Root Of His Fame

Hinkle Revisits 1979 U.S. Open Tree That Defined Career

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Toledo, Ohio – Lon Hinkle figures he did his part to help the environment when he, for all intents and purposes, forced the USGA to plant a tree.

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

Twenty-four years removed from the 1979 U.S. Open at the Inverness Club, Hinkle is revisiting the venue where his name became synonymous with a Black Hills spruce tree. Never mind the 501 PGA Tour events he played over his career, or the three victories he amassed. It’s the tree and the story behind it that people remember most.

"People still associate me with the tree," said Hinkle before his practice round Tuesday. "I hear about it on a regular basis. It’s not like I did something wrong. And it’s kind of a clever story."

That it is.

Coming off a victory at the Bing Crosby Pro-Am, Hinkle was confident. However, he knew a U.S. Open set-up didn’t particularly fit his style of golf. So he paid close attention to the intricacies of Inverness during a practice round.

Lo and behold, when Hinkle reached the 528-yard par-5 dogleg left eighth hole, something

	Lon Hinkle addresses the media Tuesday during player interview sessions. (John Mummert/USGA)

made an impression in his head, but it didn’t entirely click until the first round. He discovered that he might be able to reach the green in two if he drove up the 17th fairway.

At the time, No. 8 was one of four holes the USGA went to great lengths to refurbish for the Open. Originally a long par 3, the hole was lengthened to a par 5 so the interior could be opened to the gallery. But no one could predict that a player would choose an alternate route to play the hole, essentially slicing 50 yards off the listed yardage.

"I should have seen that opening when I was here last year, and last month," championship chairman Jim Hand told the Washington Post at the time. "I didn’t."

Which opened the floodgates, so to speak.

During the first round, a round that he led, Hinkle and fellow competitors Greg Norman and Chi Chi Rodriguez walked onto the eighth tee, studying the layout while waiting for the group ahead of them to play.

"Chi Chi and I were just standing there chatting, imagine that," said the 53-year-old Hinkle. "I don’t remember for sure, but I remember looking at the 17th fairway and going, ‘Man, there is a fairway over there,’ which I became rather animated at finding a shortcut.

"The [17th] fairway cleared and I heard ‘You’re up, Lon,’ so I looked over at the 17th tee and the group just arrived at the tee."

Noticing the gaping space, Hinkle brandished a 1-iron, turned left and fired. Then Rodriguez did the same thing, nearly reaching the green in two. Hinkle used a 2-iron for his approach and two putts later, he had posted a birdie.

This caught the attention of the USGA.

The next day golf’s rules-makers had a surprise in the form of a freshly planted 25-foot spruce tree, known fondly around the club as the "Hinkle Tree."

"[USGA President] Sandy Tatum made the decision," said Tom Meeks, the USGA’s Senior Director of Rules and Competitions. "All we had to do was move the tee markers 5 to 10 yards, but he didn’t want to do it," explaining during the Open that he didn’t want to ruin the "integrity" of the hole.

"I still have the original invoices for the club labor and cost of the tree," added Meeks, who was not involved in the decision. "The cost was something like $450."

When Hinkle reached the clubhouse the next day, an hour before his second-round starting time, he had no idea a tree had been planted. He polished off an orange juice, read a newspaper and tried heading to the range to warm up. But he was confronted by a half-dozen media members to comment on the USGA’s decision.

While this was going on, Joe Kunes, a third-year touring pro in the second threesome of the day, was en route to shooting a 20-over 162 and failing to make the cut. With little to lose, he was actually the first player to try to fly the tree on No. 8. The ball hit a branch, but it made it through by about 195 yards. Kunes eventually bogeyed.

Meanwhile, Hinkle lost his sense of time and rushed to the first tee after hitting about 12 balls. By the time he reached the eighth tee, he was 4 over for the championship and never in contention again.

"I was fairly disappointed that I let the tournament get away," said Hinkle, blaming it on the tree flap.

Rodriguez was the first to hit. "He teed it up on a pencil and just popped it up over the tree," said Hinkle.

Hinkle wasn’t flummoxed. Using all of a split second to make his decision, because "I wasn’t going to let a tree stop me," Hinkle placed his tee in the far left corner and pulled out driver. This time he got to the green in two, with the help of a 6-iron on his second shot.

"For me, the last call was, ‘Is the 17th fairway clear?’" he said. "I would do it today, and at no time would I ever hit a shot into a group that’s on their fairway on purpose."

In the final two rounds, Hinkle played the hole the conventional way. He didn’t offer a reason why. But several other players did try in the final two rounds. One of them was Tom Purtzer who is in the Senior Open field as well this week. In the final round, Purtzer was four strokes behind Hale Irwin when he came to the eighth hole. He cleared the tree, but landed in a ravine and took a double bogey.

When the Open was over, Hinkle drew raves and criticism in the papers. Some suggested he cheated.

"There was one thing that really disappointed me and I would certainly like to know what it meant," said Hinkle. "Some people thought I was a maverick and some thought I was a cheater. Who thought I cheated? I didn’t do anything wrong."

A case well made if one considers the 2000 U.S. Women’s Open at The Merit Club outside of Chicago. During a practice round, Meg Mallon, Beth Daniel and Pat Hurst found a shortcut to play the dogleg right par-4 14th hole.

Unlike Lon Hinkle’s case, the USGA decided to let the players decide and live with the consequences.

"Creativity is a hallmark of a U.S. Women’s Open champion," said Kendra Graham, the USGA’s Director of Women’s Competitions, at the time. "I think it’s ingenious."

Later that summer, competitors at the U.S. Girls’ Junior at Pumpkin Ridge chose to play up the first fairway on the par-4 ninth hole to avoid finding the creek that was 200 yards from the tee. It also gave the players a better angle to the green and took the pond protecting the left side of the green out of play. One ingenious person even took a Sharpie and placed a yardage on a sprinkler head that was situated in the first fairway.

Today Hinkle plays some Champions Tour events, but he must Monday qualify or gain a sponsor’s exemption. He said he’s qualified for roughly four of 20 events thus far. For the most part, he stays close to home in Big Fork, Mont., working as a real estate agent.

He found his way to the Senior Open by surviving a seven-hole playoff at Loomis Trail Golf Club in Blaine, Wash., on June 16. There was one spot available among 49 contestants.

Through the years he’s gotten back to Inverness by playing in special outings or, after missing a cut at the Quad Cities event in the early 1990s, driving through Toledo to show his caddie the special tree.

In any case, he wouldn’t trade the attention he’s received for anything.

"The defining moment of my career appears to be the tree out on the eighth at Inverness," said Hinkle. "And that is just the way it is."

Ken Klavon is the USGA Web Editor. E-mail him at kklavon@usga.org with questions and comments.