Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...

Amid a legendary career and life, Vin Scully was a fixture in golf

Written by 
Published in Golf
Wednesday, 03 August 2022 05:25

You can't write the history of baseball — and sports — without mentioning Vin Scully, who passed away Tuesday at age 94. 

The same, however, could be said about golf. 

Scully, most famously known as the voice of the Dodgers for 67 years, called many indelible moments in sports. Those include Sandy Koufax's perfect game in 1965, Bill Buckner's error in Game 6 of the '86 World Series, Kirk Gibson’s pinch-hit walk-off home run in Game 1 of the '88 World Series and Dwight Clarke's “The Catch” in the 1981 NFC Championship game — plus so, so much more. 

Amid all that, he was a part of many iconic moments in golf.

In 1975, Scully called his first Masters Tournament, broadcasting Jack Nicklaus' historic victory, when the Golden Bear edged Johnny Miller and Tom Weiskopf for his fifth green jacket. 

Scully, a native of the Bronx, New York, handled the Masters' play-by-play duties until 1982. 

"I was always on the tower, alone at 18 (at the Masters)," Scully told Forbes in 2020. "My duties were to do 9, which came down behind me, 10 which went away, down and off, and then 18 where the big guys came up at the end of the tournament and the story was going to be written.

“The big thing about being at the Masters, and unless you go there you don’t realize it, is the crowd noise. Augusta is a little bit like a bowl, you’re up on top of it and you tee off and go to the bottom and work your way back up."

Scully was also on the call when The Players Championship moved to TPC Sawgrass in 1982. That year, Jerry Pate secured the victory by sticking his approach on No. 18 to 3 feet. Afterward, Pate pushed then PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman and course designer Pete Dye into the water beside No. 18 before jumping in himself. Scully called it "perhaps the wildest moment in the history of sports." 

Scully left CBS for NBC in '82 so he could call baseball nationally, as NBC Sports had MLB's "Game of the Week" on Saturdays. But that move also came with opportunities to call PGA Tour golf. 

"When [Scully] started broadcasting golf, it was a real positive for the PGA Tour because somebody of his stature did not do minor events,” Beman said, according to PGATour.com. "At that time, we were still a minor sport. I think it was a very subtle message to the public that when Vin Scully started doing golf, that golf was more important than they realized. I think Vin probably saw in the future that golf had the opportunity to become a major sport. It took a while, but that’s what it became. I don’t think Vin would have taken golf under his wing if he didn’t think golf was worthy of somebody of his stature describing the action."

In 1990, Scully left NBC when CBS re-acquired Major League Baseball's broadcast contract. Scully's time broadcasting golf ended there, as he declined to call the sport for another two years and fulfill his contract with NBC. 

He still, though, had a deep admiration for the sport as an avid player. 

In 2016, Scully put a bow on a legendary broadcasting career. Yet, in an extraordinary life, the hardest goodbye may have been when he shelved his clubs for good. 

"The most emotion I felt was when they were putting my golf clubs in the truck," Scully told Forbes. "I did have a twinge that there goes a major portion of my life, because I played with my wife, Sandi, at home and all over the world and we had a wonderful time."

Read 326 times

Soccer

Breaking down the Premier League title race, and why Arsenal could edge Man City

Breaking down the Premier League title race, and why Arsenal could edge Man City

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsHollywood might struggle to match what looks like being an edge-of-...

Sources: Giroud finalizing DP deal with LAFC

Sources: Giroud finalizing DP deal with LAFC

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsMLS side LAFC is finalizing a deal with AC Milan and France interna...

Purce out for Olympics, NWSL season with ACL

Purce out for Olympics, NWSL season with ACL

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsNJ/NY Gotham FC and United States women's national team winger Midg...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

Basketball

MPJ defends brother amid betting investigation

MPJ defends brother amid betting investigation

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsDenver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. said Wednesday night that...

Rockets, with play-in in sight, win 10th straight

Rockets, with play-in in sight, win 10th straight

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsOKLAHOMA CITY -- Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, front offic...

Baseball

Athletics' Andújar has surgery, could miss month

Athletics' Andújar has surgery, could miss month

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsOAKLAND, Calif. -- Athletics outfielder Miguel Andujar had surgery...

Boone to Soto: Don't defer to Yankees veterans

Boone to Soto: Don't defer to Yankees veterans

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsOn the eve of the New York Yankees' season opener at Minute Maid Pa...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated