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THE AMATEUR GAME By Steve Eubanks
The big surprise was that he was surprised. Nathaniel Crosby always seemed like a shoo-in to captain a U.S. Walker Cup team. He checked all the USGA boxes. A member of the victorious U.S. team in 1983 at Royal Liverpool (which is where the 2019 Walker Cup matches will be played), a past U.S. Amateur champion, low amateur in the 1982 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, stroke-play medalist at the 1979 U.S. Junior Amateur and a guy who has been a passionate cheerleader for the USGA for decades: you couldn’t create a better candidate. Still, the 56-year-old son of legendary entertainer Bing Crosby had to catch his breath when USGA president Diana Murphy called.
“It had been mentioned to me about 12 years ago by (former USGA executive director) David Fay who said, ‘You know, you’re going to be a Walker Cup captain,’ ” Crosby said. “I remember at the time I said, ‘You’re kidding.’ Then I looked into it and realized that the USGA traditionally asks former U.S. Amateur champions who are still amateurs, runner-ups from the Amateur, and they invite (U.S.) Mid-Amateur champions who’ve played on Walker Cup teams. Outside of that, the list is pretty narrow.
“But it’s certainly nothing that you lobby for. All I did was show up at the Walker Cup Society meetings, go to the U.S. Amateur (every year) and the amateur dinner at the Masters. I was the keynote speaker at the U.S. Junior in 2004 and the keynote speaker at the U.S. Amateur in 2007 when it came back to the Olympic Club. And I spoke at the players’ dinner (at the U.S. Amateur) in 2016 at Oakland Hills. The USGA people seem to enjoy having me and I love to attend. Looking back, I can’t believe how many USGA friends I have that have been around since the early 1980s.
“I haven’t won a tournament in 35 years so I like to say I’m playing myself through a slump. But I do like the fact that I have three USGA national medals. Still, I was getting myself psychologically prepared to be overlooked. You’ve got to dig deep under the covers to find my stuff. But I’m awfully humbled and thankful that they did.”
You don’t really have to dig that deep. Crosby has been a mainstay in the game for decades. If you look at the awards presentation from the 1982 U.S. Open, there’s Tom Watson accepting the trophy from former President Gerald Ford with Crosby right behind them, flashing the large, infectious smile that was already a television staple.
“It had been mentioned to me about 12 years ago by (former USGA executive director) David Fay who said, ‘You know, you’re going to be a Walker Cup captain.' I remember at the time I said, ‘You’re kidding.’ Then I looked into it and realized that the USGA traditionally asks former U.S. Amateur champions who are still amateurs, runner-ups from the Amateur, and they invite (U.S.) Mid-Amateur champions who’ve played on Walker Cup teams. Outside of that, the list is pretty narrow."
- Nathaniel crosby
That humility isn’t an act. Crosby is one of the few celebrity children who might be a better person than his father. And by most accounts, Bing was a gem of a man.
“He’s such a great guy,” John Bodenhamer, USGA senior managing director of championships and governance, said of Crosby. “In addition to being a Walker Cup player and a former U.S. Amateur champion, he won a Porter Cup and had a really nice college career. I was at BYU when he was (playing golf at) Miami. We played against each other back then. I reminded him of some stories from that time after we announced him as captain.”
Then Bodenhamer paused a second as if seeing how his words might look in print.
“We think a lot about how our captain will represent the USGA and represent our country,” he said. “We consider how our captain will engage with our friends at the R&A and how he will handle the sportsmanship and integrity that are hallmarks of the matches. Everyone knows that Nathaniel wonderfully fits that bill. We know he’ll be great.”
Crosby will also bring a celebrity cachet to the matches, and not just because his father remains a revered figure in the game. Bing received the USGA’s highest honor, the Bob Jones Award, and he played in the British Amateur at St. Andrews. His final Christmas special, with Nathaniel as a guest star – Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas, the one where he sang the famous duet with David Bowie – was filmed in England. Bing passed away before the show aired but the song has become a viral sensation in the internet age.
As for the famous crooner’s son, if you go down the list of memorable U.S. Amateurs, once you pass Tiger Woods’ three victories, you don’t get much farther before landing on Nathaniel’s 1981 victory. It was at the Olympic Club, near the Crosby home. His mother, Kathryn, walked every step. Nathaniel came from 3 down with nine holes to play to beat Willie Wood in the semifinals and then came from 4 down with 10 to play to beat Brian Lindley with a walk-off, 22-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. The entire time, Nathaniel rubbed a medallion he wore around his neck, one that his father had earned for qualifying for the 1941 U.S. Amateur.
“One of the coolest parts was after I won, I thought to give the golf ball to my dad’s best friend, George Coleman, known from the book The Match,” Crosby said. “If you look back at the (ABC) television coverage, after I made the 22-footer you can see me asking for George Coleman. That was one of the most memorable aspects of the week. George kept that ball in a Plexiglas box until he died in 1997.”
There are a number of other cool aspects of having Crosby as Walker Cup captain. Young people might learn that Crosby, who was president of Toney Penna Golf and the Jack Nicklaus Golf Equipment Co. and a partner in Orlimar Golf, invented the golf infomercial. He is also the ninth member of Seminole Golf Club to lead a Walker Cup team.
From a personal perspective, he’s just happy to be recognized in his own home.
“My oldest son, Nathaniel Jr., is a two-time club champion at The Bear’s Club,” Crosby said. “Not long ago, Jack (Nicklaus) came up to him and said, ‘You look so familiar.’ He said, ‘I’m Nathaniel Crosby.’ Jack said, ‘Oh, you’re Nathaniel’s son. Well, your dad never had a swing that good.’ That put a 25-year-old on cloud nine for about a month. But he’s a good player. So, he recognizes that this (Walker Cup thing) is a cool deal.”
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