On Friday (Aug. 22), members of the Manufacturers Golf and Country Club of Fort Washington, Pa. — which was Lewis' home for 37 years — will gather to pay tribute to Bud Lewis, the oldest living member of The PGA of America.
The party, coming eight days before Lewis' official centennial birthday, will feature friends, former students, family and representatives of the Philadelphia PGA Section that he served for generations.
Born Aug. 30, 1908, Bud Lewis was the second oldest son of eight children to Harry and Rosie Lewis, who made their home in west Philadelphia, near the intersection of 59th Street and Gerard Avenue. Joseph was his given name, but everyone called him "Bud."
"I guess I got the name from adults when I was young because they couldn't think of my name at the time," said Lewis. "All of a sudden, I became Bud. I remember the day of my First Communion, one of my friends, Alex McCallister, said to me after church, ‘Hey, let's go out to the Llanerch [Country Club] and see if we can caddie. I must have been about eight years old at the time. We made about 60 cents per round. That's how I remember getting into golf."
In order to caddie, Lewis had to take the trolley to 69th Street and then the elevated railroad to Llanerch. By the time he was 15 he was working in the golf shop for the professional, John Edmundson. After working at five different clubs as an assistant and head professional, Lewis was named the head professional at Manufacturers Golf and Country Club in 1943. He settled in for a tenure of 37 years.
"Bud was a tremendous teacher, and particularly popular with the women players," said former Manufacturers Golf and Country Club head professional Bob Hibschman. "He would stress the head position and the hand position to all his students. He would get so many starting players who had the clubhead shut to end up hitting the ball just great. He also became a great teacher to the greatest amateurs ever to come out of the Philadelphia area."
For more than four decades, Lewis was a beacon of golf instruction to such acclaimed Philadelphia-area amateurs that include Bill Hyndman III, a runner-up in the 1955 U.S. Amateur and three-time British Amateur runner-up (1959, '69, '70); two-time U.S. Amateur Champion Jay Sigel (1982, '83) and Buddy Marucci, the 1995 U.S. Amateur runner-up to Tiger Woods.
Though Lewis officially retired in 1979, the third PGA Professional in the history of Manufacturers Golf and Country Club, he continued teaching well into his 90s.
Aided by his keen eye for talent and his ability to spot even the tiniest flaw in a golf swing, Lewis is believed to have given more golf lessons than any PGA Professional in the history of the Section.
The winters of Philadelphia can be rugged, but that didn't deter Lewis in establishing his teaching program year-round.
From 1935-65, Lewis gave lessons at an indoor range through the winter months, becoming a popular port of call for downtown businesspersons to visit during the lunch hour and after work. During the 1940s, Lewis became one of the pioneers in reaching out the physically-challenged, by setting up golf classes for the blind.
"I put up four nets in a building on the corner of 16th and Market and would see what folks could do," said Lewis. "It was my golf school and I wanted to give everybody a chance to hit balls away from a course."
Following his retirement, Lewis stayed on at Manufacturers as the pro emeritus and gave lessons there for another 20 years. Today, Lewis returns to the club, often challenging members and friends to a high-spirited game of bridge and never arriving without a bag full of stories.
An accomplished player as well, Lewis won the Philadelphia PGA Championship in 1943 and 1948, and finished runner-up to his boss, Gene Kunes, in 1934. He won the Philadelphia Open in 1942 and 1950 and he finished second twice.
Lewis competed in the 1950 and 1954 U.S. Opens, and advanced in Section competition four times to the PGA Championship, but missed a spot in the match play fields in the 1944, '45, '46 and '51 Championships.
In July 1945, or a month before Japan would surrender and end World War II, Lewis was one of several professionals in the military who were granted exemptions into the PGA Championship at Moraine Valley Country Club in Dayton, Ohio. Those veterans did not receive mileage money for the trip, but arrived on their own. Lewis made his bid to qualify for match play, but came up short.
Lewis' memories of the legendary figures of the game are endless, and so are some of the stories he can share.
"I once played at Tam O'Shanter outside Chicago, and couldn't find a ride home to the hotel, but was able to catch a ride with Walter Hagen," said Lewis. "He was a very gentle, very kind man. He insisted that we stop by five saloons on the way in, though.
"I also got to play with [Byron] Nelson in White Plains, and he hit every drive dead center. I remember starting off with a triple bogey on the second hole. I came back to birdie, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. Nelson said to me after the round, ‘Why don't you come out and join the tour? Maybe give it a shot?' I thought about it, but decided that I had to stay home, work at the club and raise my children."
The years have not caused any failure in Lewis's eye for talent.
"Nelson was an exceptional player," said Lewis. "[Sam] Snead was the strongest, and you could not believe how these players could work the woods with whippy shafts, but they did. You ask me about Tiger Woods? ... ah, he's the best."
Lewis went on to serve as a vice president of the Philadelphia PGA Section from 1948 to 1952. For nine years he was the Section's pro-junior chairman and initiated a pro-junior tournament, which was held each year at Manufacturers. In 1996, Lewis was inducted into the Philadelphia PGA Hall of Fame.
Every fall since 1985, Manufacturers Golf and Country Club has hosted the top Philadelphia-area amateurs in the Bud Lewis Invitational.
Lewis, father of sons Joseph Jr., 73, and Dan, 68, and a daughter Jean, 67, also has 12 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.
"The members loved him, and he was great to everybody," said his son, Dan Lewis, who retired four years ago after 35 years with the Acushnet Company. "It didn't matter if you were young or old, he would give tips for nothing. He occasionally gets out to give a few lessons, and though his legs are weak, he can be in a cart and give a great lesson."
Lewis has made a training tape, which he said that he once tried to market on his own.
"I tried to sell it, but I ended up giving them away," he said with a laugh. "Everybody who has seen it tells me it's a good tape."
Bud Lewis said that he has no secret for longevity, other than a simple lesson he learned long ago.
"You got to be happy, no matter what it takes," he said, "and you have to keep smiling no matter how much it hurts."
Lewis and members of his family also have been tournament veterans themselves, gathering to participate in the Harry Lewis Memorial Golf Tournament, named in honor of Bud's father, who encouraged his son generations ago to enjoy the game but never forget to pay respect to its values of sportsmanship and self-reliance.
Bud Lewis' PGA of America Service Record:
Llanerch Country Club, Havertown, Pa. - AP - 1925-30
Jeffersonville (Pa.) Golf Club - AP - 1931-35
Glendale Golf Club, Havertown, Pa. - HP - 1936
Jeffersonville (Pa.) Golf Club - HP - 1937-39
The Springhaven Club, Wallingford, Pa. - AP - 1940-41
Tredyffrin Country Club, Paoli, Pa. - HP - 1942
Manufacturers G&CC, Fort Washington, Pa. - HP - 1943-44
United States Army - 1945
Manufacturers G&CC, Fort Washington, Pa. - HP - 1946-79
(AP- Assistant Professional; HP – Head Professional)
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