Bobby Cruickshank
was an adopted son of Virginia. He was
born in Grantown-on-Spey, Scotland,
in 1894. He was a World War I hero and
POW who escaped from the Germans
two days before the armistice that ended
the war.
Cruickshank turned professional in
1921 and moved to the United States. He
was the PGA Tour’s leading money winner
in 1927 after winning the Los Angeles
Open and Texas Open that year. He served
as head professional at The Country Club
of Virginia from 1932-48 then moved to
a club in Pittsburgh, where he retired in
1969. He died in 1975 at age 80.
K
nown as the “ Wee Scot” or “ Wee
Bobby” because of his small stature
(5-foot-2 to 5-4), Bobby Cruickshank
A STORY TO TELL
A superb teacher, Cruickshank was one
of the game’s greatest iron players and
putters, but “once or twice during a
round, he would hit a quick hook. That
was his only weakness,” the great Tommy
Armour wrote in a 1967 issue of Profes-
sional Golfer. Armour also said Cruick-
shank could have been a great mime
and comedian.
“He was a darling of the galleryrites,”
New York Times columnist Arthur Daley
wrote. “They were the forerunners of
Arnie’s Army, although they had no name
as does Arnold Palmer’s group of loyalists.
Maybe they might have been known as Bob-
by’s Brigade—if anyone thought of it then.”
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Runner-up in the 1923 and 1932
U.S. Opens; semifinalist in the 1922
and 1923 PGA Championship; had
16 top-10 finishes in major cham-
pionships in his career. He became
famous for his narrow misses in the
majors, including a playoff loss to
Bobby Jones in the 1923 U.S. Open.
Won five straight State Open of
Virginia titles from 1933-37; won a
sixth State Open in 1939.
Mary Patton Janssen
F
ox hunting, not golf, was Mary Patton
Janssen’s sport after her family moved
to Charlottesville when she was 15 years old.
Then her favorite horse was injured and had
to be put down. She took up golf at the age
of 21. Her father and two brothers were avid
golfers. She took lessons from Art Doering
at Farmington Country Club and later from
Pete Snead, brother of Sam Snead.
A STORY TO TELL
“The beginning of my career overlapped
with the last years of her career. I was a
teenager. She was already a great champion
and had been for over a decade in America
and overseas. She was really a legend,”
Robbye Unger remembered when asked
to talk about Janssen. “She was never beat
here in Virginia.”
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Won six consecutive VSGA Women’s Amateurs from 1957 to 1962. Three of the victories
(1958-60) are the top three widest margins in tournament history.
The sixth title in 1962 came against college student Robbye King, who was 4-up through 27
holes. Janssen rallied to win when King three-putted the final hole. As the two were walking
to the clubhouse, a tearful King stopped. Janssen told her, “Remember that I’m twice as old as you are,” Janssen said. “Your day is
coming.” King, now Unger and a member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2018, won the first of her six titles in 1963. Janssen retired.
Janssen finished as the runner-up in her first two appearances in the Women’s Am final (1950-51). She lost by 8-and-7 and
10-and-8 margins.
In her 12-year career, Janssen won 21 tournaments, including the 1953 Mid-Atlantic Amateur and the 1958 Eastern Amateur.
She was second seven times.
Janssen was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
vsga.org
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