Frank “Sandy” Tatum
Frank “Sandy” Tatum won the NCAA Individual Golf Championship in 1942, but he made his biggest contributions to the game without a club in hand. Tatum, a longtime San Francisco lawyer, served on the Executive Committee of the United States Golf Association from 1972-80, including two years as president. He later embarked on an ambitious […]
Juli Simpson Inkster
Juli Simpson Inkster won 39 professional golf tournaments, including seven women’s majors. Twice she took the U.S. Open, in 1999 and again in 2002, when, at age 42, she became the second oldest woman ever to win the event. Inkster started her golf career in Santa Cruz, where she was born and raised. Still competitive […]
George Archer
San Francisco native George Archer won 12 PGA Tour events and 19 tournaments on the Senior PGA Tour (now called the Champions Tour). Most memorably, Archer became the first Bay Area player to win the Masters, slipping his arms into the famous green jacket when he earned a one-shot victory at Augusta National on April […]
Tom Watson
Tom Watson starred for the 1968-71 Stanford University golf team and then turned pro. He won 34 times on the PGA tour, including the 1981 Masters and the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He was the PGA Player of the Year six times. Watson’s remarkable career includes five victories in the British Open. In […]
Johnny Miller
At age eight, Johnny Miller played his first Junior Golf Association of Northern California Golf Tournament at Lake Merced Golf Course. He has won the U.S. Open and British Open, plus 24 other PGA Tournaments. His record closing “63” captured the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont, and he followed with eight tour victories in 1974 […]
Tony Lema
Born in Oakland, Tony Lema had a meteoric golf career that ended in the fatal crash of a private plane in 1966. He was just 32 years old. From 1962-1966, he won 10 tour events, was second 11 times, and was third 4 times. He won the British Open in 1964 and was a member […]
Ken Venturi
Ken Venturi played his first round of golf at Harding Park at the age of 12. By the time he was 18, he had won the San Francisco City Championship. After graduating from Lincoln High in 1949, Venturi attended San Jose State College. He played on the golf team and twice won the Northern California […]
Roger Maltbie
Roger Maltbie had two excellent careers in golf, the first as a player who won five PGA tour tournaments including in 1976 the Initial Memorial, the other as one of the prime announcers for the NBC network. Born in Modesto, Maltbie grew up in San Jose and competed as an undergraduate at San Jose City […]