Jack Kramer: 'Golf is the best game'

Jack Kramer is renowned in tennis circles. He was the first player to win Wimbledon wearing shorts and is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Less known was his passion for golf, as a player and businessman. Kramer once carried a seven handicap and often played in the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am and the Bob Hope Desert Classic. In 1953, he was one of three men to acquire a lease on Los Serranos Golf & Country Club in Chino Hills, Calif., east of Los Angeles. In 1961, he became its co-owner and is among three listed as the architect of the newer South Course there.

In 2005, Kramer was honored by the California Golf Writers with its Golden State Award for meritorious service. Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times wrote this from the awards banquet at Pebble Beach:

"Kramer praised the game of golf and stunned the audience by saying that he had been involved in, and loved, both sports for a long time, but that he had recently come to the conclusion that 'golf is the best game.'"

Kramer's family continues to own and operate Los Serranos. Ron Kramer, one of his five sons, Monday qualified for the Nissan Open in 2001, though he missed the cut.

-- John Strege