Bobby Clampett: Golf Can Lead to Bigger Things

This is part two of our four-part series with former PGA Tour player and CBS golf commentator Bobby Clampett. Next month, we’ll examine ways to keep the game interesting as your children grow, and how to teach proper fundamentals, technique and etiquette or find a teacher who can help them. A final segment will discuss buying equipment for your young golfer … what will they need and how much will it cost you to get them started on the right foot.

By RICK DAYTON

The other kids wouldn’t pass him the ball.That’s one very big reason why former PGA Tour winner Bobby Clampett decided to play golf as a kid.

"From the age of about nine or 10, I was fed up with team sports because of the selfishness of other kids. I wanted to do something individually."

There was another driving force behind Clampett's early interest in the game – his mother. She saw golf was a stepping stone to bigger things, particularly in the business world.

"She encouraged me to play golf as much as I wanted," says Clampett. "She had no idea I would play professionally. I had no idea I’d play professionally when I was a kid. I had no idea it would play for my high school, my college, and be my way of making money my whole life. That’s been the plus side to it."

We’ve all heard the stories about the $100,000 deals that have been closed on the golf course. The old saying goes that more business is done on the 18th green than any boardroom.

Clampett cites Senior PGA Tour veteran Jay Sigel as a perfect example.

Sigel went to Wake Forest University on a golf scholarship. But while Sigel was in school, he put his hand through a window – doing significant nerve damage to his right hand. The damage was bad enough that a career as a professional golfer was out of the question.

Still, Sigel used his ability as a golfer to build a very successful insurance agency in Pennsylvania. He once guessed that 98 percent of his business came from people he played golf with or their friends. After a very successful amateur career, Sigel tried the Senior PGA Tour and has become one of that tour’s stars.

Few think of Bobby Clampett as a businessman, but he clearly understands the role golf plays in the workplace.

"People in the business world respect those who play golf well. It immediately establishes credibility in your relationships. Plus there is a unique aspect to golf that is so relational that other sports don’t have."

Clampett is quick to point out the difference between playing golf and playing golf well.

"Being a good golfer is always a plus. There is never a negative to being a good golfer." He illustrates the point by adding, "You go through a list of club presidents. How many 30 handicappers do you know who are president of their club? How many movers and shakers at the club are 30 handicappers? The movers and shakers are the eight handicaps, the guys who play to a two (handicap) – the ones who compete for the club championship."

That reputation as a good golfer will spread quickly – and Clampett argues will translate into more business opportunities.

When Bobby Clampett was a youngster, playing golf had very little to do with dollars and cents.

A lot of it had to do with the fact that he is an only child.

"That was a built-in motivation for me to play golf. It wasn’t like I could go out with my brothers and sisters and go do things. So I just started hanging out at the club and got a job there when I was 10 years old."

If it hadn’t been for a generous offer from a California club, Clampett’s golf career may have never happened.

"Our family couldn’t afford a membership at the club, but the president gave me a job where I could work for free and get playing privileges. I would pick up balls on the range, park carts, put water in the cart’s batteries, clean members’ clubs, put them away in the racks…everything."

Long before the name Tiger carried significance in golf, that was the handle put on young Clampett by a local PGA professional.

"My nickname around the club was Tiger. They would always say ‘Tiger, go do this’ or ‘Tiger help me do something in the shop.’ It was a perfect way to learn about the game."

Instruction came from the club pro Lee Martin. He took a liking to the curly-haired 10-year-old and offered structured lessons. Within six months Clampett played in his first competition. Less than a year later, Bobby Clampett was ranked among the top five junior golfers in his age group for Northern California.

"People saw the potential there early on – particularly Lee. He and I created a real close relationship, and he started working with me and got me started on the right track."

Bobby Clampett’s mom wanted him to play golf because she thought it would be good for his career. She had no idea how right she was.

Will your child ever become a pro golfer like Bobby Clampett?  That's doubtful.  But don’t lose sight of the importance golf plays in today’s business world.

 About the writer…

Rick Dayton and Bobby Clampett have a friendship dating back to 1995. For two years they talked golf as co-hosts of the nationally syndicated program "Drive Time: The Golf Radio Show." Dayton has spent the last  seven years working as a network sportscaster. He and his wife Jenny have three young sons and live in Raleigh.