Virginia Golfer May / Jun 2019 | Page 42

MyTurn by JIM DUCIBELLA John O’Donnell won five Virginia State Opens between 1948 and 1955. H e’s the only golfer to win the Virginia PGA Open and the Maryland State Open in the same year. He is almost certainly the only teen- ager to caddie in a PGA Championship (for Gene Sarazen) and later compete in the match play and medal play editions of that event. He teamed with Arnold Palmer in what is reputed to be his last exhibition as an amateur and, six days after Palmer turned pro in 1955, teamed with him again in a match involving Chandler Harper. Both happened in Virginia. He gave one of the country’s first Black club professionals his start when he hired Walter “Chink” Stewart, then just 16, as his assistant. He hosted one of America’s first televi- sion golf shows. “Par in the Parlor” aired on Norfolk’s only TV station, WTAR, at today’s prime hour for local news, 6 p.m. His name? John O’Donnell. O’Donnell came to mind as I thought about the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame (virginiagolf halloffame.com). A ll 14 40 members (soon to be 19) have contributed sig- nificantly to Common- wealth golf, and beyond. Now, perhaps, the chal- lenge is identifying can- didates less well known, but no less deserving. I don’t know if O’Donnell fits that criteria, and I don’t know the family. But I sought out O’Don- nell’s son, also John. His dad’s profession- al life was interspersed w ith enter ta ining , occa siona lly booz y a ne c dot e s i nvolv i ng Walter Hagen and Ben Hogan, Bobby Cruick- shank and Herman Keiser, Sam Snead and Palmer and Lew Worsham, among many others. With so little money to be made on the Tour, O’Donnell stayed close to home. Turning pro at age 17, he came from Maryland to Richmond’s Country Club of Virginia in 1940 at the behest of Cruick- shank. The story goes that that’s where he joined Palmer, Billy Joe Patton and future USGA president Harry Easterly for Palmer’s farewell amateur exhibition. Joining the Navy, he was stationed at Sewell’s Point in Norfolk. There, he taught boxing champ Gene Tunney’s fitness pro- gram and O’Donnell’s son said his dad gave lessons alongside Paul Runyon and Harper. Imagine seeing that trio on the range at the same time. Sewell’s Point is where he helped Palmer launch his pro career. Following the war, he became the pro at Sewell’s Point, and there his moments of brilliance surfaced. Five times between 1948 and 1955, he won the Virginia State Open. In ‘54 he won the title in Maryland and Virginia, besting players the caliber of Worsham and Jack Isaacs, with whom he had a friendly rivalry. V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | M AY / J U N E 2 0 1 9 He had his moments in the national PGA as well, though they didn’t end well. In 1956, he missed an 18-inch putt on the last hole to beat Snead and move into the semifinals of match play. He lost in 20 holes. “Dad was one of the worst putters ever—except from 40 feet,” O’Donnell said. “From 40 feet, a good putt leaves you with a two-footer. Those were the ones he couldn’t make. He could ‘yip’ like his putter had a mind of its own.” Four years later, at Firestone—and at the age of 47—O’Donnell trailed leader Jay Hebert by just three shots after 36 holes of what had become stroke play. But he couldn’t stay out of unforgiving rough, his putter betrayed him again and he finished 60th. There’s more to that story. The flam- boyant Hagen and O’Donnell hit the town after the second round, which his son quipped, “explains what happened to dad the next couple of days.” The two pros talked about O’Donnell’s inability to escape the rough. The Haig promised to make him a club that would solve the problem. “It was laminated wood, with a short shaft and a bit of a rounded bottom,” O’Donnell said. “I’d call it a great prede- cessor to the hybrid.” How much more human pro golf seemed then. O’Donnell and father attended an Open in which courtesy cars ferried play- ers to their hotel—but only when they were full. Entering one car, they found Hogan, alone, waiting for more passengers. Keiser and O’Donnell were lucky to see Keiser win the 1946 Masters. After a round at Princess Anne CC followed by an enthusiastic session at the 19th hole, Keiser got behind the wheel of their car. Virginia Beach offered passenger rail service then and Keiser backed into an oncoming train. Somehow, neither man was hurt. But Keiser nearly lost more than his claim to fame, and O’Donnell’s triumphs likewise never would have happened. vsga.org Lost, But Not (Completely) Forgotten