DATE: Friday, November 14, 1997             TAG: 9711140892

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER  

                                            LENGTH:   94 lines

``A VERY GOOD PLAYER, BUT A BETTER MAN'' TOM STRANGE, FATHER OF CURTIS, TO ENTER SECTIONAL HALL OF FAME.

It's been 28 years since Tom Strange died of lung cancer, 28 years since he flashed that warm, winning smile at a kid while teaching him golf and its etiquette, 28 years since he was among Virginia's most feared competitors.

Saturday night at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Strange will be inducted into the Middle Atlantic PGA Hall of Fame. A Cincinnati native who came to this area after enlisting in the Coast Guard, Strange is being honored, MAPGA executive director Dick Johns wrote, ``for his lifetime of achievement.''

And although it ended when he was just 39, Strange's life brimmed with accomplishment. Today he might be best known as the father of Curtis Strange, but he was much more than that.

``One of the top players ever to come out of Cincinnati,'' says Tom Nieporte, the head pro at fabled Winged Foot in New York and a frequent competitor of Strange's. ``A natural. At one time, he held the record at every course in Cincinnati.''

``He was a very good player - but a better man,'' adds Owl's Creek pro Pat Schwab, a Dayton native who grew up with Strange through Ohio junior golf.

After he moved to Hampton Roads in 1951, Strange won the Virginia PGA Open four times, the Virginia State Open once. Only Chandler Harper, with 11, and Bobby Cruickshank, with six, were more successful.

``He was a fierce competitor,'' says Herb Hooper, now pro at Lee Park GC in Petersburg. He lost an 18-hole playoff to Strange in the 1966 State Open final at Bide-A-Wee. ``Sometimes, you would play your best and think you finally had him. A couple of holes later, he'd get you. Claude King, Chandler Harper and Tom Strange. Those were the three guys who always had you looking over your shoulder.''

Strange's 6-under-par 64 at Elizabeth Manor in the 1957 Eastern Amateur stood as the club's competitive record for 10 years. He entered his only State Amateur that year, losing to Norfolk's Robert Wallace 5-and-3 in the final at The Homestead.

``Finally, people are recognizing his talent as a player,'' said son Curtis, winner of two U.S. Opens and 18 other professional tournaments around the world. ``Everyone who knew him loved and enjoyed him. Sometimes, things like this just take time. It's a very big night for our family.''

Off the course, Tom Strange made countless players better and set an example that led others into the business.

``Tom Strange is the reason I'm in golf,'' said Cavalier G&YC head professional Butch Liebler, who often caddied for Strange. ``He was a great player. He was an equally great person, the epitome of a gentleman.''

Although Butch taught brother Lloyd the fundamentals, Lloyd met with Strange to learn the game's mental and emotional intricacies.

``Tom was a mentor of the mind for Lloyd,'' Liebler said. ``He got him thinking properly, pushed him over the edge. He gave my brother something I couldn't give him at that stage - how to handle tournament pressure.

J.P. Leigh, who won the 1983 Eastern Amateur and has eight top-five finishes in State Opens, was a student of Strange's. He calls him an innovator in golf instruction.

``He was the first person I ever saw take Polaroids of someone swinging,'' Leigh recalled. ``Then he'd show them to him to help him visualize what he should do. You couldn't wait to take a lesson from Tom Strange.''

By all accounts, Strange was one of the area's most active and impressive professionals.

Harper, a PGA Hall of Famer, remembers Strange asking him to arrange a match for him in Florida with Cruickshank. To this day, he remembers the call he received after the round.

``Where'd you find this fellow?'' Cruickshank demanded. ``Why isn't he on the tour?''

Harper explained that Strange didn't wish to leave his wife and family for life on the road.

``Tell him to buy a trailer and take them with him,'' Cruickshank said. ``He's better than 95 percent of the players out here.''

Those who knew him well say he never thought much of that lifestyle. Tom Strange had a soft spot for kids, especially those with a hankering for golf. One of his life's pleasures was reaching out to them.

``Lanny Wadkins still talks about the clinic my dad gave in 1964, the jokes, the trick shots - shots I can't hit to this day,'' Curtis said. ``We always had 10 or 12 kids on the course on a Saturday morning. Kids were never restricted from playing.''

Although he was a two- to three-pack-a-day smoker, some still swear that Tom Strange died from pesticide poisoning and his ritual licking of the ball before teeing it.

``I never saw him do that,'' Curtis said, ``and I spent a lot of time with him on the golf course. I saw him spit at the ball a lot, then wipe it with his hand. He smoked a lot.

``Most of the time, we were at work together, morning, noon and night. I never remember getting bored with any of it - caddying, raking traps, running carts and, of course, hitting ball after ball.

``He saw how I enjoyed it. I think he knew that I wanted to be a pro. But he never said anything. He helped me with my game, but in every other respect, he was more into being our dad.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Cancer killed Tom Strange 28 years ago at age 39, but his legacy

survives. KEYWORDS: PROFILE

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