Pranks, practice highlight golf’s Beer and Barbeque Circuit

The jamboree that is the annual Dean & DeLuca Invitational at Colonial, to some anyway, is in gross violation of the rules of golf decorum as represented by persnickety Judge Elihu Smails of “Caddyshack’s” Bushwood.

But there was once another golf tour in Texas that closely resembled the spirited happenings on Colonial’s No. 13.

The events were scheduled just about every week throughout Podunk, Texas, and amateur players arrived each week — if they could afford the entry fee — seeking to test their skills against the best players in Texas and, hopefully, make a little money under the table off the Calcutta, that is, the “auction” of players in the field among locals.

The night before the tournament, organizers held a dinner of beer and barbecue. These events became known as the so-called Beer and Barbeque Circuit.

“The competition was good, but they weren’t as big as they were in the past,” said Henry Cagigal, who won one of the big events, the Center Invitational, in 2003. “The barbeque circuit for a lot of people was just to get away, to keep your game sharp, and, for some, to try to scratch out a living.”

Cagigal, now a pro with the city of Fort Worth, used the events as rehearsals for a hoped-for place on the PGA Tour. Mark Brooks was another who had success there, as did another future PGA player, Lindy Miller, who won twice at Center. Mark Walker was a multiple winner, and Angus Baker, Dave Davis, Dan Blake, and Kelly Grunewald were other Fort Worth-area guys who had success there.

Other than Brooks and Miller, those names probably wouldn’t be recognized outside of Texas, though Charles Coody, Don January, Don Cherry, Miller Barber, Tom Kite, and Ben Crenshaw most assuredly are.

All are alums of the Beer and Barbeque Circuit. So are Homero Blancas — who earned his nickname, “Mr. 55,” on the circuit long before winning Colonial in 1970 — Omar Uresti, Bruce Lietzke, Keith Fergus, and John Mahaffey. Kite and Crenshaw were back-to-back winners of the Firecracker Open in 1968-69. Crenshaw won again in 1971.

All were amateurs as college players seeking a different experience and playing under different circumstances and pressures, namely, playing for money for the first time in their lives.

It was customary for the winner of the Calcutta to give the winner of the tournament a little under the table. The Calcutta generally was held the night before the start of the tournament. Gamblers would put their money on golfers who they believed had the best chance to win, which created a pool of money. The winner took home the largest portion from the pool. Second might take 20 percent, third 10 and so on.

Kite and Crenshaw undoubtedly went for big bucks.

The practice was frowned upon by the USGA, according to a book titled “When Golf Was Fun: Tales From the Late, Great Beer & BBQ Circuit” by Pat Wheeler.

The evolution of junior golf organizations and clubs doing more best-ball and two-man tournaments caused a decline in the circuit, though a number of small towns are still playing.

“And it’s still a big event for the little town that hosts it,” Cagigal said.

As an amateur, Cagigal played in 11 national USGA events, coming a frustrating 36 holes from earning an invitation to the Masters. He lost a match-play event to Tim Hobby in Chicago. He was also a hair from earning a berth on the Walker Cup team.

“Things like that change your life,” Cagigal said.

Fun and pranks were always part of the beer circuit.

Cagigal remembered one future PGA player putting notes on bikes of a motorcycle club outside a hotel where many were staying. It said, in part, to paraphrase, “if you want a piece of me, I’m in room 82.”

Of course, room 82 wasn’t his.

The same guy scheduled 4 a.m. wake-up calls for his playing peers.

“It was something that was a lot of fun,” said Don Carroll, 85, who in another era often traveled with his longtime golfing buddy, T.A. Avarello, who made his living hustling on golf courses and winning often on the beer circuit.

“We played some little old golf courses, Mickey Mouse golf courses, but you really had to be on top of your game. There would be local guys out there in jeans, boots with spikes on them, and a cowboy hat with a canvas for a bag with four clubs. You wouldn’t think they could hit a golf ball at all, but they could bump it around, get up and down from anywhere and beat the …”

Dog out of you, he continued.

Getting up and down was the specialty of Dick Martin, a Dallasite and perennial winner on the beer circuit. According to “When Golf Was Fun,” Martin never attempted the PGA Tour because he couldn’t afford the pay cut. Martin’s era was long before the tour paid big bucks.

One of his standard bets was a wager that he could take a 9-iron, a 5-iron, and a putter and shoot 33 or better on the front nine at Tenison Park in Dallas. Martin also held the amateur scoring record at the Byron Nelson, when it was the Dallas Open, in 1957.

Lee Trevino, according to the book, who was a member of some of the money games at Tenison with Martin, reportedly called Martin the “best player he knew until he met Jack Nicklaus.”

One year at the Texas Open, Trevino almost holed-out a pitch-and-run from about 75 yards.

Martin was in his gallery, which was ecstatic at the result of the shot. Trevino suddenly quieted the crowd, called Martin out of the gallery and said, “This is the man who taught me that shot.”

“I wouldn’t change a thing,” Cagigal said. “We had a lot of good times and met a lot of good friends.”

This story was originally published May 22, 2017 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Pranks, practice highlight golf’s Beer and Barbeque Circuit."