THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 6, 1994 TAG: 9407060532
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Twice a week, Harvey Penick - author of the best-selling sports book in history - asks his nurse to push his wheelchair under one of the huge shade trees near the practice range and putting green at Austin Country Club in Texas.
There, he does exactly what he has done for more than 60 years, dispensing homespun wisdom on golf and life for darn near free of charge.
Since being published in 1992, Penick's ``Little Red Book'' has sold more than one million copies. It appeared on the New York Times best-seller list for 54 weeks, 10 of them at No. 1.
Penick will turn 90 in September, although even his friends admit the rivers of wrinkles that dominate his face make him seem even older. The Austin club's emeritus professional wears a hearing aid in each ear, and the rest of his body betrayed him years ago.
Not so his mind.
``He's as sharp, as incredibly sharp, today as he was the first day I met him,'' Ben Crenshaw said Tuesday, sipping iced tea from the players' grill at Kingsmill, where he'll compete for the winner's share of $1.1 million in prize money and this year's Anheuser-Busch Classic title.
Few people know Penick as well as Crenshaw, who has won 18 tournaments and nearly $6 million in 21 seasons on the PGA Tour. When Crenshaw was a kid, Penick whittled down the shafts of a 5-iron and a 3-iron. He handed the 5-iron to Ben and the 3-iron to Ben's older brother.
Crenshaw took lessons from Penick when he charged $5 per
session. Actually, despite unrelenting protest from his clientele willing to pay much more, he still charges $5 per hour of advice.
When Penick's book was recently reproduced in audio and video versions, Crenshaw, Tom Kite and Kathy Whitworth were asked to provide introductions.
``The success of his work has made all of us very proud,'' Crenshaw says, ``although he can't understand the adulation. He is the most honestly humble person I've ever met.''
``The Little Red Book'' is the compilation of Penick's theories and observations from decades of training skilled and unskilled golfers.
Crenshaw says everyone at Austin Country Club knew Penick's tiny red notebook existed, though he never allowed them to see it. It was originally intended to be a present for Penick's son, Tinsley.
``He kept it inside a rolltop desk in the pro shop,'' Crenshaw recalled. ``Every once in a while, he'd walk into the shop between lessons and pull it out to jot down something. No one ever thought it'd be published.''
One day, however, Penick confided to writer Bud Shrake that he'd like to see it in print. Only then did anyone learn its simple, yet ingenious, contents.
``Too many people, when they first start to play golf, feel it's necessary to run right out and get lessons, and to get real technical about things,'' Crenshaw said. ``I'm not sure that's necessary.
``The statements Harvey makes don't go against modern teaching, but they dispel the notion that there's one way to play the game, or that the game has to be played in a scientific manner.''
Example: Swing the club with the same motion you would use to throw out a bucket of water. Crenshaw still thinks of his swing in those terms.
Occasionally, Penick's advice reaches far beyond the realm of mere instruction. Take, for example, his most famous pronouncement, telegraphed to LPGA Hall of Famer Betsy Rawls prior to her winning a major tournament.
``Take dead aim,'' was the only three words Penick wired to Rawls after she called desperate for help. Even today it stands as one of the pillars of his philosophy.
``Take dead aim - that's an amazing statement,'' Crenshaw said. ``It sounds so simple, but it means so much more than just the simple words. They have such a psychological impact. They say, `Forget your last shot. Forget the past. Put yourself totally in the present. Do your best this shot, this moment.'
``It has almost nothing to do with instruction, and almost everything to do with the object of the game. It's perfect.''
Crenshaw admits Penick has his detractors, people who disagree with letting a person's natural ability override swing mechanics.
Yet Kite, one of the Tour's most mechanical players ever, is a staunch Penick supporter. Crenshaw is totally opposite from Kite, but Penick's teachings have worked for both, through changes in clubs, swings, agronomy and scoring standards.
``The bottom line is this,'' Crenshaw says, cracking a smile, ``Harvey's philosophies will work as long as practitioners are taking swipes at stationary objects.''
Justin Leonard, the 1994 NCAA champion playing in just his third professional tournament, won Tuesday's Kodak Classic Shootout and the $6,500 first prize at Kingsmill. Leonard defeated Roger Maltbie on the 18th hole. Maltbie won $3,300, followed by Mark Carnevale ($2,200), Jay Haas ($1,800), Lanny Wadkins ($1,500), Jim Gallagher Jr. ($1,250), Curtis Strange ($1,000), Joey Sindelar ($900), Hal Sutton ($800) and Crenshaw ($750). ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
For Ben Crenshaw, higher inspiration comes from his 89-year-old
mentor Harvey Penick and his ``Little Red Book.''
by CNB