Frank Strafaci (April 24, 1916 – February 19, 1988) was an American amateur

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 use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er, who competed against the top amateurs of his time. He is remembered as one of Brooklyn's top amateur golfers.

Career

Strafaci was born and raised in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. He started his dominance on the amateur scene at Dyker Beach Golf Course in 1935 when he joined the Shoreview Golf Club. He won the

U.S. Amateur Public Links The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, often referred to as the Public Links or the Publinx, was a men's amateur golf tournament, one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the United States Golf Association. The USGA typically cal ...

in 1935. He won the Shoreview's Club Championship in 1936 and again in 1938. Over the next 15 years he dominated amateur golf in the area. He won the Long Island Golf Association Amateur Championship five times, the

Metropolitan Amateur The Metropolitan Amateur or Met Amateur is an amateur golf tournament organized by the Metropolitan Golf Association. It has been played annually since 1899 and is one of the oldest amateur golf tournaments in the United States along with the U.S. ...

seven times, the

North and South Amateur The North and South Men's Amateur Golf Championship, commonly known as the North and South Amateur, is an annual golf tournament held since 1901 at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina, USA. An invitational tournament, participants are ...

twice and the Richardson Invitational Championship twice. He also took his talents overseas, playing in the British and French Amateur Championships. In 1940, Strafaci qualified for the U.S. Open. Shortly after qualifying, Strafaci learned

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory and ...

did not qualify but would be the first alternate. On May 27, a few weeks before the Open was to be held at the Canterbury Golf Club in Ohio, Strafaci issued Hogan an "Insurance Policy". In a letter to Hogan, Strafaci told him "Go ahead to Cleveland and get ready for the Open Championship. I'll see to it that you get in." Strafaci believed Hogan one of the best players in the World should be in the Open. By his own admission, Strafaci did not like his game even though he qualified. With no other player withdrawing, Strafaci withdrew on June 6 from the Open which enabled Hogan to play. Hogan was in contention all four rounds and would go on to finish T5. In 1954, Strafaci played in the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

and had a very interesting first match opponent named

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

; this was Palmer's final amateur appearance before turning professional. Palmer later stated that his toughest match was against Strafaci, who was all square with him entering the 17th hole. Palmer eventually beat Strafaci 1-up and went on to win the championship. In 1957, Strafaci teamed up with his brother Thomas, the head professional at Dyker Beach Golf Club to capture the Long Island Golf Associations Amateur-Professional Championship at Nassau Country Club. This would be Frank’s second victory in this event winning it also in 1938 with professional Jimmy Hines who was the head professional at Lakeville Country Club. This event was also won in 1933 at Lido Golf Club by Strafaci’s older brother Ralph who teamed with

Wiffy Cox Wilfred Hiram "Wiffy" Cox (October 27, 1896 – February 20, 1969) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1930s. Cox was born and grew up in a tough Irish-Italian section of Brooklyn, New York. He started in golf a ...

who was the head professional at Dyker Beach GC at the time. Strafaci semi-retired from amateur golf in the late 1950s and became Executive Director of the Florida Golf Association. In 1960 he became the Director of Golf at the famed Doral Country Club. He has been credited with naming the course the "Blue Monster". He continued to live in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

until his death in 1988.

Family

Strafaci was one of five brothers, all of whom were top amateur golfers. His brother, Thomas U. Strafaci, was the only brother to turn professional and became the head golf pro with his son Thomas Strafaci, Jr. at Dyker Beach Golf Course in Brooklyn. His older brother Dominic was the 1941 MGA Public Links Champion winning the title at Bethpage Black. Strafaci had one son also named Frank and a daughter named Cathy. Both of whom currently reside in Florida. Strafaci's grandson,

Tyler Strafaci Tyler Strafaci (born July 23, 1998) is an American professional golfer who attended Georgia Tech. In 2020, he won the U.S. Amateur Championship. Amateur career Strafaci was born in Davie, Florida. He graduated from American Heritage School in ...

, won the 2020

at Pinehurst #2 just like his did grandfather in both 1938 and 1939. He also won the 2020

Amateur wins (27)

*1935

*1938,1941,1947,1949,1951

Long Island Amateur The Long Island Golf Association Amateur Championship, or simply the Long Island Amateur, has been held annually since 1922 in Long Island. The tournament is organized by the Long Island Golf Association and played on a rotating basis at member cl ...

*1952,1953 Long Island Golf Association - Richardson Invitational *1938,1939,1945,1946,1947,1950,1954

*1938,1939

*1938,1957 Long Island Golf Association - Amateur/Professional Championship *1937 Hochster Memorial Tournament at Quaker Ridge CC *1936,1938 Shoreview Men's Golf Club - Club Champion *1940,1941 Dixie Amateur *1952,1954 Long Island Golf Association - Club Team Championship *1957 Florida State Amateur Championship

Other career highlights

*1938, 1950

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

participant *1937, 1946 U.S. Open participant *1953

Western Amateur The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association. The Western Amateur features an international field of top-ranked amateur golfers. It was first ...

medalist *1933 Long Island Junior Championship medalistGolf Medal Taken by Frank Strafaci
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Results in major championships

''Note: Strafaci never played in

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

or the

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 ...

.'' NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in match play Source for The Masters:
www.masters.com
Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur
USGA Championship Database
Source for 1950 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, May 24, 1950, pg. 7.
Source for 1951 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, May 22, 1951, pg. 6.
Source for 1952 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, May 30, 1952, pg. 2.
Source for 1953 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, May 28, 1953, pg. 4.
Source for 1954 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, May 27, 1954, pg. 4.
Source for 1955 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, June 2, 1955, pg. 4.
Source for 1956 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, May 30, 1956, pg. 4.
Source for 1957 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, May 29, 1957, pg. 4.
Source for 1958 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, June 5, 1958, pg. 4.
Source for “Blue Monster“ Naming: NY Times Online Edition March 16, 2008 Sports Section article by Larry Dorman Event’s Stars: Monster and Woods

References

*Dominate Players, The History of the L.I.G.A., Longislandgolf.org Retrieved 10/15/2010 *Long Island Golf Association Yearbook 2003-2004, Amateur Championship, Richardson Invitational Retrieved 10/18/2010 *Metropolitan Amateur Past Winners, MGA.org Retrieved 10/18/2010 *The Blue Monster, Miamiherald.com/2009/03/09, Retrieved 10/18/2010 *Paul J Strafaci, President, Shoreview Golf Club, Retrieved 10/18/2010 *Golf Anecdotes: From the Links of Scotland to Tiger Woods page 130, Retrieved 10/18/2010 *NY Times June 1937 Hochster Winner, spider.nytimes.com/pay_1937, Retrieved 10/18/2010 *MGAGolf.com 1941 MGA Public Links Winner. *DixieAmateur.com Past Champions *FSGA.org Past Amateur Champions {{DEFAULTSORT:Strafaci, Frank American male golfers Amateur golfers Golfers from New York (state) 1916 births 1988 deaths