Diana Smith

Wee Bobby Cruickshank Diana Smith

"Because he was so tiny and because he played with such cheerful gusto, he was the darling of the galleryites. . . . They were the forerunners of Arnie's Army, although they had no name. . . . Maybe they might have been known as Bobby's Brigade." -Arthur Daley, New York Times, November 8, 1967




In the winter months of the 1920s and 1930s, golf pros had to find a way to earn a living. In 1926, the Los Angeles Open offered an unheard-of $10,000 purse. This started the Golden Journey, which ultimately led to the tour we know today. Pros packed for five months. As well as clothes and golf clubs, they packed extra shafts and club heads so they could make repairs as needed, since wooden-shafted clubs broke easily. There was no going back once the journey began.

Bobby Cruickshank was one of the pros who had to be their own promoters. Sometimes tournaments sprang up unexpectedly in which they played for the gate. Tommy Armour said there was no purse too small for a golf pro. Three wives, Nellie Cruickshank, Estelle Armour, and Jo Espinosa, are credited with starting the concept of a logical tour. Most of the pros traveled on the same trains, stayed in the same hotels, and spent their leisure time together. Wee Bobby Cruickshank tells the story of what those days were really like.