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For Immediate Release:
Media Contact: Robert
Myers
Bob Goldwater, Sr., The Father of the
Passed Away Today at
“The Thunderbirds are deeply saddened by the death of Bob Goldwater, the Father
of the
Funeral services will be held on November 13th at
Mr. Goldwater was an “Active” Thunderbird from 1939 – 1953 and served as
Phoenix Open Golf Tournament Chairman from 1934 – 1951. He also served as The
Thunderbirds Big Chief (President) in 1943. He was born
Goldwater was a boy phenom. At the age of 14, he was
runner-up in the 1925 Arizona State Amateur Championship. He would go on to win
that title, along with the Southwest Amateur tournament, three times apiece. In
1951, he beat the nation’s number one amateur, Charlie Coe, to capture the Broadmoor Invitational in
Make no mistake, however: Bob Goldwater’s
lasting legacy is that he is the “Father of the
“I believe it was about 1980, at one
of the pro-am dinners, they had this banner that said ‘Bob Goldwater, Father of
the Phoenix Open,’ said Goldwater in 1991. “Yes, I was very surprised, very
honored.”
Bob Goldwater became an active Thunderbird
in 1939, two years after the original 5 Thunderbirds were chosen. When The
Thunderbirds expanded from their original 5 to 55 in early 1939, both Bob
Goldwater and Barry Goldwater were asked to be members of The Thunderbirds.
Once Mr. Goldwater became a Thunderbird, he
suggested to then Big Chief Ken Barton that the group resurrect the
discontinued Phoenix Open golf tournament instead of hosting the Fiesta del Sol
to produce more revenues. After some argument from the Big Chief and other
Thunderbirds, a committee was appointed that included Mr. Goldwater to meet
with the Chamber of Commerce and make suggestions on other events the group
could host.
“None of us on the Thunderbirds wanted to
do anything in the sports line,” said one of the original five Thunderbirds
Milt Sanders in a 1950 interview. “So we said that when the committee
went before the Chamber, we’d agree to anything but a sports event.”
Bob Goldwater was the only Thunderbird who
showed up for the meeting with the Chamber. He spoke so aggressively and
persuasively for a golf tournament, and with no other Thunderbird present to
argue against him, the tournament was approved by the Chamber.
“When he reported back, we were so peeved
we made him do all the work,” said Sanders. “He printed the tickets, sold
sponsorships and obtained the use of the Phoenix Country Club. Bob also brought
in friends like Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan and the
tournament succeeded.”
Nelson, in fact, went on to win the 1939
tournament over Hogan by 12 shots and took home $700 of the $3,000 purse and
the modern-day Phoenix Open was born.
“I loved those early years,” said Goldwater
in a 1984 interview. “I look back on those days with a sense of pride mixed
with wonderment. We weren’t necessarily organized, but we always seemed to
accomplish whatever was necessary to present a golf tournament.”
“I recall when we used to keep the
galleries in line with bamboo poles. The big social event was a cookout at
“In either 1939 or 1940, I recall we needed
to raise $3,000 for the purse money. A bunch of us went into town (you have to
remember that Phoenix Country Club was located WAY out on
The 2007
-30-
Additional Information:
Robert W. “Bob”
Goldwater, Sr.
Active Thunderbird: 1939
– 1953
Golf Tournament
Chairman: 1934 – 1951
Big Chief: 1943
Born:
96-year old Bob
Goldwater is known as the father of the
Before becoming a
Thunderbird, Mr. Goldwater served as the Tournament Chairman and participated
in 1934 Phoenix Pro-Am, a two-man best ball golf tournament won by professional
Ky Laffoon and amateur
golfer and Bob’s brother Barry Goldwater (Bob Goldwater finished in 4th
place in the Pro-Am). One year later, Goldwater again served as the Tournament
Chairman of the 1935 Phoenix Open (a 72-hole event won by Ky
Laffoon). In his role as tournament chairman for
those events, Goldwater secured the venue – Phoenix Country Club – invited
players and worked with tournament sponsor the 20/30 Club.
Under the shroud of war
in
The Thunderbirds
History:
The Thunderbirds were formed
in 1937 when the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce decided to expand its role as a
convention and tourism bureau. They realized there was a need for a special
committee to venture into new promotional fields and five young executives were
selected to lead that committee. They were:
After running the 1937
and 1938 Fiesta del Sol – a week long event modeled after the Jr. Chamber of
Commerce Rodeo that also included bands and dancing – in late 1938 the Chamber
suggested that the committee become an “Official” Special Events Committee and
expand its membership. Each of the five original members then selected ten
additional members to make up a committee of 55. They called themselves The
Thunderbirds after the emblem of the Chamber of Commerce and adopted the
uniform blue velvet tunics and silver concho belts
and pendants reminiscent of the earlier Indian civilization of the area.
Bob Goldwater Continued:
Bob Goldwater on the
early years:
“Those first few
tournaments at the Phoenix Country Club were special. We had great players like
Walter Hagen, Ralph Guldahl and Harry ‘Lighthorse’ Cooper who later handed the torch off to the
likes of Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, ‘Lord’ Byron Nelson and Bobby Locke. They
weren’t playing for much money in those days. Heck, a few years (1944 and ‘45)
we gave out war bonds instead of cash. These guys played for the pure love of
the sport.”
Bob Goldwater on Ben
Hogan:
“Ben was the best
ball-striker I have ever seen. I can still see Ben walking up the 18th fairway
in the final round of the 1949 Open, fairly confident he was on his way to
another win. Jimmy Demaret made a few clutch shots
down the stretch and then beat Hogan in a playoff.” (The next year, Hogan
returned to
On Babe Zaharias’ appearance against the men in 1945:
“I played with her that
year. She was great fun to play with and she hit the ball a mile. Babe was a
great gal, very social. In those days, I had a house alongside Phoenix Country
Club and I would throw a party for the players every year. Babe came that year
and she had lots of fun. She liked to dance and was good at it, too.”
On his favorite
wisecrack:
“I was playing in the
pro-am in 1984 (at age 73) with Lee Trevino, Phil Harris, who was 80, and Karsten Solheim, who was also 73.
Trevino turned to the crowd and said, ‘I’m playing with three guys who ought to
have been dead 10 years ago.’”
On
“One year (1961) Arnie narrowly missed a birdie putt to win on the 18th
green, which meant an 18-hole playoff with Doug Sanders the next day. Arnie says ‘Dammit, I have to be
in
On his brother Barry,
the conservative political icon who won the 1934 pro-am:
“Barry had different
ideas about golf. He never understood why you had to keep quiet when somebody
else was shooting. He said they didn’t do it in any other game and damned if he
was going to shut up just because somebody was shooting. So he lost interest in
it.”
On Bing Crosby:
“Bing made a hole-in-one
out at Arizona Country Club at the ninth hole one year in the pro-am. But the
better story is that he’s walking over to the 10th tee and there’s a big rip in
his pants. Some big guy comes up and takes his pin on his badge and pins his
pants together.”
On Lawson Little, runner-up in the 1951 event:
“I once said to Lawson,
‘How do you play match play so well?’ He said, ‘You’ve got to concentrate.
Don’t let anything bug you. When you hit your drive and you’re walking to your
next shot, don’t think of anything but your next shot. If
anybody comes up to you, brush ‘em off. Make
yourself unpopular.’ I said ‘Well, you were a great success at that.’ He was
just brusque as hell. Lawson Little made Ben Hogan
look like a chatterbox.”
On Byron Nelson:
“In 1939, he’d had a
good round on Friday (68) and then Saturday he shoots two 65s and everybody was
talking about it. Someone said the afternoon round had to be a lot tougher for
Byron because he was playing out of his morning divots. We used to kid him,
when he’d hit his second shot at the pin, he’d have to
sway back and forth because the ball kept getting in the way of the pin. I was
playing a practice round with him in
On why the Open is so
popular:
“The Thunderbirds and
the (
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