Gene Littler, San Diego golf great, dies at 88

His well-earned nickname was “Gene the Machine,” because few players had a more efficient and consistent golf swing than Gene Littler.

The moniker could have applied to Littler as a person, too: Quiet, unassuming, consistent. He was not one to call attention to himself in any manner despite Hall of Fame accomplishments in the game.

“His swing was metronome-like. No question,” said Chuck Courtney, the pro emeritus at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club who caddied for and then played alongside Littler on the PGA Tour.

“He had this beautiful rhythm … tick, tock, tick, tock. God, it was beautiful. And that could pretty much describe his personality, too.”

Forever linked to Billy Casper because of the roots of their San Diego upbringings and rivalry on the PGA Tour, Littler — who was born in San Diego in 1930 and died Friday night in his hometown at the age of 88 — could not have been more different than his longtime friend and rival.

While Casper was gregarious and could seemingly recall every shot he hit, Littler, when asked by a reporter years ago to describe walking up the 18th hole in triumph in the 1961 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills, said, “I really can’t tell you much about it.”

Littler was not addled. He simply was not one to bank a bunch of memories, though he produced plenty; the San Diego State alum scored milestone wins at every stage of his career.

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He captured the U.S. Amateur in 1953, and months later, while still an amateur, won the San Diego Open at Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club. (Dutch Harrison got the first-place prize money; Littler got a medal.)

Littler turned pro the following year and would win 29 times on the regular tour and score another eight victories on the Champions Tour.

He also overcame cancer of his lymph system in 1972.

In recent weeks, Littler and his family had been preparing for a possible appearance in June at the U.S. Open in Pebble Beach, where the U.S. Golf Association was set to honor past winners. Littler was the oldest surviving golfer to have won a U.S. Open.

tod.leonard@sduniontribune.com