GR's golf personality of the month - Ivan "the Terrible" Gantz?
There are plenty of golfing personalities from years gone by. Moe Norman, Deane Beaman, Seve, etc. I came across this guy and thought he sounds like pure gold. Imagine him as your regular weekend partner...
Ivan Gantz, a club pro from Indiana who played part-time on the PGA Tour, was called IVAN THE TERRIBLE. He was famous because of his spontaneous outbursts.
Tommy Bolt was noted for his temper but he couldn’t hold a candle to Gantz. Ivan expected perfection on every shot. If he didn’t get it—watch out. According to architect Pete Dye, who played with Gantz, “Everybody liked him. He was everybody’s friend. He never hurt anyone else. He only attacked himself.”
That son of a ***** was so crazy he threw clubs on the range after a round. He had a persimmon driver that he stomped on so many times it looked like he'd turned termites loose on it. He'd stick his hand in a thorn bush until his hand was raw and bloody and then hold it in front of his face and talk to it: "That'll teach you to get involved in the shot too soon!"
Once during the Indiana State Open Gantz choked while addressing a tee shot. Unable to draw the club back he eventually yanked the club straight up and cracked himself over the head with it. He then put a handkerchief around his head to stem the flow of blood and kept on playing.
While playing with the head professional at Hillcrest CC in Indianapolis Ivan missed a green 20 yards right. Left with chip over a bunker he proceeded to dump the shot into the trap. So frustrated Ivan started punching himself in the face until he bled. On other occasions he was seen jumping head first into bunkers.
After one bad shot in Texas Ivan jumped into a cactus. Another time he head-butted a tree. When a friend in an adjacent fairway saw him he yelled, “Hey Ivan, how are you?” Ivan turned, yelled back, “Hi”, then went back to beating his head against the tree.
Gantz was not good at remembering names, so he called everyone "Ol' buddy."
I nomintae him GR Personaility of the Month. Anyone second that? Any other nutters (current or from the annuls fo Golfing history) that are worth of a mention?