in the world, Harry laid a long iron three inches from the last cup for an eagle three.”

Ten years later, Cooper won the 1937 L.A. Open, one of 31 tour victories in his career.

He also won the first L.A. Open in 1926 at Los Angeles Country Club. He was given his nickname Lighthorse because he finished the final round in a quick 2 1/2 hours.

The El Caballero course of today is not the same one used in 1927. The old El Caballero was disbanded after the Depression. The new El Caballero, built in 1956 on 150 acres in Tarzana, includes about 10% of the old course.

El Caballero was one of six Valley golf courses running adjacent to Ventura Blvd. in the 1920s. There were few roads, no freeways and lots of farmland. Nearby was the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs, who wrote the Tarzan novels.

“There was a lot of sage brush,” recalled Pete Kokon, 84, a longtime Valley sportswriter who used to caddie at El Caballero.

The 1927 tournament purse was $10,000, with Cruickshank taking home $3,500 for his victory. The Nissan Open purse this week at Valencia Country Club is $2.1 million, with the winner receiving a check for $378,000.

Cooper plans to watch this year’s tournament on TV at home.

He said the tournament will bring back memories from 1927, “but not the 17th hole--the 18th hole.”