Golf: A real family man

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - The first thing listed under “special interests” in

the Senior PGA Tour media guide for Bruce Summerhays is his family.

Next comes fishing, music, sports and church service.

“There’s nothing like family,” said Summerhays, a two-time winner on

the Senior Tour who employs one of his eight children to caddie for him

each week.

Summerhays, who has played in every Toshiba Senior Classic since the

event started in 1995 at Mesa Verde Country Club, will have his son,

William, on the bag this week at Newport Beach Country Club.

“All eight children have caddied for me,” Summerhays said. “It’s fun.

It’s a family affair.”

In addition to their Eight is Enough clan, Summerhays and his wife,

Carolyn, have 13 grandchildren and are expecting three more this year,

bringing the total to 24 in the immediate family.

“We love it,” said Summerhays, whose third son, William, 28, has been

on the bag in both of his father’s Senior Tour victories, the 1997 Saint

Luke’s Classic and 1998 State Farm Senior Classic, when he birdied the

final hole to win.

“They’re all good caddies,” Summerhays said of his kids.

William Summerhays, who speaks Spanish and English, handled dad’s bag

last week at the Mexico Senior Classic in Puebla, Mexico, and also helped

out in ordering dinner.

“That was very nice,” Summerhays said of his built-in interpreter.

For Summerhays and the rest of the Senior Tour players, the Mexico

Senior Classic represented a breakthrough of sorts in a different

culture.

“They had twice as many fans at the golf tournament (at Las Vista) as

last year,” Summerhays said, “and lots of kids.”

Summerhays, whose best finish in the Toshiba Senior Classic was tied

for 14th in 1999 with a 67-72-69--208, enjoyed his best year on the

senior circuit in 1999, earning over $1.1 million and finishing eighth on

the Senior Tour money list.

Summerhays, who once held the Senior Tour record for the most

consecutive events played (96), was among the top players in the Utah PGA

section for several years before joining the senior circuit in 1994.

In 2000, Summerhays kept his string of consecutive top-31 finishes

alive when he placed 19th on the Senior Tour money list, marking the

sixth straight year in which he has retained his fully exempt status.

A two-time Rocky Mountain PGA Section Player of the Year and Stanford

University golf coach in 1978 and ‘79, Summerhays never qualified for the

PGA Tour on a full-time basis, but played in numerous tour events when he

was living in Northern California.

Summerhays, now 57, qualified for four U.S. Open Championships and

four PGA Championships, and in 1977 was named the Northern California PGA

Section Player of the Year.

A collegiate All-American at the University of Utah, Summerhays broke

into the club business as an assistant pro at the Olympic Club in San

Francisco in 1968 and remained there until 1976. He set the Ocean Course

record at the Olympic Club with a 60.

It appears Summerhays also has the tour record for in-house caddies.