The Tie That Binds

Filed in archive Golf News on March 14, 2007

Courtesy: Links Golf St. Andrews.com

I was still a pot-smoking college kid in 1971 when Bud Allin won his first PGA Tour event.

I wasn't even interested in golf, then. Led Zeppelin was my taste.

But it was 36 years ago that Allin captured the Greater Greensboro Open. He would go on to win four more PGA tour events: the Florida Citrus Open, the Doral-Eastern Open, the Byron Nelson Golf Classic and the Pleasant Valley Classic.

He won the 1980 New Zealand Open and 19 years later, tasted victory for the last time on the Champions Tour at the 1997 American Express Invitational.

So why do I write about Bud Allin, a golfer I don't recognize and certainly don't remember?

Because Bud Allin was quite a guy. He went to Brigham Young University where he played on the varsity team, as did Johnny Miller before him and Mike Weir many years after.

But, at the height of the Vietnam War, he quit college and joined up.

Allin served two tours of duty in Vietnam, being awarded the Purple Heart twice.

I don't remember Allin but I do remember the Vietnam War. And it was a nasty one, which is an understatement, to say the least.

Bud Allin toughed out that war once and could have called it quits, duty to country, done.

But he went back for a second tour where he was wounded again.

There are easier ways to gain mental toughness walking up 18 with a one stroke lead in a PGA tournament.

But there are few that are as effective. How could a tight approach shot from your nearest competitor possibly worry you when you've faced an enemy in a firefight in a foreign jungle?

I bring up this guy, Bud Allin, because he died on Saturday at the age of 62.

Apparently, he had cancer in five different parts of his body.

His was a life well lived.

And then there's Arjun Atwal, the first player from India to ever play on the PGA Tour.

Atwal is a very good player. He's won a lot of money on tour in the US and abroad.
And he's living a wonderful life. But on Saturday, the day that Bud Allin died, Atwal was involved in a fatal accident near his Florida home in his one year old BMW.

According to police reports, witnesses claim Atwal was street racing with another car, a Mercedes, doing speeds up to 100 miles an hour.

The Mercedes lost control and hit a tree so hard, the car's axle was buried into the trunk. The driver died.

Atwal spun out and came to a stop on the shoulder of the road, uninjured, according to police. He is facing a minimum charge of "engaging in street racing" and more charges could be brought.

There are few other details at this posting. There is no indication alcohol was involved but stupidity was.

Atwal is 33. When Bud Allin was 33, he had also survived death. Twice.

Two very different lives. With one element in common. The game of golf.