BRUCE CRAMPTON: Cashing In His Senior Status

Add the name Bruce Crampton to the growing list of professional golfers who’ve discovered that, thanks to die PGA Senior Tour, life begins again at 50. Crampton, who along with Don January and Miller Barber serves as honorary tri-chairmen of the 1986 Senior Players ReUnion Pro-Am, celebrated his ninth start on the Senior circuit by winning the Doug Sanders Celebrity Classic in April. He turned 50 last September.

Crampton fired rounds of 66-67-69 (202) on the Memorial Park course in Houston to take the $25,000 first prize. Showing the competitive edge that helped him win 15 PGA Tour events, he birdied the final hole to break out of a four-way tie with Howie Johnson, Charles Owens and fellow Aussie Peter Thomson, the defending champion of the ReUnion Pro-Am.

Crampton’s paycheck represented a far cryfrom the first official prize money he earnedon the U.S. tour, the $693.75 he pocketed fortying for 13th in the 1957 Houston Open. In1973, Crampton joined the exclusive list ofArnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Jack Nicklaus andLee Trevino as players with career PGA earn-ings of more than $1 million.

I’m probably striking the ball as well as Ieven did,” says Crampton, a native of Sydney,Austria, who’s been a resident of Dallassince 1967. He credits adjustment in hisputting stroke for a scoring spree thatinclude a 64 in the Doug Sanders pro-amand 10 consecutive rounds in the 60s leadingup to the Legends of Golf in late April.

As crampton’s ReUnion colleagues, January and Barber, had previously discovered, there’s gold to be mined on the PGA Seniors Tour. Boud Barber have won more than $1 million since Seniors play began.

From its inception in 1980, when two events were played, the Senior Tour has mushroomed to 31 tournaments in 1986. The schedule for ’87calls for 37 events. NBC-TV broadcast the Legends of Golf in April and ESPN will televise a total of eight tournaments this year.

Prize money- for the Seniors has reached an astounding $7.5 million this year, about as much as the total purse PGA Tour players were competing for a little more than a decade ago.

Crampton couldn’t wait to cut himself a piece of the growing pie. “I wouldn’t have been interested in the Seniors Tour had it just been six or eight tournaments a year. But once I saw they had a full schedule of events and saw the success the Tour is enjoying, I knew I wanted to compete and to contribute to its success.”

The ReUnion Pro-Am provides an especially significant forum for Crampton to display his artistry, since he is a member of the tournament’s steering committee and for years was active in the tournament’s forerunner, the Methodist Hospital Pro-Am.

“There’s nothing like playing in your hometown,” he says. “Dallas is a big-time sports city. I’m excited that we have a seniors tournament in Dallas and thrilled with the full-time and involvement and support we have here.”

The ReUnion Pro-Am at Bent Tree has a format unique on the Seniors Tour-a competition between teams consisting of a Seniors tour member and his amateur partner in addition to the regular event among pros. The ReUnion format was patterned after the popular Bing Crosby Clambake.

Crampton’s amateur partner will be Lester Melnick, tournament chairman of the ’86 ReUnion Pro-Am. “1 call Lester Mister Dallas Sports’ because he’s an ardent follower of all sports in this city,” says Crampton. “He’s been playing great, getting his golf game geared for the tournament. He was playing so well in April that 1 said I wanted to deep-freeze his swing until the first week of June.”

Crampton also enjoys close ties with Joe Denton, the tournament coordinator. Denton helped Bruce and his wife, Joan, set up their first home in Dallas, and he helped them manage their business affairs, joe, who was then a trust officer with the Oak Cliff Bank & Trust, told me, ’Bruce, on the golf course you’re the professional, in the world of business I’m the professional’.” Denton is now the chairman of the board of RepublicBank Oak Cliff and Crampton sits on the bank’s advisory board of directors.

Crampton and Denton played together as a team in six Bing Crosby clambakes, an experience that helped Denton shape the format for the ReUnion Pro-Am. They have been business partners and remain close friends. “1 couldn’t have accomplished what I have in golf without the help, guidance and friendship of Joe Denton,” says Crampton.

Among Crampton’s major accomplish-mènes in golf was winning the prestigious Vardon Trophy, for the lowest scoring average among tour regulars, in 1973 and again in 1975. In 1973, his finest year, Crampton won four tournaments, was runnerup in five others, and finished second on the PGA money-winning list with 1274,266.

On three occasions in his distinguished career, Crampton made a strong bid to claim one of golfs major titles. He finished as the runnerup in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 1972 and in the PGA championship 1973 and 1975.

Ironically, on each occasion Crampton finished second in a major he was beaten by the same person. A fellow named Jack Nicklaus.

With all those credits in his portfolio, Crampton still considers the greatest victory in his career the 1956 Australian Open. “It’s important to any player to win his own national championship,” he explains. “It was probably my biggest thrill in golf in that it opened so many doors. It gained me an invitation to The Masters and provided exposure to tournament golf in the United States.

“I had proved I could compete favorably with the best players in Australia,” Crampton says. “My goal was to see whether I could compete favorably with the top players in the United States, where the best tournament golf is played.”

Crampton competed favorably in the United States for two decades. He left die PGA tour full-time in 1977 and began a second career in the oil and gas business.

“I got involved in digging holes in tfv\ earth with something other than a wedge he jokes. He also was able to devote more time to his family, which includes sons Jay,. ^ and Roger, 12. Jay will attend die Univers^ ,￡ Florida this fall on a golf scholarship.

With the decline in oil prices and the rise in Senior Tour purses, it makes sense nomically to learn that Bruce Crampiton is devoting all his energies to golf once. again.

He’s engaged in a conditioning Program that helps him with suppleness and fl^bilirv two keys for any golf swing. He say. he feels stronger than he has in years.

He also feels strongly about berg a part of the burgeoning Seniors Tour “The re’s a feel ing of warmth and respect out here he mar vels. “Everywhere I’ve played so far people have approached me and said . “Bruce, it’s great to see you.’ It’s a genuineness of feeling that makes us want to perforn our best.”

If the Reunion Pro-Am galleries don’t already know it, they will liscover that the best of Bruce Crampton is mighty good.