Fresno golfers cherish memories of the King, Arnold Palmer

Former Fresno State golf coach Mike Watney isn’t an autograph seeker, with one notable exception.

That’d be Arnold Palmer, the golf legend who died Sunday in Pittsburgh at the age of 87 because of complications from heart problems.

“He was my idol growing up,” Watney said. “Some people like to collect autographs or baseball cards, and I’m not that kind of guy. But he was the one guy if I could get it, I was going to get it.”

Watney got Palmer’s signature when he spoke at a college coaches’ convention.

“I was impressed with how perfect his signature was,” Watney said. “Usually those guys just scribble it out. It’s something I’ll cherish forever.”

Watney never played a round with Palmer, but during his short time on the PGA Tour he took advantage of an opportunity to watch the legend play. After finishing a round during a tournament in 1978, Watney returned to the course as a spectator to watch the man who had been his hero.

“I was so impressed with him,” Watney said. “He was beyond his time, but he still hit the ball really well.”

Palmer left impressions wherever he played – and that included in Fresno in 2002, when he headlined the first SaveMart Shootout at Riverbend (now Dragonfly Golf Club).

Steve Menchinella, the pro emeritus at Sunnyside Country Club, said he crossed paths with Palmer roughly 25 or 30 times over the years.

One of Menchinella’s favorite encounters with Palmer was when the owner of seven major titles and 62 career PGA Tour victories accepted the first Langley, a Northern California PGA-sponsored award that pays tribute to a PGA Tour legend.

“He may not have known my name, but he knew I was the Italian kid from Fresno,” Menchinella said. “He was everyone’s friend. He shook hands with everyone. He would always light up a room and he treated everyone the same. He would hang out with whoever was talking to him and talk about anything. He never looked down on anyone.”

Menchinella also recalled the first time he attended the Masters at Augusta National in the late 1980s, and Palmer was the only player he saw attack the famed par-3 No. 6 180-yard hole where the tee box sits well above the green, which features two shelves on each back corner.

“Arnold hit it to within 3 feet and I said, ‘Oh my God. He’s the only guy with the guts to hit it up there,’ ” Menchinella said. “They all do it now, but Arnold was the only guy who went for those pins back in the old days.”

Fresno State golf coach Chad Spencer, 35, said golfers of all generations owe a debt to Palmer for popularizing the sport.

“He was a legend of the game and a legend in every way he carried himself,” Spencer said. “He was truly the king of golf and made golf popular in an era when it really wasn’t.”

Jim Crichlow, like Watney, cherishes an autograph from Palmer.

It’s in the form of a lithograph also signed by Billy Casper and Miller Barber, both of whom have passed, and Roberto De Vicenzo in the 1985 U.S. Senior Open at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.

This was the fifth U.S. Senior Open, that quartet having won the first four.

Crichlow, the Central Section commissioner who has golfed for 52 years, marshaled the 10th hole for all four days of the 1985 Open.

Besides that hole, he also experienced up-close moments with Palmer in a pre-tournament practice round and media conferences during the event.

Crichlow believes Palmer was distinguished as much for his delightful persona as his “go-for-broke” game.

“He was extremely gregarious, just funny as heck,” Crichlow said. “He always waved, smiled and gave thumbs up. He was very personable and polite.”

And oh how Palmer was followed, as Crichlow recalled specifically to another senior tournament a couple of years later at Rancho Murieta Country Club east of Sacramento: “You didn’t have to ask where Arnold Palmer was; you just followed that big trail of dust behind him.”

This story was originally published September 26, 2016 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Fresno golfers cherish memories of the King, Arnold Palmer."