Fullerton’s Stupple Has Really Paid His Dues

Bob Stupple’s preparation for the British Open consisted of everything you’d expect from a young golfer headed to his first major championship: meticulous practice sessions, fine-tuning his putting stroke and developing his mental approach.

One item on Stupple’s checklist, however, might seem a little odd.

“My father had to make me a new set of hickory-shafted clubs,” Stupple said. “I was using steel-shafted clubs at that time and they didn’t allow steel in Europe then.”

Of course, times have changed since 1928, but that’s the way it was when Stupple headed across the Atlantic.

Stupple, 92, of Fullerton, has been a PGA member since 1926, making him the oldest PGA professional in California. The son of a professional club maker, Stupple was the fourth of six children. Three of his brothers were also PGA members. Bob and Alec, 91, are the only ones still alive.

Stupple learned to play golf before World War I, won his first professional tournament seven years before Jack Nicklaus was born and was playing senior events a year after Elvis had his first No. 1 hit.

But the fondest memory for Stupple, who will turn 93 on Jan. 15, was that British Open at Royal St. George’s.

Walter Hagen won the third of his four British Open titles that year. Stupple remembers missing the cut by one stroke.

“So did Tommy Armour,” he says proudly. “That was one of my big items in life was that I missed the cut with Tommy Armour.”

He also remembers the seven-day boat trip to get there.

“There were no planes,” Stupple recalls.

He remembers the times being a lot different.

“They didn’t let the players in the clubhouse back then,” Stupple said. “So me and some of the other pros were sitting outside when this big fancy car comes rolling up. Out comes Hagen and the Prince of Wales and Hagen says, ‘Hey boys, you guys want a drink? The Prince is buying.’ ”

“Now I don’t remember if the Prince paid or Hagen or who, but we got to go in the clubhouse and I sure didn’t pay.”

Stupple gave up playing golf three years ago after hip replacement surgery, but still has his 40-year-old set of Ben Hogan Medallion irons and retains his honorary life membership in the PGA of America.

“They still make me pay the dues, though--$180 a year,” he said.

He shot his age every year from when he turned 65 until he gave up playing at age 90. He also had 14 holes-in-one during his career. All kinds of holes-in-one.

“Some went in on the fly, some hit the branch of a tree and kicked on the green and went in the hole and some went through a sand trap, hit a rake and went into the hole,” he said. “There sure were some screwy ones.”

Born in Long Island, N.Y., in 1907, Stupple moved with his family to a Chicago suburb that same year. He became a caddie at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Ill., when he was 7.

“The only bags I carried were very light,” he said. “I caddied for the women. They only had about three or four clubs in the bag.”

He made 75 cents a round, maybe a dime tip, but the big money was when a player wanted to practice. Practice ranges were different in Stupple’s day.

“The caddie would stand out there and pick up the balls as they came out,” Stupple said. “We’d have to run after them and then bring them back.”

Stupple caddied in the 1922 U.S. Open, won by Gene Sarazen at Skokie Country Club in Glencoe, Ill., and later became a teaching pro there. He held four club professional jobs before retiring in 1976.

He was named Iowa PGA professional of the year twice, and was runner-up in the 1957 Senior PGA Club Professional championship.

In 1923, he qualified for and made the cut at the Los Angeles Open at Riviera. He shot 72-69 and was a shot off the lead, then contracted the flu and shot 81-82 in the last two rounds. He made $112.

His first professional victory came in the 1933 St. Petersburg Open in Florida. He won $300.

“There was no money back then,” he said. “About all it was was what we put into it.”

He still gives lessons to friends and family--he has three daughters and 11 grandchildren, and his 17th great-grandchild was born Christmas Eve--but he has pretty much strayed from golf otherwise.

“I don’t miss it,” he said. “I get the urge to play, but when I think of what I went through 1/8with the hip 3/8 that takes care of that.”

The next milestone, after reaching the end of the 1900s and then his 93rd birthday, will be July 19, 2001, when Stupple will reach his 75th anniversary as a PGA member.

“The three-quarters century club,” said Stupple, still very active, sharp-witted and living on his own. “Nobody’s made it there yet.”