Thanks for the Memory - and Fore! Setting a Great Example

The National Golf Foundation reports about $4 billion per year is raised for charity through more than 140,000 golf outings and golf events involving 12 million people. The first breezes of this windfall of great times resulting in great money for great causes came from two of the most prominent swingers of the 20th century: Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.

Hope and Crosby clearly loved golf, perhaps as much as they loved performing for big crowds. The two began entertaining together in the late 1930s and soon discovered a shared love of the game. The first of their series of buddy films - "Road to Singapore" - was released in 1940. The following year the United States was drawn into World War II. A desire to support the war effort inspired Hope and Crosby to make the golf course their stage for hundreds of golf exhibitions that secured critical financial support for important charitable works.

The photographed ticket accompanying this post belonged to my mother in-law. She attended a Hope-Crosby charity golf event on April 22, 1945, which reportedly raised $5,000 for the American Women's Voluntary Services (the charity name is misprinted on the ticket). Dorothy Dudley had taken a semester off from her studies at Marshall College to move with her parents from Ohio to California, where her father had accepted a job as chief engineer of a Los Angeles-based stove manufacturer. (Miss Dudley also did her part for the war effort during her time in Southern California, assembling airplane bomb sights in a local war plant.)

This historic moment in time and place, and the incredible characters involved in the golf match, are notable, to put it lightly. It's why I consider the ticket such a prized possession. It was found in my mother in-law's effects following her death, and given to me by my sister in-law Connie Dziagwa.

First, the significance of the date. On the same day the match was played, Adolph Hitler, holed up in his bunker, declared to his commanders the war was lost and suicide his only recourse. Eight days later, he took his own life. One week after that the Germans surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. The brutal war in Europe was over.

The place, Santa Anita Golf Course, located about 13 miles northeast of Los Angeles, was built on the site of a World War I-era balloon school operated by the U.S. Army. It opened as a golf course in 1938 and immediately became the host site of an annual professional tournament, the Santa Anita Open. World Golf Hall of Fame member and U.S. Open champion Lloyd Mangrum was among the winners of the Santa Anita Open, which was played until 1955. Today the course is open to the public. For just $29 you can walk 18 holes - among the footsteps of some of golf's greats - on any weekday.

The benefactor of the day's event was the largest U.S. women's service organization to support the war. The American Women's Voluntary Services (AWVS) provided message delivery, ambulance and truck driving, the operation of emergency kitchens, the sale of war bonds, the spotting of enemy aircraft, firefighting, and many other homefront support services during and after the war. Its California chapter founder and president was Doris Nixon, the mother of U.S. Army paratrooper Lewis Nixon, who was prominently featured in the Stephen Ambrose book and HBO television series "Band of Brothers."

As for the competitors in the match, you'd be hard-pressed - then or now - to find six more distinguished participants.

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby, who was 41 years-old at the time of the match, earned his only Academy Award in 1944. He was awarded Best Actor honors for his portrayal of Father O'Malley in "Going My Way." Two months after this exhibition, Life magazine wrote, "America's number one star, Bing Crosby, has won more fans and has made more money than any entertainer in history. Today he is kind of an American institution."

Crosby had more-or-less invented the Pro-Am format, which combines professional golfers with amateurs - often high-profile amateurs, including stars of stage and screen, musicians, and U.S. Presidents. His Crosby Clambake, which he began in 1937 near his home in San Diego by putting up $3,000 of his own money for a tournament purse, and making invitations to his who's who of acquaintances. After the war, Bing would move the event to its permanent home on the Monterey Peninsula. As televised golf brought the game to the masses, the Crosby Clambake introduced much of America to the stunning beauty of Pebble Beach and Cypress Point. Seventy years later, the tournament continues to deliver warm West Coast images each February to the those of us suffering through the gray winter.

Both Crosby and Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope, also 41 years-old in the spring of '45, would be elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame for their many contributions to the game. Hope is also the first and only American to be given honorary military veteran status, so deemed by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1997, for his support of U.S. troops during World War II and the military conflicts that followed. The U.S. Army has documented his participation in 199 USO shows over a half-century. His first combat tour to entertain troops was in 1943, when he visited American soldiers in Italy, Sicily and North Africa.

Inspired by Crosby's iconic Clambake, Hope would put his on name on a Pro-Am event on the PGA TOUR, the Bob Hope Desert Classic in Palm Springs. Other entertainers followed the trailblazing Hope and Crosby by putting their names and reputations behind tournaments, including Glen Campbell (Los Angeles), Sammy Davis, Jr. (Hartford), Jackie Gleason (Miami), Dean Martin (Tuscon), Danny Thomas (Memphis), and Andy Williams (San Diego).

The professionals golfers sharing the stage with their famous hosts would walk away with a stunning 24 major championships between them, including eight U.S. Open championships, and total more than 150 professional victories. Three of the four are in the World Golf Hall of Fame alongside Hope and Crosby. The other is in the PGA of America Hall of Fame.

Olin Dutra, at age 44, had won 10 professional tournaments, including two major championships, and competed on two U.S. Ryder Cup teams, by the time this charity match was played. He had been serving as head professional of nearby Wilshire Country Club for a decade. Hope and Crosby were often seen at Wilshire, and legend has it the first time Ben Hogan played at the club he asked his caddy where to aim for the blind tee shot on the 9th hole. "Just aim at the Hollywood sign," his caddy said. To which the always precise Hogan replied, "Which letter?"

Lieutenant William Ben Hogan, 32, was at the tail end of two-and-a-half-year stint in the U.S. Army Air Corps, where he served as a utility pilot and completed flight instructor training. (He would be discharged four months after the match.) While he had already won 16 professional tournaments by 1945, the best golf of his legendary career was still ahead of him. He would win 47 more tournaments before his professional playing days were over, including nine major championship victories. It's a resume that places him among the game's all-time greats.

Elizabeth May "Betty" Jameson, 25, won back-to-back U.S. Women's Amateur championships in 1939 and '40. She started her professional career later in '45, and went on to win three major championships among her 22 professional wins, including the second U.S. Women's Open ever played, in 1947. She was among the 13 founding members of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).

Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, 33, was also a founding member of the LPGA. In '45 she was better known for winning three track and field medals, including two gold, at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, than for her powerful golf game. In '45 and '46, Zaharias won 13 consecutive amateur tournaments before turning professional in '47. Although her pro career lasted only nine seasons, she won an incredible 55 tournaments, including three U.S. Opens among her 10 major victories. Sports Illustrated named her the best female athlete of the 20th century, and the 10th greatest athlete overall, which placed her 2nd among all golfers, behind only Jack Nicklaus, who the magazine ranked 9th. (Ben Hogan ranked 38th on the list.)

So, what happened in the match involving this super sixsome? Media reports state the exhibition lasted just six holes. The team of Dutra, Hope and Zaharias shot the lowest combined score, and was declared the winner. Of course, the real winners were the AWVS and the thousands of other charities that have benefited from the many ways the game of golf, and golfers, continue to give back in communities all over the world.