Charlie's the Name

The big 21-year-old kid from Georgia waited politely while his opponent for the next day's finals of the 1958 National Amateur golf championship toiled up the steep climb from the 18th hole. "I'm Tommy Aaron, Mr. Coe," he said. "I'm going to play you tomorrow."

Wearily, Coe shook hands and managed his first smile of the day. "Charlie's my name," he said. "You make me feel old calling me mister."

For pencil-thin (6 ft., 140 Ibs.) Charlie Coe, 34, the whole week had been painfully tiring. Trudging over the tough, 6,680-yd. Lake Course at San Francisco's Olympic Club, the Oklahoma oil broker rested on a shooting stick between each stroke, burying his face in his hands and moodily wondering how to get his drives out of the rough and his putts into the hole. Still, the 1949 Amateur champ and veteran Walker Cupper somehow got through each round, finally defeated Ohio Blanket Salesman Roger McManus 3 and 2 on the 34th hole to make it to the finals.

For Tommy Aaron, playing in his first National Amateur, the week was as refreshing as a breeze off the nearby Pacific. Virtually unknown outside of the South, the University of Florida senior had nothing to lose and everything to win, and he played that way. Tall and rangy (6 ft. 2 in., 185 Ibs.), he banged out drives of 250 yds., canned his putts with ease and never trailed an opponent, including Quarter Finalist Dick Chapman, former U.S. (1940) and British (1951) Amateur champ. "The greens are like billiard tables," chuckled Tommy. "All you have to do is start the ball rolling and it goes right into the hole."

When young Aaron started the ball rolling the next day in the finals, he looked like a winner. He was two up after eleven holes. Coe confessed to being "mentally fatigued" and looked worn-out physically. But Charlie Coe has the stuff of a champ. Doggedly he put his swing back in joint, and poured on the pressure. By the 26th hole, the Georgia kid was three-putting greens, wallowing in sand-traps, ricocheting off trees. Coe eased his aching bones home to win, 5 and 4, by dropping a 25-ft. putt on the 32nd green. "I'm a lot tougher than most people think," said Champion Charlie Coe.

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