THERE’S no doubt that if not for the great Jack Nicklaus, we’d be lauding major championship wins for two of Australian golf’s genuine trailblazers.
So, it was hardly surprising when Bruce Crampton and Bruce Devlin were last month awarded life membership of the PGA of Australia, alongside West Australian Rob Farley.
Crampton, now aged 90, finished runner-up in all three of the United States’ major championships in the early 1970s, and usually that was because Nicklaus was at his peak.
And Devlin, now aged 88, wasn’t far behind him with eight PGA Tour wins and top 10s in all four major championships in the mid-1960s.
Life Membership is one of the highest honours awarded by the PGA of Australia and reserved for individuals who have made an exceptional and lasting impact on the game and the profession.
Since its establishment in 1911, only 55 individuals have received life membership from the PGA of Australia, with just 33 of those alive today.
Each of the new Life Members has contributed to Australian golf in distinct and significant ways.
From left, Bruce Devlin, Bruce Crampton and Rob Farley have been awarded life membership of the PGA of Australia.
Crampton AO, MBE stands among the greatest players in Australian golf history.
He had 14 PGA Tour victories and the Sydney-born pro, who began his career with the late great Billy McWiliam at Beverley Park, went on to become one of the world’s leading golfers of his era.
Crampton achieved enormous success internationally and helped establish the reputation of Australian golfers on the global stage.
In an unlucky twist of fate, Crampton finished runner-up in four major championships, each time finishing second to 18-time major champion, Jack Nicklaus.
His achievements, professionalism and contribution to the game continue to be widely respected throughout the golf world.
Bruce Devlin was recognised as one of Australia’s finest international golfers of the 1960s and 1970s, with multiple victories on the PGA Tour and representing Australia with distinction around the world.
Beyond his success as a player, Devlin has had a major global influence through golf course design, broadcasting and philanthropy, helping shape and grow the game internationally over many decades.
The main focus of Devlin’s career in the past 30 years has been his work as a golf course architect and designer.
Devlin has designed and built more than 150 golf courses throughout the world including Australia, Japan, Scotland, the Bahamas, and the United States.
More than half the golf courses he designed have been in Florida and Texas with his golf design business based in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Devlin also worked as a television commentator between 1977 and 1987.
The third member given the PGA of Australia honour was Rob Farley to recognise a lifetime of dedication to golf through club leadership, mentoring, governance and game development.
Across decades of service within the industry, Farley has made a profound contribution to PGA professionals and to the growth of the game across Western Australia, particularly through his leadership roles and commitment to developing golf at both community and professional levels.
PGA of Australia Chief Executive Officer, Gavin Kirkman, said the three recipients had each made an extraordinary contribution to the game and to the profession.
“Life Membership is an honour reserved for those who have made a truly exceptional impact on the PGA and the game of golf,” said Kirkman.
“Bruce Devlin, Bruce Crampton and Rob Farley have each contributed enormously to the success, reputation and growth of golf in Australia and internationally.
“Their achievements and service reflect the very highest standards of PGA Membership, and we are incredibly proud to recognise them with Life Membership.”
Bruce Devlin during a recent trip home to Australia.
Trevino shares a long-held Devlin secret
If Lee Trevino had not been a champion golfer a career as a comedian surely beckoned.
The man who shares the honour of being the game’s best ball striker alongside Ben Hogan, is a master of the one-liner. He would have been just as comfortable on the stage as he was on the golf course.
And he is still a brilliant golf raconteur as he proved recently as a guest on legendary Australian Bruce Devlin’s podcast Fore the Good of the Game with co-host Mike Gonzalez.
But Trevino’s tale of him and Devlin sharing the same driver during the Open Championship is a beauty and one we’d never heard before.
Trevino and Devlin were paired in the last group on the final day at an Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Anne’s. “We’re playing like a dog. Both of us a playing like a dog. We were both dead last,” Trevino said.
“Now every time you play at the Open you have an official with you. He goes along with you to give rulings and whatever.
“So, we’re on the driving range (before hitting off) and Bruce is missing the driving range – the driving range is 300 yards wide, and he can’t hit the range. I mean it’s awful.’
“I thought to myself, ‘hey, I’m going to look for balls all day.’
“So, I said (to Bruce), ‘Here, hit my driver, see what you can do.’
“Then he (Devlin) ‘killed’ it. He absolutely killed this driver, down the middle of the (practice) fairway. He said, ‘man, that’s great. But what the hell is it going to do for me?”
“I said, ‘listen Bruce, we going to go out there. Let’s use the same driver.’
Devlin: “What? How are we going to do that?”
Trevino: “Well, if I’ve got the honour, I will drive and the official will be looking down the fairway to see where the ball is going. So, you will walk next to my bag, take my driver and hand me yours. And we did that for the whole day. We only won like $50 anyway. What the hell?
“We were having a ball, but he (Devlin) drove it good. He drove it well.”
Later, feeling a little guilty at an official dinner Trevino ‘fessed’ up to what the pair had done to the R&A Secretary.
He refused to believe them.
“I said to him ‘So what. Don’t pay me.’
He added on the podcast: “You could not buy a steak for what you (Devlin) and I won that day. We had a ball.”
– MICHAEL DAVIS
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