The Ultimate Club Pro Signs Off

Peter McCleery of Golf Digest files a nice read on longtime Oakmont head man Bob Ford watching his final U.S. Open as the club's pro and who has been around long enough to have once handled merchandise sales.

At 62, Ford still tried qualifying for this year's U.S. Open, something he has done before.

In 1983, as a competitor in the Open at Oakmont, Ford tied for 26th place, the best finish for a host pro since Claude Harmon at Winged Foot in 1959. No host pro has qualified, let alone made the cut, in a U.S. Open since Ford's 12-over-par showing. Thanks to a mail-order operation that the USGA later emulated, Ford cleared more that week than the champion, Larry Nelson. "Well, Larry made $72,000 for winning that Open, and I would say that we exceeded that," Ford says with a laugh.