National Icon Yogi Berra Was A Unique Golf Fanatic
National icon Yogi Berra, who passed away at 90 late Tuesday night, was a fixture on the New Jersey golf scene for decades. Those at the Montclair Golf Club in West Orange were among the fortunate ones who got to be around the former New York Yankee star and baseball immortal on an almost daily basis.
He played golf at least three times per week and reserved Wednesday nights for card games at the club. His late wife Carmen, who passed away last year, said Yogi never showered at home, but always at the club. He loved the feel of a sports locker room.
“Yogi was a fixture at Montclair Golf Club for decades. He was an avid golfer and a friend to all – the locker room was Yogi’s ‘home away from home’ and he enjoyed watching ball games and sharing stories with other members,” said Keith Phillips, president of Montclair Golf Club. “We were all very fortunate to have him in our lives at the club.”
Yogi wasn’t a great golfer, but as his grandson, Larry III said, he’d never miss a clutch putt. No surprise there: he batted .350 in extra-inning games. Yogi putted lefty and played golf righty. In baseball, the catcher threw righty and batted lefty, so that sort of makes sense.
“I used to play left-handed, but I switched to right-handed because I sliced the ball left-handed too much, right-handed, I hit it pretty straight – not far, but pretty straight,” Yogi once said.
He continued to putt lefty but taught himself to play from the right side of the tee well enough to shoot a career-best 78 at Pinehurst.
"He relishes to make a putt that means something," Berra's son Dale said in 2005. "He lives for those moments and times on the course."
Berra played his first round of golf in 1947 at Sunset Country Club in his native St. Louis with Henry Ruggeri, a St. Louis restaurant owner, and Cardinals Stan Musial and Joe "Ducky" Medwick.
Yogi conducted an annual golf outing at Montclair that has been going for nearly three decades. There couldn’t possibly be a more prestigious, sought-after event in the Metropolitan area to attend. Celebrities included Yogi’s buddies from a run of championship teams in the 1950s and ‘60s. Mickey Mantle was there, holding court on a par-3 hole so he’d get to spend time with each foursome.
Yogi’s teammates Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzuto, Bobby Richardson, Moose Skowron, Hank Bauer, Clete Boyer and Ralph Terry always attended.
In 2011, Mayor Rudy Giuliani called it "the best golf outing of the year with the best guy in sports." Yogi's sons Dale, Larry and Tim joined Nick Swisher and the Yankees coaching staff, who got back from the California Angel's game in the wee hours to make Yogi's tournament. Andy Pettitte, Ron Guidry, Joe Torre, Mike Torrez, Gene Michael, Ron Blomberg, Ralph Branca, Rick Cerone, Mickey Rivers, Rod Gilbert, Ken Daneyko, David Cone, Brian Kelly, Bud Harrelson, Gil Hodges, Jr., Karl Nelson and Joe Piscopo, were among the many celebrities who attended.
Well over $5 million was raised over the years. But it was the charities that benefitted from the event that Yogi cared about. First it benefitted special needs Boy Scouts from Essex County. Later beneficiaries expanded to include the educational programs at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center, scholarship funding for inner-city youth and the Carmen and Yogi Berra Endowment Fund for scouts with special needs.
Rene Lagasi, a fellow member at Montclair Golf Club, is quoted in a 2005 article in Met Golfer. “Yogi just wants to be one of the guys. He enjoys making a small bet among friends and good-natured kidding that goes on both on the course and in the locker room. It’s the same type of innocent, friendly banter he used to break a hitter’s concentration…. Whether is playing poker, watching a sporting event or taking his daily shower there, Yogi thinks he’s still in the Yankee locker room.”
Yogi never had an official hole-in-one but he did get an unofficial one in 1998 when he aced a 4-iron from 140 yards at the eighth hole on the first of the four nines at Montclair. He did it by taking over for Mantle as the par-3 specialist who would play with each foursome at the Yogi Celebrity Golf Outing.
Players would bet $25 to hit their ball inside Yogi’s. If they succeeded, they’d receive an autographed ball from The Man right on the spot.
Six years ago, Yogi was named ambassador for the Bob Hope Classic in Palm Springs, Calif.
Berra first played in the desert’s PGA Tour event in 1995 and he continued as a player through 2008. By that time he didn’t hit the ball a long way, but he was still one of the most popular celebrities in the field. After all, this was a Yankee, and a three-time MVP, and a cultural icon known for his Yogi-isms.
In 2009, Berra stopped playing in the tournament, but he was named the tournament’s ambassador for the year. That allowed him to go to parties and roam the golf courses representing the Bob Hope Classic.
The following year, five-time Hope winner Arnold Palmer was the ambassador, but Berra continued to be a presence at the tournament. He attended the charity money distribution events and the player parties and was always sought after by amateur players and officials for autographs and pictures because, well, he was Yogi.
As those players were getting their autographs and pictures from Berra, it probably never crossed their minds that before Berra became the catcher (and outfielder) for all those great New York Yankees teams, he was part of the invasion force into France on D-Day during World War II. Berra was an American hero before he was an American League MVP.
"Al Lopez (the Hall of Fame manager) is 96. He told me, 'Keep playing until you can't.' He played until 93," Berra said. "I'm going to keep playing as long as I walk."
Adam Schupak of Golfweek contributed to this article
