Great Falls Tribune from Great Falls, Montana • Page 13

Friilav. June 16. 1978 Great Falls Tribune 13 Dave Anderson I ftty urn A-V'M -y NOT ARNOLD'S DAY It wasn't Arnold Palmer day's Thursday at the U.S. Open as he struggled to a fat five-over par 76. HAIL TO HALE Hale Irwin, who always the early lead in the U.S.

Open with 71. seems to play well on tough golf courses, took Good enough to lead Open Irwin plays safe for 69 It's not important whether Arnie wins DENVER In the distance, the snow atop the Rocky Mountains melted into the brown foothills. And as he stood on the first tee at the Cherry Hills Country Club Thursday, Arnold Palmer's hair, surrounded by a white visor, seemed to melt the same way, the grayish white blending into the soft brown above that leathery face and neck. Palmer is 48 years old now. He hasn't won a tournament on the PGA Tour since 1973 and he isn't likely to win the United States Open here this week.

But that's not important. What is important is that Arnold Palmer remains Arnold Palmer, win or lose. Not many people in sports retain that magic. And this is where that magic started, where Arnold Palmer the golfer turned into Arnold Palmer the legend, where he made his most memorable "charge," where "Arnie's Army" was inspired, if not formed, when he won the 1960 U.S. Open with a 65 in the final round.

His "charge" began when he drove the green of what then was the 346-yard par-4 first hole. When he arrived on the first tee Thursday, somebody yelled, "Drive the green again, Arnie" and he smiled. With a new tee set back in a chute of trees, the hole is 399 yards now and nobody drives it. The others in his threesome, Rod Funseth and Lou Graham, hit first! then John Laupheimer, the deputy executive director of the U.S. Golf Association, announced, "Arnold Panmer, Ligonier, Pa." Applause and whistles erupted from behind the yellow gal- -lery ropes.

With fhat familiar lunging swing, Palmer, wearing a maroon shirt and gray slacks with black golf shoes, smashed a long straight drive about 260 yards into the middle of the fairway. "Whooooo," yelled the spectators. When he lofted an iron shot toward the- undulating green, a whoop went up when the ball landed near the cup but it bounced and rolled about 15 feet beyond. And then his birdie putt stopped about a foot short. "Short," somebody "He never used to be short.

He always gave himself a chance." Palmer got his par there, as he did for the first five holes. Then he bo-geyed the sixth and the eighth holes and his Army had a few deserters. But the loyalists remained, waiting for another magic tournament, and another magic round, another magic shot like the 1960 'drive that is commemorated by a plaque set in red brick near the old first tee that the members still use, "The new tees at the first and the 11th holes," Palmer had said in the men's locker roon. "Those are the only real changes in the course since 1960." But the men's locker room hasn't changed that much. That's where the drama developed that year.

In those years the Open format demanded a 36-hole finish on Saturday, a round in the morning and another round in the afternoon. Palmer shot 72 that morning to fall seven strokes behind Mike Souchak, the leader. Thirteen other players were ahead of him and eight others were tied with him at 215. "I remember I had only about 20 minutes and I ordered a quick hamburger in the locker room," Palmer recalled. "And that's when Bob Drum came in." Now something of a legend himself among golf raconteurs, Bob Drum then was the Pittsburgh Press golf Continued on page 14, column agreed Jack Nicklaus, the Golden Bear who has won this national championship three times and owns all the records worth having.

"Particularly so for a golf course we thought we were going to shoot some good numbers on." world's finest shot-makers. The only others able to break par 71 in the mi le-high altitude were 18-year-old amateur upstart Bob Clampett, Andy North and J.C. Snead, tied for second at 70. Bobby Wadkins, a Tour regular The good numbers were at a minimum in the hot, sunny weather that turned breezy in the afternoon and dried the greens to the hardness of a paved road. Irwin's score was the only sub-70 posted by the field of 153 of the Pro pays price for slow play and younger brother of PGA champ Lanny Wadkins, scored a hole-in-one with a 5iron shot on the 208-yard, par-3 15th hole and topped a group at 71.

Also at that figure were South African Gary Player, deeply disgusted with himself for whafhe called "playing like a chicken," veteran Billy Casper, who got into the tournament on a special invitation, Al Geiberger, Dave Stockton, Phil Hancock and Bill Brask. Arnold Palmer, the man who saw his legend born on this mountain-ringed course with a victory in the 1960 U.S. Open, struggled to a 76. Lanny Wadkins wasn't in bad shape until he had the last three holes, which he payed bogey-double, bogey-double, bogey. He finished with a 77.

Johnny Miller and Ben Crenshaw had 78s. Crenshaw's effort included a quadruple-bogey 8. Tom Watson, the 1977 Player of the Year and this season's leading money-winner, played his front side in a fat 40 and had to rally for a 74. Spain's spectacular Severiano Ballesteros, the young man who has ruled European golf for the last two years, had a 75. Andy Bean, the big guy who won the last two Tour titles, was making a run at the lead and was 1 under par going to the 18th.

He promptly made double-bogey 6, missing the green and then 3-putting. Lee Trevino, the bouncy, bubbly guy whose accuracy off the tee made him a pre-tournament favorite to acquire a third American national title, was one of the last men in the field. He was making a run for a spot Continued on page 14, column 6 DENVER (AP) Hale Irwin, be-spectcled and studious appearing, played with the conservatism of a history professor in composing a cautious, 2-under-par 69 that set the pace Thursday in the first round of the 78th United States Open Golf Championship. And Irwin took a professorial tone in explaining his game plan. "I tried to play away from the temptation of going at the flag," he said.

Then he relaxed a bit and smiled. "I was trying to keep it cool. I was putting reasonably well and I was very pleased to play to the safe side of the hole and take my chances on the putts. "I didn't want to put myself In the position of having to hit a 10-foot shot out of the heavy rough. "This is the U.S.

Open. There is no tomorrow. Vou can't affor foolish mistakes," the intense Irwin explained of his ultra-conservative brand of play over and through the subtle terrors of the 7.083-yard Cherry Hills Country Club course. "I tried to put myself in the position of safely 2-putting for par. When I deviated from that plan, when I got too greedy, that's when I got in trouble." "I wish I had Hale's troubles," quipped defending champion Hubert Green, who struggled to a 76 and was one of many prominent players who fell victim to the gusty, shifting winds, the Rocky Mountain streams and ponds, the deep rough, narrow fairways and hard greens.

"The golf course had the upper hand on most of the fellows today," friend. He sure wouldn't make an example of me." Impalgia sighed "To be honest, I didn't feel I was playing slow." Impaglia shot an U-over-par 47 on the backside after the penalty. "It really got to me," said Impaglia hoping it wouldn't." I tried to compose myself." Impaglia was in a group with Mark C. Walach of Ft. Eustis, and Robb Pomerantz, an amateur from Des Moines, Iowa.

Pomerantz shot 45-42-87 and Walach shot 39-43-82. The USGA said the group of Jerry Pate, Ben Crenshaw and Severiano Ballesteros, playing immediately behind the 80 shooters, reported they Continued on page 14, column DENVER (AP) Robet C. Impa-glia of Auburn, N.Y., became the first player in the 78 years of the U.S. Open to be assessed a penalty for slow play Thursday. He said he was innocent but thanked everybody for the attention.

"I love the exposure but I wish it were for something different," said the 25-year-old Impaglia, trying to keep his sense of humor after the penalty which wrecked his game on the back nine of the Cherry Hills Country Club course. Impaglia, former co-captain of Florida State's golf team, came under the scrutiny of U.S. Golf Association Executive Director P.J. Boatwright Jr. and Jack Tuthill, tournament director of the PGA Tour, on the front nine.

The officials clocked Impaglia at 4 minutes hitting his second shot on nine. After shooting a 1-over-par 36, Impaglia was informed he had been slapped with a 2-stroke penalty. "Can't I just have a warning?" he asked. "Your group was timed in 2 hours and 8 minutes and you took 4 minutes on your second shot," answered Boatwright. "We posted a notice no warnings would be given." Impaglia was shocked.

"I had no idea I was playing slow," said Impaglia. "I was concentrating and grinding so hard trying to play my game. It's possible they were trying to make an example of me but I don't think so. Tuthill is a good Salty Parker has seen it all, from Moline to the Big Apple By PHIL SMITH Tribune Sports Writer Salty Parker has seen it all in nearly a half-century of organized baseball. He has managed everywhere from New York City to El Dorado, Arkansas and he has naged everybody from raw rookies to Tom Seaver and Willie Mc-Covey.

Now the minor league infield instructor for the San Francisco Giants, the 64-year-old Parker is in Great Falls this week and next, helping get the Great Falls Giants ready for their Pioneer League opener a week from tonight against the Lethbridge Dodgers. He travels now between Great Falls, Cedar Rapids, Fresno, Waterbury and Phoenix. Moving around is nothing new for Parker. His list of stops reads like a railroad map of the United States. Since 1930, when Parker broke into baseball at the age of 16 with Moline, III.

of the Mississippi Valley League, he hasn't stayed longer than five years in any one place. From 1930 until his playing career ended in 1954, he played shortstop at Beaumont, Texas; Toledo, Ohio; Indianapolis; Tulsa, Shreveport, Dallas; Lubbock, Texas; Marshall, Texas; St. Paul, Temple, Tyler, Texas; Montreal, and, for 11 games in 1936, with the Detroit Tigers. He hit .280 in 25 at-bats. Jackie Robinson was his replacement at Montreal.

From 1939 to 1954, except for the one year at Montreal, he was player-manager. After his playing career ended, he managed at El Dorado; Danville, Dallas and Cedar Rapids. The latter job, in 1976, was his last managerial job. His team went 78-53. From 1958-1961 he was a coach with the Giants; in 1962 he went with the Cleveland Indians and in 1963 he was a minor league instructor for the Pirates; in 1964, '65 and '66 he was a coach with the Angels, and in 1967 he was the third base coach for the Mets before Wes Westrum resigned and Parker was named interim manager.

From 1968-1972 he was a coach for the Houston Astros and in 1973 and 1974 he was back with the Angels. In '75 he was a minor league instructor for Houston and in '76 he rejoined the San Francisco organization. For the past two years he has been the Giants' minor league infield instructor. "Of course, I would rather be in the big leagues," he said Thursday while watching Great Falls go through an intra-squad game. "But I like instructing a lot more in the low minors than managing because you get around to see all of them.

"I would say it's easier to get through to the young fellas because they're more receptive to start with and they have more to learn." Parker has seen baseball the business, not the sport change and not for the better, as he sees it. "The baseball itself hasn't changed," he said. "It's still the great est game in the world. But the personnel has changed, starting maybe five, six, seven years ago. "It's definitely changed now because of the money the players are getting.

It's taken a lot of authority away from the manager. The manager is a figurehead. The owners have so much invested in some of the players that it's hard to control a ballclub." It's not quite the same in the low minors, though. "The fellas are trying to get someplace where they can prove themselves," he said. Parker naturally has been around some of the recent baseball legends.

His comments on some of them: ROBERTO CLEMENTE: "The best all-around ballplayer I ever saw. He could beat you in any way. I don't have many autographed balls at home but I have one of his. They were giving him a night in Houston and I asked one of their coaches if he would autograph a ball for me. The thing that meant so much to me was that he brought it out himself to me, a coach.

TOM SEAVER: "The most complete player I saw in his first year. He had good stuff, good control, could run bases, bunt, field. He had good enough bat control that we could hit and run with him." CESAR CEDENO: "He has as much natural ability as anybody I've ever seen but he hasn't fulfilled it. He should never hit under .315, .325. smnK iisii iw its i Salty Parker.