Family man Summerhays sitting near the top at the Tradition  PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator SUNRIVER, Ore. -- There's a Utah resident tied for the lead at the JELD-WEN Tradition, but it's not Bruce Summerhays.  Bruce Summerhays shot a 68 on Thursday. (WireImage)
There's a Summerhays who has been making golf headlines in the past few weeks, but that's not Bruce, either. But that doesn't mean Bruce isn't worthy of his own story. It's fellow Utahan Mike Reid who is tied with Mark McNulty for the first-round lead at Crosswater Golf Club at Sunriver Resort, but a 68 has Summerhays sitting just two shots back. Sinking a "dandy" 21-footer on No. 17 and a 15-foot putt on No. 18 kept Summerhays at 4-under par to close out his round on a day in which the 63-year-old said he couldn't miss if he tried. "Except for the last two holes I hit the ball in a position where I couldn't make bogey. I had an opportunity to make a couple of bogeys on the last two holes and I made the putts," said Summerhays, one of four players to fire a bogey-free round. "You don't count on making those for pars all the time, but I was stroking the ball nicely." With both of his playing partners making waves out on the course as well -- a loud roar went up when Don Pooley sank an eagle from 37 yards while the other third of the threesome, David Edwards, currently sits in third after shooting 67 -- Summerhays said he had a blast with, and even gained a little confidence from, his fellow pros. "David was putting the ball so beautifully. I really like that. When I play with Tom Watson, I love his motion so my motion gets better," he explained. "I think you do feed off of those things and it was fun to play with a group making some birdies." This is the first year the Champions Tour has played the Tradition at this venue, but Summerhays said it wasn't a tough task to get used to the new digs. "This one is pretty straightforward because you can see just about everything. There are a couple of things you might want to know... but actually, golf courses are just straight holes, dogleg lefts, dogleg rights, par 3s. They are not that different. You set up, you see it, you know your yardages." This week it's his son, William, who is on the bag to give him those yardages, as five of his eight children are in a five-week rotation to serve as his caddie. Golf runs in the Summerhays family and has ever since Bruce's father Pres, the former baseball coach at the University of Utah, discovered a passion for the game that he embedded in his children. In turn, Summerhays -- a former club professional who has won three times on the Champions Tour -- instilled that passion in his own eight kids, and the golfing bug bit his siblings' kids as well. Hence why there's another Summerhays making headlines in the golfing world. Bruce's nephew, Daniel, recently became the first amateur to win on the Nationwide Tour after earning a victory at the inaugural Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational. Daniel decided to turn pro -- though not in time to earn anything from his victory in Columbus, Ohio -- and chose to forgo his last season at BYU in hopes of earning enough money to earn his PGA TOUR card for 2008. He's made four cuts as a professional so far and even tied for 10th at the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic last week.  Nephew Daniel Summerhays won on the Nationwide Tour earlier this year. (WireImage) "They gave him a half hour to decide whether he would turn pro and play in the next event so he said 'nah.' But I got to play with him the Saturday after and we had a nice talk. I knew he wanted to turn professional and all that (win) did was expedite it. He was going to go to q-school and if he didn't qualify he'd go back to BYU. But that just made his decision pretty easy," Summerhays said. Daniel's brother, Boyd, is also a Nationwide Tour member and, though Boyd has been in his little brother's shadow for the second half of this season, uncle Bruce is proud of both of his nephews just the same. Just as he is of his large, golf-crazy family, including daughter Carrie, a former LPGA player whom Summerhays is counting on to keep him in line when she serves as his caddie at the Administaff Small Business Classic later this season. With such a large family, can he even name all of the kids and grandkids? "I can but I have to start with my daughter Shelly and work my way down. I can't do it chronologically. I just go by my kids, my first down to my eighth," said Summerhays. But at least they have a love for golf in common. "That's what we've done -- the family plays golf. It's a beautiful thing and a family activity," Summerhays said. "And when the whole family gets together for Thanksgiving, woo wee, it's fabulous." Papa Summerhays hopes to make the family proud, including the seven grandkids that are with him this week, with a win at the season's fourth major. It's been an up-and-down season for Summerhays, who has earned three top-10s and sits at 48th on the Charles Schwab Cup points list. "To win at age 63, that would be fantastic. To win this week in a major, that would shock the world, so to speak. But maybe I can be like Muhammad Ali and shock the world. "Really, I'm just happy to be here playing and just to be under par. It's fabulous to be under par in the first round," he added. "As you know, you never win playing the first round under par; you have to get to the last round, the last nine holes to have a chance. I'm not sure I would give anything in the world to win, but it would sure be nice. Winning is fantastic out here." |
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