The life of Tom Paul is ripe for a Netflix documentary. Descendant of A.J. Drexel, the founder of Drexel University. Former campaign manager for Senator John Tunney, son of boxing legend Gene Tunney. Passenger of Glenn “Fireball” Roberts, winner of the 1962 Daytona 500. Attendee of the fabled Fernanda Wanamaker Wetherill debutante party in 1963.
Stories for days without question. But Paul’s golf story alone is fit for a feature film.
The longtime Gulph Mills Golf Club member surprisingly started in the game at age 33. He relocated to the Paul family estate in Newtown Square, Pa. following the dissolution of a relationship with Mieke Sprengers.
“I was sort of depressed and didn’t have much to do,” Paul, 80, of Newtown Square, Pa., said. “My father (James W. Paul) said, ‘Go over to Gulph Mills and play golf if you want there.’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t belong there.’ He said, ‘I do. I’m an honorary member, so you can just go there.’ And I did. I got totally into golf. I’d go there every day, almost all day and just practice. I did that for two years without playing golf, just hitting balls. Then I decided I better go play.”
Play at a high level, that is. Paul qualified for match play in the Philadelphia Amateur Championship from 1986-97. Therein lies an impressive three-year stretch. In 1988, Paul tied for second in stroke play qualifying and fell to eventual champion Brian Rothaus, 3&1, in the semifinals at Cedarbrook Country Club. In 1989, he reached the quarterfinals before bowing to Michael Gregor, 2&1, at Wilmington Country Club. Paul returned to the semifinals in 1990 at Riverton Country Club, where he lost to Bill Kennedy, 2&1.
“I was unbelievably short off the tee. They used to kid me about it. I couldn’t hit it 250 yards. That was the maximum for me,” Paul said. “I really concentrated on the second half of holes, particularly my short game around the green. I got really good at that. I really got involved with the whole display of wedges, from 54 degrees to 65 degrees. I created all of these shots that nobody had.
“[I realized] If I just kept doing this stuff, it would drive them nuts. Why can’t I get rid of this little short jerk? Their games would change. They’d start making mistakes. That was my MO, particularly playing match play.”
Paul captured six men’s championship titles at Gulph Mills in 11 years. He qualified for the1998 U.S. Mid-Amateur and represented GAP in the Compher Cup (1989, 1991, 1997), Philadelphia Challenge Matches (1996-97) and Mason-Dixon Matches (1990, 1996-97). Paul also competed in the Crump Cup on 12 occasions. His first match play opponent at Pine Valley Golf Club: R. Jay Sigel.
“I was playing OK, but he just kept making birdies. He beat me,” Paul, a St. Mark’s School graduate, said. “[As we’re walking back to the clubhouse], Jay says to me, ‘I’m going to conceded the match.’ I said, ‘Jay, you can’t do that after you just won the match.’ ‘Watch me.’ He went down and said, ‘I beat him, but I conceded to him.’ They said, ‘You can’t do that, Jay.’ He went, ‘Yes I can’ because he wanted to play in another tournament. He got away with it. I’m the only guy, certainly in the Crump Cup, maybe in golf, who lost a match, 8&7, had the match conceded and went on to continue to play.”
Golf pursuits beyond the course included administration and architecture. Paul served as a GAP Executive Committee member (1993-2003) and as Vice President (2000-01). In 2006, he served as president of the Pennsylvania Golf Association. Paul owes his involvement at the board level to his upbringing.
“It was because of the culture I come from and my mother (Sheila), who taught me manners. One the things she absolutely demanded was if anyone ever did anything for me, you write them a thank you letter,” Paul said. “Anytime I played in a tournament, I would write [the GAP Executive Committee] a thank you letter. I got known for this.”
Paul expanded his knowledge of golf course architecture during this time. When Gulph Mills received a proposal to relocate to Ardrossan Farms in Villanova, Pa., Paul offered to oversee the potential project on the club’s behalf.
“I spent a thousand hours walking Ardrossan and designed a course with [architectural firm] Coore and Crenshaw. When Bill (Coore) would come to the East Coast, I would hook up with him wherever he was. I had my drawings, and he looked at it for the whole hour and 15 minutes it took us to drive. He didn’t say a word. I’m thinking, ‘Does he hate it?’ As he gets out of the car, he says, ‘We can do this,’” Paul said. “I was really unpopular for proposing this. The members did not want to move. They were really blaming me for basically giving up on Gulph Mills. I spoke at a meeting and said, ‘I agree with you. I don’t want to move.’ That was the end of that.”
Paul ended his golf career in 2012 due to injury. He tore both rotator cuffs.
What if golf never tore Paul from the ruins of romance?
“That’s a great question. I’ve never thought of that. This just heightens my belief in golf by five or six times more. There’s nothing like golf,” Paul said.
GAP
Celebrating Amateur Golf since 1897, GAP, also known as the Golf Association of Philadelphia, is the oldest regional or state golf association in the United States. It serves as the principal ruling body of amateur golf in its region. The organization’s 345 Member Clubs and 125,000 individual members are spread across Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. The GAP’s mission is to promote, preserve and protect the game of golf.
