Arkansas

The three amigos at Olympic Club for the 2012 U.S. Open where we exchanged books!

The three amigos at Olympic Club for the 2012 U.S. Open where we exchanged books!

I am so excited to be going to Fort Smith, Arkansas to visit with and interview 1955 U.S. Open Champion Jack Fleck. Going to see him and maybe even get a lesson has been on my mind for the last 20 years since when I first read about him opening up the Lil’ Bit a Heaven Golf Club in 1992. I first met Jack at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and hit it off immediately with his best buddy Ed Tallach (an accomplished golfer himself) since we are both Czech, Bohemian and Moravian! I had the opportunity to interview Jack at the 2010 U.S. Open at Olympic Club and wrote this article about him.

Meet Jack Fleck the Write Way

Ed Tallach, Jack Fleck and Andy Reistetter at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

Ed Tallach, Jack Fleck and Andy Reistetter at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

Then we met again at the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic Club. Do you see the pattern here? Once a U.S. Open Champion, always a U.S. Open Champion! But U.S. Open Champions are invited to The Masters each year to play in the Par-3 Contest and I have seen him there the last two years. Bottom line, time for a visit with Jack at home in Fort Smith, Arkansas. I can’t wait to see him again and write about the experience. What an inspiring guy.

But you don’t have to wait- order his book The Jack Fleck Story directly from his website.

the Par-3 Contest at the 2012 Masters Tournament.

Jack Fleck and Ed Tallach warming up for the Par-3 Contest at the 2012 Masters Tournament.

First time I met Jack Fleck at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

First time I met Jack Fleck at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

Jack Fleck defeated Ben Hogan in a playoff in the 1955 U.S. Open championship.

Jack Fleck defeated Ben Hogan in a playoff in the 1955 U.S. Open championship.