{"id":550,"date":"2014-06-16T02:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-16T02:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=550"},"modified":"2015-01-09T16:11:58","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T21:11:58","slug":"the-faltering-love-life-of-a-golf-champ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/06\/16\/the-faltering-love-life-of-a-golf-champ\/","title":{"rendered":"The faltering love life of a golf champ"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"This <\/a>
This picture of Parks, left, is dated June 7, 1935, the first day of the National Open at Oakmont. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"After <\/a>
After the U.S. team won the Ryder Cup in September 1935, Parks shakes hands with Alf Perry of England. (Acme photo) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Parks <\/a>
Parks in 1949. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Parks <\/a>
Parks as a U.S. Steel executive in 1949. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Screen <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Two <\/a>
Two weeks after winning the National Open at Oakmont, Sam Parks Jr. played an exhibition game at Cambridge Springs, PA., where he was joined by former English champion Joyce Wethered. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

June 8, 1935<\/strong>:\u00a0Moments after he\u2019d shocked the golf world by emerging from obscurity to win the National Open at Oakmont, Sam Parks Jr. was cornered by a reporter from The Pittsburgh Press.<\/p>\n

Parks had taken the tournament lead with a miraculous 60-foot chip shot witnessed by a gallery estimated at 10,000. Then he held off a curly-headed blond Californian named Jimmy Thompson in a gruelling homestretch to win with a score of 299.<\/p>\n

But who cares about spectacular victories? Love \u2014 that\u2019s what reporter Evelyn Burke wanted to discuss.<\/p>\n

Parks was young and handsome, and now he was a star. The fact that he was a hometown kid made him even more appealing.<\/p>\n

Do you have a girlfriend?<\/em> Burke asked. Is marriage in your future?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFor heaven\u2019s sake, don\u2019t make me out a ladies man,\u201d Parks pleaded, a note of panic in his voice. \u201cI\u2019ve been too busy all my life to bother with girls.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reporter took a moment to jot down that Parks was wearing a brown sweater and gray slacks. Reporters crowded around. Flash bulbs popped. Burke noted that Parks had a \u201cnatural deep tan\u201d and his face was \u201ca sort of new Dubonnet shade, a sort of red brown mixed with purple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burke then persisted in her line of questioning. You can\u2019t blame her. In the mid-1930s, the Depression continued to hang around the country\u2019s neck. Reading about a local guy who defeated golf\u2019s biggest stars made Pittsburghers feel proud.<\/p>\n

The public is interested in you,<\/em> Burke said. What type of girl do you like?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI like \u2019em all,\u201d replied Parks, obviously trying to be helpful and accommodating. \u201cBlondes, brunettes and redheads, but honestly I haven\u2019t any preference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parks wasn\u2019t accustomed to the spotlight. He was just a kid who\u2019d grown up in Bellevue and happened to fall in love with golf. After school, he\u2019d run to catch a streetcar to the Highland Country Club so he could practice. It paid off. Parks was unknown nationally, but local golfers knew him as a solid player and a dangerous competitor. At Pitt, he\u2019d served as captain of the golf team.<\/p>\n

And what about lady golfers?<\/em> Burked asked.<\/p>\n

Parks said he\u2019d never played golf with a woman. \u201cNot that I have any objections to them. It\u2019s just that I don\u2019t know many girls who do play golf. I\u2019ve always been pretty busy, anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Open victory earned Parks $1,000. He\u2019d play a few more years professionally, but would never again win another major tournament. Eventually he would marry, then divorce and marry again. He\u2019d take a job with U.S. Steel, then retire to Florida, where he\u2019d die at the age of 87 in 1997.<\/p>\n

But in a cramped hallway in 1935 he was still a young 25 and he showed his white teeth and shook his head at Burke\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s not much to tell about me \u2014 only golf. I like to dance, too. But I don\u2019t get to many parties because golf seems to take up so much of my time. And honestly, I\u2019m not in love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parks grinned and \u201chis dark eyes squinted in a friendly fashion,\u201d Burke wrote. \u201cHis black hair, parted in the middle and slicked back, made him look very boyish.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who cares about spectacular victories? Love \u2014 that\u2019s what reporter Evelyn Burke wanted to discuss.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThe faltering love life of a golf champ<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[944],"tags":[960,978,1036],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-17-at-12.28.19-AM.png?fit=1214%2C606&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2193,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/12\/20\/a-visit-to-grandview-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":550,"position":0},"title":"A visit to Grandview Park","date":"December 20, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Grandview was one of several parks visited by reporter Gilbert 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