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Black Diamond resident Tommy Bolt, 87, was one of the PGA Tour's top players in the 1950s. He claimed the 1958 U.S. Open at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., earning $8,000. Bolt, who lives with his wife, Mary Lou, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame last year along with Ben Crenshaw, Marlene Hagge, Tony Jacklin, Bernhard Langer and Harvey Penick.
Q: You've got one round left, on which course would you want to play?
TB: Boy, that's hard to say. It would have to be Pinehurst No.2.
Q: People say Jack Nicklaus used to watch Ben Hogan on the driving range. Whom did you watch?
TB: I watched Hogan. He was the greatest golfer that I've ever played with. He really was.
Q: What is the worst rule in golf?
TB: I got yelled at one time (for slow play) by a PGA official at Doral when I was winning the tournament. I bogeyed a couple of holes from there in, and I lost it by a shot. I think that yelling to the guy on the course when he's concentrating and has a chance to win is wrong. Hogan was a slow player. Cary Middlecoff was a slow player. I don't ever remember them getting penalized. But this guy said, "Hurry up, Bolt," like I was a criminal in the fairway. I don't think there should be any time set for playing golf.
Q: All things equal, who wins a match between Hogan, Nicklaus and Tiger Woods?
TB: That's hard to say. It's three different eras. But like I said, Hogan was the greatest I ever saw.
Q: Of today's players, who has the game that most resembles yours?
TB: Fred Funk. I had a compact swing. I didn't have a long swing. I drove it in the fairway and kept it in play. That's what he does.
Q: What's the tougher course, Augusta National or Pebble Beach?
TB: Augusta National. Pebble Beach was not that tough. The only thing that made it tough was the weather.
Q: What's your preference, old-style layouts or stadium courses?
TB: I like the old Donald Ross (designed) courses. They're real golf courses. Everybody likes a Donald Ross course.
Q: The sweetest swing you ever saw belonged to whom?
TB: Sam Snead had the most beautiful tempo, but he didn't have a great swing. He cut across it. I'd say Ken Venturi. He had a compact swing. He didn't overswing. He didn't go past parallel.
Q: Who would be your ultimate playing partner?
TB: I loved to play with Hogan. I always tried to beat the best. You could always concentrate with him because he was always concentrating.
Q: What is Tommy Bolt's golfing dream?
TB: Just to go to Scotland and play all those old courses.