“Welcome to the second half of my life.”
That’s what the sign said. The year was 1982, and the occasion was the 60th birthday celebration for Frank Stranahan, who was intent on making it to 120. A couple of golf journalists had been invited to attend the ceremony.
Stranahan and his remarkable career came to mind because of Oklahoma State University golfer Viktor Hovland, who was low amateur in the 2019 Masters. It was Hovland’s first appearance in any of the four major championships, and he shot 72-71-71-71 for a 285 total.
In the 1947 Masters, Stranahan was low amateur and tied for second overall with his mentor, Byron Nelson. Stranahan totaled 283 with rounds of 73-72-70-68. He finished two strokes behind champion Jimmy Demaret.
Before his career was over, Stranahan would win six PGA Tour events, four of them as an amateur and two as a professional. He was one of the last great amateurs – probably the greatest since Bobby Jones. He won the British Amateur twice and the Canadian Amateur twice. He lost to Sam Urzetta in the final of the 1950 U.S. Amateur and he played on three Walker Cup teams.
As a golfer, Stranahan was one of a kind. He was an inspiration to many seniors. He assembled a brilliant amateur golf career.
On a grander scale, Stranahan twice was a runner-up at the Open Championship, to Fred Daly in 1947 and Ben Hogan in 1953. He could afford to play in both amateur and professional tournaments, without accepting prize money, because of great family wealth. His father, Robert A. Stranahan, was the founder of the Champion Spark Plug Co.
Move over Tiger Woods, because Stranahan was the first famous golfer to lift weights and play tournament golf at the same time. He frequently traveled with barbells and dumbbells in his car. When luggage was a problem he would pack bladders that could be filled with water and used as weights. Always persistent in his athletic goals, Stranahan won the 70-and-over age division at the 1997 National Physique Committee Gold Cup Classic bodybuilding competition.
There is the obligatory story about Stranahan asking a bellboy to carry a large suitcase to his room. Inside the suitcase, of course, was a set of training weights.
After turning pro, his biggest victory came in the 1958 Los Angeles Open. His best friend on the PGA Tour was Arnold Palmer, who defeated Stranahan in the round of 16 at the 1954 U.S. Amateur.
“He was my buddy, a great guy and a really good golfer,” Palmer was quoted as saying.
Retiring from competitive golf in the early 1960s, Stranahan lived in Miami Beach and would become golf’s longevity king. He talked openly about living to 120. “I mean it,” he said. “There is no reason we can’t live to be 120.”
In pursuit of his goal, he exercised twice a day at the gym. He also ran in more than 100 marathons. He closely monitored his healthy eating habits as well.
He was suspicious of golf journalists, although he once attended the Golf Writers Association of America writing awards ceremony in Augusta, Ga., before the Masters. He no longer played golf at that point, but he remained an astute observer of the sport he loved.
But let’s return to the Masters. Several times during his playing career, he had public disagreements with Clifford Roberts, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters. In 1948, a year after tying for second in the Masters, he was suspended from the tournament. Why? Ostensibly he played more than one ball during practice rounds, which was forbidden.
Rumors still persist that a group of Augusta National members held a grudge against Stranahan. There is no supporting evidence for this theory, although Stranahan appealed to Masters co-founder Bobby Jones, eventually writing letters of apology. As a result, he was invited to compete again in 1949.
As a golfer, Stranahan was one of a kind. He was an inspiration to many seniors. He assembled a brilliant amateur golf career.
Sadly, he didn’t make his goal of living to 120. Stranahan died in 2013 of unspecified causes at 90, although the sign still lives in the memories of all who saw it: “Welcome to the second half of my life.”