Published: May 15, 2009 11:42 pm      

59 in ’59: Snead’s amazing round remembered

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS — If legendary golfer Samuel Jackson “Slammin’ Sammy” Snead were living today, he would be celebrating a milestone.

It was on May 16, 1959, that Snead, sporting his trademark straw hat and demonstrating his effortless swing, shot an unprecedented 59 in The Greenbrier Open, a pro-am tournament staged at the annual Spring Festival at The Greenbrier.

“This is the highlight,” Snead said as he walked off the 18th green that day surrounded by fans and sports writers who were calling the feat “astounding,” “spectacular” and “sensational.”

He told reporters that despite the dreary weather and strong winds, he felt confident about the round. His caddie, Curtis Griffith, had assured him it was going to be a “good day,” he said.

Snead played the memorable round in a foursome with Bruce Forbes, president of Forbes Magazine, Harry Daumit, founder of Luster Creme shampoo, and Paul Summers, a Washington lawyer and a West Virginia native who spent his retirement years in Lewisburg.

Although Jack Snead was young when his father played his unprecedented round of golf, he recalls he and his father had talks about that long-ago day.

“He was really tickled,” the younger Snead said “He got a telegram from Queen Elizabeth the next morning.

“He said that he could have shot a 58 if he hadn’t missed a three-foot putt on the 17th hole, which was a par three then.”

Buddy Cook, host golf professional at The Greenbrier when Snead carded the enviable 59, remembers the excitement it promoted among the fans and sports writers at the Spring Festival.

“I was in a foursome playing right behind Sam,” said Cook, who lives in White Sulphur Springs.

“He missed several putts coming in or the score would have been lower than 59. Sam was jubilant. Everyone was celebrating.

“Sam Snead did what no one thought was possible,” said Robert Harris, director of golf and recreation at The Greenbrier.

“He shot a 59 in a competitive event on a championship golf course during The Greenbrier’s annual Spring Festival pro-am.

“Although the PGA Tour does not recognize the feat in their record books, the world recognizes that Sam was the first golfer, either professional or amateur, to achieve that goal,” Harris added.

Dr. Robert Conte, historian at The Greenbrier and author of The History of The Greenbrier America’s Resort, echoes Harris’ sentiments.

“Any score in the 60s was considered phenomenal and to shoot in the 50s was unheard of,” Conte said. He pointed out that Sports Illustrated called Snead’s astonishing 59 “the greatest competitive round of golf in the history of the game.”

Snead was golf professional at The Greenbrier from 1936 to 1975 and golf pro emeritus at the resort from 1993 until his death in 2002. In a career that spanned more than six decades, the flamboyant Snead won every tournament on the PGA Tour and won every major championship except the U.S. Open. He was on 11 Ryder Cup teams, and for his record-setting round 50 years ago, he won a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records.