Hagen Got His Drink With a Little Help From a Notable Friend

In the days when professional golfers got the same treatment as tradesmen at country clubs, the great Walter Hagen was denied the use of the clubhouse at Royal St. George’s after he became the first native-born American to win the British Open in 1922.

According to Joe Gergen of Newsday, Hagen showed his disdain by dining in a swank limousine parked directly in front of the main entrance.

Hagen won there again in 1928, and again he was denied admittance until Edward, the Prince of Wales and future King of England, stepped in.

When the head waiter protested the presence of a golf professional in the bar room, the Prince told him: “You either stop this nonsense or I’ll take the Royal out of Royal St. George’s.”

Hagen got his drink.

Trivia Time: Stan Wright, 64, who retired Monday as the athletic director at Fairleigh Dickinson, is best remembered for the 1972 Olympics at Munich. What for? (Answer below.)

Arthur Ashe accomplished just about everything you can in tennis, including wins at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, but he told Ross Atkin of the Christian Science Monitor he still is consumed by an unusual desire.

“I would love to go out on the court for one match and be a complete jerk,” he said. “It would be entirely out of character for me, but it would be interesting just to experience what it’s like.”

Pascual Perez, the Atlanta pitcher who left the club and hasn’t been seen since Sunday’s game, was nicknamed I-285 by his teammates.

Reason: He once showed up late for a game at Atlanta Stadium after getting lost on Atlanta’s perimeter expressway.

New York Mets broadcaster and former catcher Tim McCarver said the best spitballers he ever saw were Lew Burdette, Bill Singer, Don Drysdale and Bob Buhl.

Of Burdette, he said: “I played golf with him in the spring and he wouldn’t admit to my friend that he threw a spitter. I said, ‘Heck, Lew, I used to call for it.’ ”

Malcolm Campbell, the 50-year-old Englishman who finished second in a 92-day cross country marathon, had some harrowing experiences but told John Valenti of Newsday that the most bizarre occurred near Salt Lake City.

“A man in a sports coat, shoes and carrying an attache case ran alongside me for nearly six miles,” he said. “Then he said he had to leave.”

Why?

“He said he had to go finish building his spaceship.”

Trivia Answer: He was the assistant track coach who misread the schedule and was responsible for sprinters Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson missing their qualifying races and being disqualified in the 100 meters. The final was won by Valery Borzov of the Soviet Union.

Quotebook

Spud Webb, 5-7 North Carolina State guard drafted by the Detroit Pistons, on why he tries to drive the lane against much taller players: “Because that’s where the basket is.”