Most followers of golf can easily name
some of the most influential golfers in the game in America. There are such legends as Francis
Ouimet, Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and, more recently, Tiger
Woods (in a few years, Jordan Spieth could become part of the
conversation?). All of these people
have helped to grow the game in one way or
another.
But what about some prominent figures that
were not primarily players who helped make the game what it is today?
Many avid golfers would likely suggest
the names of course architects, who design and build the wonderful golfing playgrounds
-- iconic names from the golden age of American golf, such as Donald Ross and
A.W. Tillinghast. (Readers of
MyPhillyGolf may recall the 2014 article I wrote about Tillinghast: "A treasure
trove of golf writing by A.W. Tillinghast." Tilly was a long-time Philadelphian that
for years wrote weekly golf articles for two
different local newspapers.)
Now, I would like to focus on another important
person in the history of American golf, who also has ties to Philadelphia and
was neither a player nor an architect.
I’ll get to his name in a moment.
Influence
on Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus said of this man: "Outside
of my father and [his PGA golf instructor] Jack Grout, [he] was the most
influential person in my life."
"From the moment I met him, I could
tell he was in charge of the game of golf," continued Nicklaus. "Every time I had a question or a
problem about what was right, I always picked up the phone and placed a call to
[him]. I always knew I would get
the right answer, whether it was what I wanted to hear or not. We loved him."
C. Grant Spaeth, then president of the
United States Golf Association (USGA), said the following about this man upon
his death in 1991: "One sentence
cannot capture the extent of our reverence, our gratitude or our loss, not
simply because [he] was the overpowering force in golf for four decades, but
because he lived a principled and exemplary life of service."
This mystery man is no stranger to the
City of Brotherly Love. He went to
school in Philadelphia and lived worked here for several years, writing
hundreds of articles about golf for two local newspapers.
USGA
and PGA Tour
His name was Joseph C. Dey (pronounced "die"). Dey left his indelible mark on the game
as the Executive Director of the USGA for 34 years and as the first
commissioner of the PGA Tour, a post he held for five years.
An extensive bio
for Joe Dey is available on World Golf Hall of Fame website, into which he was
inducted in 1975. An excellent obituary
was written by Jaime Diaz and published in the New York Times on March 5, 1991. Another good read on Dey is an extensive
article
penned by former PGA Tour player Kermit Zarley.
I’ll add to the biography with some
details I have unearthed over the last couple of years. Dey was born in Norfolk, Va., in 1907
and grew up in New Orleans. A 1921 Times-Picayune article states he
attended McDonogh
No. 14 school for eighth grade.
A 1924 Times-Picayune article indicates he graduated from Warren Easton
High School that January and gave a commencement speech entitled "Education and
Life." According to Ancestry.com, in 1924 he was
still living in New Orleans (1664 Robert) and his occupation listed as a reporter. His first foray in sports writing was
while he was still in high school, where he wrote a handful of articles (track
and field and tennis) in the summer of 1923 for the Times-Picayune.
He
lived and worked in Philadelphia
Although I do not know exactly when Dey
moved to Philadelphia from New Orleans, he was a student at Wharton during the
1925-6 school year and the College (now called the School of Arts and Sciences)
in 1927-8, according to the University of Pennsylvania University Archives’
Timothy Horning, although he never received a degree. In 1930 he lived in a row house in
southwest Philadelphia (5642 Whitby Avenue). He was single, lived with his parents and
still listed his occupation as a reporter.
By 1935, Dey was living in Brooklyn, N.Y.,
as he was hired by the USGA in 1934 to be their executive secretary. In November 1952, his job title was
changed to executive director, a position he held until 1968. The following year, he was named the
first commissioner of the newly-formed PGA Tour, a tumultuous time right after
the touring pros split from the PGA of America.
If records from my microfilm research
are accurate, Joe Dey first began writing in Philadelphia on college sports for
the Evening Public Ledger in
1927. He also wrote for the Philadelphia Golfer magazine
starting in 1928, where he penned an informative article
on the early history of the Cobb’s Creek Golf Course, which was about to host
the 1928 USGA Men’s U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.
Legacy
of golf writing in Philadelphia
His most extensive golf writing began
in January of 1930 for the Evening
Bulletin, a very popular newspaper in Philadelphia that had a long run
until it ceased operations in 1982.
His first article
was about proposed changes to the LuLu golf course.
Some of his most interesting articles
were in 1931, called "Golfing
Waterloos", where he wrote about prominent golf
holes in the area, each of which included a detailed drawing of the hole. Was it these entertaining "Waterloo" articles
that attracted the attention of the USGA?
Perhaps. But more likely it
came from his excellent coverage of Bobby Jones earning golf’s Grand Slam in
1930 at Merion. One of his first articles
on this historic tournament was on a new sprinkler system with an independent
water supply.
Overall, Joe Dey wrote hundreds of
articles for the Evening Bulletin,
until his stay ended there in August 1933.
Philadelphia Bulletin archives
I have gathered all of these articles
from microfilm and they are presented in chronological order here:
Joe Dey
articles
Joe Dey was truly a gift to the game of
golf.
Joe
Bausch, creator of The Bausch Collection of golf course photo
galleries, is a chemistry professor at Villanova University. He also oversees the Friends of Cobb’s
Creek Golf Course blog.
