He won 51 professional golf tournaments during his legendary career, earning him a spot as seventh on the list of the sport's all-time greats. And he went on to win eight more times on the Senior tour and design golf courses across the country. Where did Billy Casper get his start? Hint: he was wearing Navy blue.
Ask the folks in my generation to describe their notion of an ideal duty assignment for a hitch in the military, and some joker might well yell out: "Spending the whole time playing golf!"
Well, that really happened to me, and much to my surprise, the military was a terrific training ground. It taught me a lot about how to be a professional golfer and a lot about how to get along in the world. They're lessons I've found useful throughout my career.
Golf entered my life long before I put on a uniform. I was four when I gripped my first club-on a makeshift course in a cow pasture on my grandfather's ranch in Arizona. My dad had built three holes, and he and my uncle would practice their shots after they finished their chores. I had plenty of opportunity to watch and to play. By the time I was 17, I was on my way to becoming a pro.
I won an athletic scholarship to Notre Dame, but I stayed there less than a semester. It wasn't bad grades that sent me packing. As a Southern California boy, I just wasn't ready to take Midwestern winters. And I missed my girlfriend. So I headed back home to San Diego, and-not wanting to be drafted-I decided to join the Navy. That's when the tale begins.
A funny thing happened during my interview with the recruiter. It was June 1951, at the height of the Korean War, and the Navy wanted to start sea-service athletic teams to boost morale and attract recruits. One way to do that was to lure in more athletes and let them run recreational activities. I'd won local golf contests as a kid, so I ended up becoming a golf pro for Uncle Sam.
After weeks of obligatory boot camp, the newly minted Seaman Casper was assigned to the special services division and charged with providing golf lessons to officers, enlisted personnel, and their dependents. Once a month, we'd schedule tournaments in all three categories. In between the tournaments and giving lessons, I played on base golf teams against Sailors from other units.
For me, it was like going to golf pro school. I learned how to teach golf, how to communicate with people-both enlisted men and officers-and how to run large tournaments. And I learned how to manage a large sports-related business; eventually I ran the entire recreational program at the San Diego Naval Training Center.
But it wasn't just golf-related tips that I gleaned from my Navy experience. I also acquired discipline, which is important not only in golf but in your personal life as well. Because of my time in the military, I learned to concentrate my energy on what I could control, rather than worry about things that I couldn't influence. I also learned to dress properly and to look my best.
And I learned the importance of time. In the Navy, you lived with an eye on your watch or the clock. There was always a specific starting-time, and you had to schedule your life so that you made it. Success in the business world and in personal relationships demands the same kind of care and precision. When it's time for you to act, you need to be ready.
Finally, I learned that once you made a commitment, you were expected to carry it through and deliver on your promise, a trait that I had lacked as a kid but that the Navy instilled in me. I've found it to be one of the most important attributes you can acquire. It enables you to earn a reputation for integrity and dedication, which is a valuable asset in the civilian world as well.
I was fortunate enough to spend all four years of my hitch in the San Diego area: two years at the training center, 11 months at the Naval Outlying Landing Field at Imperial Beach, and several months after that in the personnel office at Naval Air Station North Island. Discharged in June 1955, I left the Navy still a seaman. I never made third-class petty officer, but I loved every minute of it.
Indeed, my stint in the Navy helped launch me on my civilian career. At that time, you had to serve a six-month apprenticeship before you could become a golf pro in the civilian world, and my time in the Navy fulfilled that requirement for me. And I'd gained valuable experience by overseeing a group of Seabees who were building a golf course at Imperial Beach.
Especially valuable was that my team at North Island had included a chief petty officer named Don Collett. When I got out, Don arranged for two businessmen to finance my first tour as a pro. My wife, Shirley, and I took off in Don's 1955 Buick Roadmaster, pulling a 28-foot Spartan house-trailer. During the rest of that summer we made it through 14 tournaments, from Portland, Oregon, to St. Paul, Minnesota.
Later that year, I finished as the 55th money winner on the PGA tour, and the next year I won the $5,000 first prize in the Quebec City tournament. Don, too, became a golf pro, helping to found the Coronado Golf Club. Thanks to him, I was off and running from the start.
The Navy has been part of me ever since I got out. I can't tell you how much it has meant to me. I'm very sorry that the draft was ended. I think the time that young people spend in the military helps them get their feet on the ground. It seems to me that after the draft ended, you started seeing more teenagers who were confused about their goals and values.
In 1966, as a civilian, I went out on a State Department tour to four aircraft carriers in the Tonkin Gulf to meet and encourage their crews. (No, I didn't tee off from a flight deck, though I was tempted.) Later, I went to Okinawa. I was chosen because I was a golf pro, but I doubt that I ever would have gone if it weren't for my experience in the military.
I didn't expect my service to have this kind of impact when I raised my right hand during the swearing-in ceremony in 1951. Like many recruits, I was a starry-eyed youngster-19 or so. But ever since I put on that blue uniform, I've felt lucky to serve, and grateful for the opportunities that doing so opened up. For me, it was a hole in one.