Robert Menne (February 19, 1942 – June 2, 2023) was an American
professional golfer
A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...
who played on the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
, the
Champions Tour, and the
European Seniors Tour
The Legends Tour is the current branding of the European Senior Tour, a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was branded as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based insur ...
.
Menne was born
[ and raised in ]Gardner, Massachusetts
Gardner, officially the City of Gardner, is a city in Worcester County in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,287 in the 2020 census. Gardner is home of such sites as the Blue Moon Diner, Dunn State Park, ...
, where he was graduated from Gardner High School
Gardner High School is a public high school in Gardner, Massachusetts.
History
Gardner High School was established in 1872, with the first graduating class being the Class of 1876. In 1897, a school building was designed by the architecture firm ...
in 1960.[ He attended college at the ]University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
in the early 1960s, and turned pro in 1965. Menne had at least seven top-10 finishes in PGA Tour events during his career including a win at the 1974 Kemper Open
The Kemper Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1968 to 2006.
Perhaps more so than any other "regular" PGA Tour stop, the event wandered about, not just from course to course within a given metropolitan area, but along the East Coast ...
, which was held at the Quail Hollow Club
Quail Hollow Club is a country club and golf course in the southeastern United States, located in the Quail Hollow neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is a private member club, founded by James J. Harris on April 13, 1959.
The club ho ...
in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
.[ He won that tournament in a playoff with ]Jerry Heard
Jerry Michael Heard (born May 1, 1947) is an American professional golfer who won several PGA Tour events in the 1970s.
Early life
Heard was born in Visalia, California. He attended Fresno State College (now Fresno State University) for a sho ...
. Menne also finished in a first-place tie with Lee Trevino
Lee Buck Trevino (born December 1, 1939) is an American retired professional golfer who is regarded as one of the greatest players in golf history. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. Trevino won six major championships and ...
at the end of regulation at the 1970 National Airlines Open Invitational
The National Airlines Open Invitational was a professional golf tournament in south Florida on the PGA Tour. It was held in late March in Hialeah at the West Course of the Country Club of Miami in 1969, 1970, and 1971 At the time, it was among ...
but lost on the second extra hole of a playoff. His best finish in a major
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
was a T-30 at the 1970 PGA Championship
The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...
.
After reaching the age of 50, Menne played some on the Champions Tour but with limited success. His best finish in a Champions Tour event was T11 at Raley's Senior Gold Rush in 1992. He had more success playing on the European Seniors Tour
The Legends Tour is the current branding of the European Senior Tour, a professional tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was branded as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based insur ...
.
Menne lived in West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...
. He had previously lived in Demarest, New Jersey
Demarest is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 4,881,[New England PGA Championship The New England PGA Championship is a golf tournament that is the championship of the New England section of the PGA of America. The New England section encompasses the states of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont (The oth ...]
*1975 Maine Open
The Maine Open is the Maine state open golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not ...
*1981 Massachusetts Open
The Massachusetts Open is the Massachusetts state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by Mass Golf (formerly the Massachusetts Golf Association). It has been played annually since 1905 (except for wa ...
*1985 New England Open
*1988 New England PGA Championship The New England PGA Championship is a golf tournament that is the championship of the New England section of the PGA of America. The New England section encompasses the states of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont (The oth ...
*1991 Rhode Island Open The Rhode Island Open is the Rhode Island state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Rhode Island Golf Association. It has been played annually since 1929 at a variety of courses around the stat ...
U.S. national team appearances
*PGA Cup
The PGA Cup is a men's golf competition for club professionals played between a Great Britain and Ireland team and a United States team. The winning team is presented with the Llandudno Trophy. The competition is run by the British PGA and the PG ...
: 1988 (winners)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Menne, Bob
American male golfers
PGA Tour golfers
PGA Tour Champions golfers
European Senior Tour golfers
Golfers from Massachusetts
Golfers from New Jersey
Golfers from Florida
University of Miami alumni
Sportspeople from Worcester County, Massachusetts
People from Gardner, Massachusetts
People from Demarest, New Jersey
Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey
Sportspeople from West Palm Beach, Florida
1942 births
2023 deaths