The strange, futile career of ‘tour pro’ Herb Deesen

At the 1956 Western Open, hosted by the picturesque Presidio Golf Club in San Francisco, Herb Deesen of nearby Berkeley, California, shot 74 in the first round, the same score as notables Al Geiberger, Tommy Bolt and Ed Furgol and six behind leader Billy Casper. Deesen followed that up with a 76 to make the cut on the number

In the third round, Deesen ballooned to a 16-over-par 88 on the not-very-difficult Presidio course. He improved to 81 on Sunday to finish at 319, 35 shots behind Mike Fetchick, Doug Ford, Jay Hebert, and Don January (Fetchick won the playoff). Among those who made the cut, Deesen was dead last by four shots and earned $110.

Presidio Golf Club, circa 1950 Courtesy USGA Museum

Remarkably, the 1956 Western Open was the highlight of Deesen’s career as a self-styled professional golfer. He was not as bad as Maurice Flitcroft, the English crane operator and subject of the 2021 biopic “The Phantom of the Open,” who shot ...