Past PGA CPC champions recall their magical moments

John Traub, Steve Schneiter and Tim Thelen, winners of the 1980, 1995 and 2000 CPCs, respectively, each harbor special memories of when they triumphed on the grandest stage the PGA of America has to offer.

By Roger Graves, PGA Magazine Senior Writer

While providing a medley of milestones and memories during the past 37 years, the PGA Club Professional Championship has also served as a springboard to stardom for many former CPC Champions. For numerous talented PGA Professionals, the CPC provides a unique opportunity to test their game under the pressure of a national championship and the spotlight of national television.

The stories of PGA club professionals breaking through to the big time by winning the PGA Club Professional Championship are becoming the rule rather than the exception.

1980: John Traub

Twenty-five years ago, 29-year-old John Traub of Rochester, Mich., rocketed past a veritable Who's Who of professional golf -- Jim Albus, Gene Borek, Larry Gilbert and Don Padgett II -- with a closing round of 69 at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., to collect the winner's check of $20,000. The victory gave Traub the confidence to compete on various professional tours and minitours, including two appearances in the PGA Championship. Just as important, his 1980 CPC title gave Traub a lifetime exemption into the PGA Club Professional Championship. Now 54 and still a member of the Michigan PGA Section, Traub has competed in 22 Club Professional Championships -- second alltime to Bill Schumaker's 25.

"When you win something like the Club Professional Championship, it's something that stays with you the rest of your life," says Traub, the PGA Head Professional at Great Oaks Country Club in Rochester, Mich., who will compete in his 23rd CPC at Kiawah Island Resort's Ocean Course this year. "It's something they can never take away from you. It's always a great experience to go back (to the CPC) and see the guys again. And it's fun for me to try to stay up with the younger guys. It's a challenge."

Traub began the final round of the 1980 CPC eight shots behind Borek, who opened with rounds of 67-68-71. But when Borek ballooned to a front-nine 40 and posted a closing 81, Traub finished two shots ahead of Albus with a final-round 69, while Borek fell to a share of third place with Gilbert and Padgett II at 287.

Forgive Traub if he believes he was born too soon. For winning the 1980 CPC, the Michigander took home a check for $20,000. The 2005 CPC Champion will enjoy a $90,000 payday -- and an invitation to tee it up in the PGA Club Professional Championship for the rest of his competitive life.

1995: Steve Schneiter

Of all the prizes and perks that come with winning the PGA Club Professional Championship, what does 1995 Champion Steve Schneiter treasure the most? His answer may surprise you.

"I like coming back every year for the Champions Dinner to see all the guys," admits Schneiter, who will celebrate the 10th anniversary of his one-shot victory at La Quinta in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at Kiawah Island Resort.

The Champions Dinner? Indeed, in the finest tradition of the Masters, which hosts a dinner on Tuesday night of Masters Week each year at Augusta National with the defending champion selecting the menu and delivering a short speech, The PGA of America annually hosts a Champions Dinner for all past Club Professional Championship winners prior to the tournament.

"It's a fun thing," assures Schneiter, who teaches at his family's Pebblebrook Golf Links in Sandy, Utah. "The PGA puts it on, and the defending Champion and a past Champion usually speak. Several years ago, Sam Snead spoke and Bob Rosburg gave a speech. I think Larry Gilbert talked one year. But it's always a nice dinner and great to see all of the guys that have won this thing (the CPC) over the years. That's the nice thing about winning the CPC -- you are invited back every year and you get to attend the Champions Dinner."

Schneiter, now 41, still remembers vividly the 72nd-hole drama that led to his CPC title. In fact, he told his caddie to prepare for a playoff after Schneiter chipped from the fringe to within two feet to birdie the par-5 18th hole at the La Quinta Mountain Course to finish a final-round 68 for a 72-hole total of 10-under 278. Minutes later, third-round leader John DeForest came to the 72nd hole needing a birdie to tie Schneiter and reached the par-5 putting surface in two. So Schneiter told his caddie to get ready for sudden death.

"DeForest hit the final green in two and putted it up there to about a foot and a half or two feet," recalls Schneiter. "I remember telling my caddie, Buck Burbidge, let's get ready for a playoff. My dad (George Schneiter Jr.) had come to California to watch, and he and Buck shook their heads when I said let's get ready for a playoff. Sure enough, DeForest missed that short putt. I was totally shocked.

"I was one up on Bob Ford and one up on DeForest going into the 18th hole. I was playing with Ford, so when I made birdie I knew I had finished one ahead of him. But when DeForest missed that two-footer, I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe he three-putted the last hole."

Talk about opening doors. By winning the 1995 PGA Club Professional Championship, Schneiter not only gained exemptions to six PGA Tour events, but found himself competing with the game's elite players in the 1996 PGA Championship at Valhalla and alongside Tom Watson in the 1996 World Series of Golf at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Plus, Schneiter's "breakthrough" at the 1995 CPC gave him the confidence to qualify for the Nike Tour (now the Nationwide Tour) after failing to secure his PGA Tour card at Qualifying School more than a dozen times.

"Playing in the World Series with Tom Watson was a lot of fun," remembers Schneiter. "That's something you never forget. He was encouraging and told me to keep working on my game. He said he liked my swing."

Schneiter's swing got good enough that he missed the 1996 and 1998 CPCs, because he had played in too many PGA Tour and Nike Tour events. If a club professional plays in more than 12 Tour events from April 2004 to April 2005, for example, he is not eligible for The 2005 CPC.

"I like to play the CPC every year -- it's one of my favorite tournaments," says Schneiter, whose 71.91 scoring average in 34 rounds has elevated him to fourth on the all-time CPC money list with $111,866 in nine appearances. "I had to miss the CPC in 1996 when Darrell Kestner won and in 1998 because I had played in too many Tour events. It's kind of a tough situation, because you want to play well and qualify for as many Tour events as possible. But you hate to miss the CPC. I remember what Johnny Miller (a fellow BYU alum) told me after I won the Club Professional Championship in 1995.

"He said next to winning a major (like the U.S. Open or PGA Championship), winning the CPC is one of the most difficult tournaments to win. I think he's right. Back then when I won, there were 360 players in the CPC playing on three different golf courses. There were a lot of talented players capable of winning and you had to play well all four days. Winning that (the CPC) gave me a lot of confidence to take my game to the next level."

2000: Tim Thelen

Five years ago, then-39-year-old PGA Assistant Professional Tim Thelen of Richmond, Texas, endured a historic five-hole aggregate playoff when rain washed out the final round of The 2000 CPC at Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Okla. Since lightning and rain pre-empted the start of the final round, The PGA implemented a unique contingency plan to determine the holder of the Walter Hagen Cup after Thelen and Mark Brown of Glen Cove, N.Y., shared the 54-hole lead at 1-over-par 214. The first -- and only -- five-hole playoff in CPC history provided great golf theater for The Golf Channel's global audience and gave the two third-round leaders an opportunity other than sudden death to settle the score.

"It was an unusual way to determine a champion, but it was a good way under the circumstances," recalls Thelen. "I think they decided on a five-hole playoff because there were only about five holes above water after all the rain. What I remember most about the five-hole playoff is that Mark Brown and I both played pretty solid golf and parred the first three holes. Then, on the fourth playoff hole, the pin was up front and I hit my 52-degree wedge in there about three feet. I had a straight-in putt for birdie. Mark hit his ball right and into a place where Houdini couldn't get it up and down to save par. I remember thinking there might be a two- or three-shot swing on that hole, but Mark hit a great shot out of there and made the putt to save par. I made the three-footer for birdie to go up by one shot. Then, we both parred the fifth playoff hole, and I won by that one shot.

"It was a great playoff, and winning that CPC really gave my career a jump-start. It gave me a tremendous amount of confidence and told me I could play the game with virtually anyone, even the best players in the world."

Indeed, Thelen's victory in The 2000 CPC ignited a brilliant stretch for the Texan, who will be among 16 former champions to tee it up in The 38th PGA Club Professional Championship. Following his triumph at Oak Tree, Thelen finished 12th in the 2000 B.C. Open on the PGA Tour. He tied for second in the 2001 CPC in Sunriver, Ore.; tied for fifth in the 2002 CPC at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky.; outlasted 1995 CPC Champion Steve Schneiter by a stroke to win the 2003 CPC at Twin Warriors in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M., and placed 27th in the 2004 CPC at Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio. His CPC victories in 2000 and 2003 each earned Thelen exemptions into six PGA Tour events and opened some wide doors of opportunity, including five invitations to the PGA Championship.

"The CPC provides a good stepping stone to bigger and better things, but most important it gives you a lot of confidence when you win a national championship like that," says Thelen, who now works at Bushwood Golf Center and Old Orchard Golf Club in Houston, Texas, and will celebrate his 44th birthday on June 14.

"I remember my first CPC in 1998 at Pinehurst. I didn't really know anybody in the field, but I got some experience. I knew that some of the guys in my section were good players, but I didn't really know what to expect. It was a learning experience (Thelen tied for 27th). I got my foot in the door and felt more comfortable in 1999 at Whistling Straits (where he tied for eighth). You have to take baby steps." According to Thelen, you have to get competitive experience somewhere, and the CPC is a great opportunity for club professionals to play under pressure.

"By the time I got to The 2000 CPC, I was playing solid golf and really felt like I could win," says Thelen. "You know, there are a lot of club professionals throughout the United States who are great players. When I was able to beat those great players, it gave me the confidence to compete against the best players in the world and I finished 12th later that year in the B.C. Open. When I won The (2003) CPC again, it gave me another boost of confidence, and the six PGA Tour exemptions gave me another opportunity to test my game against the best in the world."

If it sounds like Thelen has thoroughly enjoyed challenging Pinehurst, Whistling Straits, Valhalla, Twin Warriors, Longaberger and some of the most fabled venues in golf, you're right. While winning more than $139,000 spanning seven CPC events (he needs $6,500 to eclipse Larry Gilbert's all-time money record of $145,910), Thelen has compiled a 71.70 stroke average and built a reputation for playing difficult courses well.

"The venues The PGA of America has used for the CPC since 1998 have been absolutely fabulous, and Kiawah Island (The Ocean Course) promises to be another great one," says Thelen. "You have a great field on a great golf course, and then The Golf Channel televising it makes the CPC the type of tournament you always want to play in. The Golf Channel lends a lot of excitement to the CPC. When I won both times (2000 and 2003), I received letters from people I haven't heard from for a long time congratulating me on playing so well in the CPC. They all saw it on The Golf Channel."

And favorites for the 2005 CPC at The Ocean Course? Thelen predicts a solid ball-striker who can play well in wind will win.

"We know there is going to be some wind at Kiawah, so I would definitely think you would have to look at the former champions and those who have won the regional CPCs, because they have the experience and know what it takes to win," he says. "It's hard to pick favorites from year to year, because the golf courses change so much. But if the wind really blows, it takes half the field out of contention right there. I've talked to (PGA Professional) Bob Boyd and a few others, and they say the wind always blows at Kiawah Island, so it should be interesting. In my book, there is still no substitute for experience."

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