THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507210712
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 170 lines
When Gary Strickfaden mentioned his plan to friends, many reacted with a mix of surprise and envy.
``They'd say, `Gee, you're lucky!,' and then, `You're living out my dream too,' '' says Strickfaden. ``They think I'm very fortunate to be able to give something like this a shot.''
After 30 years with the giant accounting firm KPMG Peat Marwick, Strickfaden retired at the end of June to pursue a goal that for many amateur golfers is a fantasy: making it onto the Professional Golfers Association Senior Tour.
Part of the tour's attraction is the opportunity to play with veterans like Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus.
``These are guys I admired and watched over the years,'' says the 51-year-old Strickfaden, who admits that he doesn't know the names of many younger players on the regular pro tour.
Limited to players 50 years and older, the Senior Tour has developed a broad following and an abundance of prize money. Since the tour's start in 1980, the number of events has grown from two to 33. Annual prize money has swelled during the same period from $250,000 to $33.3 million.
The Senior Tour has stoked the fantasies of middle-aged amateur golfers partly because several unlikely candidates have qualified. Last fall, Texas dairy farmer Robert Landers tied for sixth place in the national qualifying tournament, earning a spot on the 1995 Senior Tour. Landers, a self-taught golfer, didn't play his first 18 holes until he was 22 years old.
One person not surprised by Strickfaden's decision to pursue the Senior Tour tryout is Butch Liebler.
``This has been in the back of Gary's mind for a long time,'' says Liebler, the head golf professional at Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club in Virginia Beach.
``Gary and I discussed it last winter. I told him that if he had the financial resources and the time, he should try it,'' says Liebler, who played golf with Strickfaden twice a week for several years. ``Why look up at age 65 and say to yourself, `I wished I had tried'?''
Strickfaden, a golfer with no handicap, has several things working in his favor. One is an ability to drive the ball long and with accuracy.
``Gary probably averages 250 yards off the tee. At his age, that's above average,'' Liebler says.
Also, he is intensely competitive.
``When he gets on the golf course, Gary wants to win,'' says Bill Williard, a Virginia Beach insurance agent who frequently played with him.
But Strickfaden may need something more to break into the Senior Tour.
``He's facing an uphill battle because the number of qualifying slots is limited,'' Liebler says.
Of the 300 players who turned out for the Senior Tour's four regional tryouts last fall, 111 advanced to the national qualifying tournament. Only eight of the 111 won eligibility to join the tour. Another eight low scorers are eligible to be tapped as substitutes if openings become available on any tour events.
Most of the remaining spots on the tour were filled by the top 31 money-winners on the Senior Tour for 1994 and the top 31 all-time money-winners.
For Strickfaden and other aspirants, the qualification process for the 1996 tour begins in mid-November. Those who make it through the regional rounds advance to the national qualification tournament in California two weeks later.
But the qualification process is grueling, says Liebler, whose brother Steve was on the PGA tour during the 1980s.
``The pressure can get to you because one stroke can make a difference in the direction of your life,'' Liebler says.
Strickfaden, whose parents were golfers, learned to play on a nine-hole course while growing up in California, Mo. In the early 1960s, he played on the University of Missouri golf team while studying business administration and accounting.
After graduation, Strickfaden joined the St. Louis office of Peat Marwick, where he concentrated on auditing and accounting services for financial institutions.
From St. Louis, he moved to the firm's Decatur, Ill., office and then to Roanoke. In 1986, Strickfaden was named partner in charge of Peat Marwick's Norfolk office.
Audits and other services for the firm's clients in the region took about one-third of his time, the retired Peat Marwick partner says. The balance involved planning, budgeting and other aspects of running the Norfolk office.
But Strickfaden, who was active in local Chamber of Commerce and United Way activities, also made time for golf, which paid off.
``It definitely helped me be recognized, and that led to business opportunities,'' he said. ``An awful lot of business people go to golf outings, and they admire people who have achieved a certain level of competence at the game.''
When proponents of a new golf course in Virginia Beach needed help two years ago deciding whether to proceed, they turned to Strickfaden. His analytical skills and devotion to golf made him a natural choice, says Harry Lester, chairman of the club's membership committee.
Princess Anne Country Club had approached the owners of what had been the Bayville dairy farm near Shore Drive about developing a course on their property. However, the club's members later nixed the idea.
That's when a small group of prominent business executives and professionals decided to organize a private club and develop a premier course on 160 acres of the Bayville tract.
Strickfaden examined the feasibility of a new private course and eventually became president of the Bayville Golf Club.
Last November, construction began on a $7 million course designed by Tom Fazio, a highly regarded designer. The course is due to be completed in mid-November.
``Gary was there when we chose Tom Fazio, when we broke ground, and when we got 100 members,'' says Lester. ``I give him tremendous credit for putting things together. I was sorry to see him leave.''
Those who know Strickfaden say he is applying the same focus to making the senior pro tour that he displayed in his work at Peat Marwick and in his civic endeavors.
``Gary is very focused and goal-oriented,'' says Jack Hornbeck, president and chief executive officer of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. ``He is a relatively reserved and reticent individual, but you can tell the wheels are turning and that he is analyzing the situation.''
Strickfaden, who has a medium build, dark hair and glasses, talks in a blunt, low-key manner that conveys a sensitivity to details.
Before retiring from KPMG Peat Marwick, he occupied a corner office in the Dominion Tower in Norfolk. There were few golf mementos. The plaques on one wall were the products of service to the local United Way and Chamber of Commerce rather than golfing achievements.
Whether playing golf or doing business, Strickfaden assumes that whatever problems he encounters can be solved. ``You can't lose your cool and walk away with your head hanging down,'' he says.
Strickfaden's first taste of professional competition came last year when he won the Virginia state qualification to play in the U.S. Golf Association's Senior Open in Pinehurst, N.C.
He missed the final cut for the Senior Open by four strokes, but the experience, he says, was exhilarating. With scores of 75 and 78, ``I played respectably on a relatively tough course,'' he says.
His weaknesses have been in his short game, including chipping and playing out of sand traps. Although he regularly played two or three games a week while working for Peat Marwick, he didn't practice.
To be close to top-flight instructors and quality courses, Strickfaden and his wife have moved to Pinehurst, N.C., where they bought a home and joined a golf club.
``I have to view this as a full-time job,'' he says. ``Up to this point, it's been a game.''
To pursue professional golf probably will cost about $50,000 a year, Strickfaden says. Most of that will go to travel expenses and tournament entry fees.
``I'm going to get used to living in cheap motels and eating baloney sandwiches,'' Strickfaden jokes.
What if he fails to survive the Senior Tour's qualification process?
One alternative is to try qualifying for one of four spots that are usually available at Senior Tour events for individuals not eligible for the tour. But the competition for these spots is intense, says Lee Patterson, a Senior Tour spokesman.
On average, about 100 golfers show up on the Monday before a tournament trying to qualify for the four spots.
``We call them `rabbits' because they hop from city to city trying to get into Senior Tour events,'' says Patterson.
Strickfaden also could follow the ``mini-tour'' of senior pro tournaments in smaller cities. And he hasn't ruled out eventually returning to the business world.
But for now, he has focused all of his attention on preparing for the Senior Tour qualification rounds.
``I think this is the absolutely only time that I could pursue a dream that I've had for a long time.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
STEVE EARLEY/Staff
Photo
STEVE EARLEY/Staff
Gary Strickfaden hopes to make it onto the Professional Golfers
Association Senior Tour.
by CNB