Our Life in Golf

Chapter 3 Racine's Golf Mecca

3

RACINE'S GOLF MECCA

Mike got his start as a caddy at the Racine Country Club. An in-demand future RCC Yule Cup Caddy, he didn't have to wait in the dugout for his number to be called.

At 14, this exceptional caddie, after giving a playing lesson would head for the practice tee and pound ball after ball till his hands bled and it was too dark to see, all under the watchful eye of a nearby apple tree.

I heard that story from one of Mike's inner circle of lifelong golfing buddies and contemporaries, Stan Latrenta, when he saw me practicing under that very same tree after Mike passed.

Stanley and his friends would see Mike practicing on their way to play baseball. After the game, on their way home, they'd pass Mike again, still hitting balls, studying his swing, honing his skills by picking balls off of a wood platform—and if you've ever tried hitting a golf ball off of hard dirt, no grass, you know how next-to-impossible it is.

Not long into his career as a professional, Mike decided that to be an outstanding pro, he had to become an outstanding teacher.

For a period I managed his lesson book which quickly filled up for months ahead. It was common for him to spend 50-60 hours a week at the lesson tee. Twelfth Street near Washington Park was packed with cars as people came from all walks of life for a lesson. By the 1950s Washington Park had become the new Mecca for Racine golf.

And attract the golfing faithful, he did. Beyond the lessons, there were recreational events for the men's club, the ladies, seniors and juniors. His office hours were filled with a swarm of activity; phone calls, planning sessions, accounting, and problem solving, all to keep Washington Park humming as a well-oiled machine.

Though his time at home was limited, while there he could recharge through various creative activities.

Mike Bencriscutto set down a big footprint as Racine's guru of golf. Even Johnson's Wax manufacturing magnate, Herbert Johnson, came to Mike for instruction after experiencing a stroke. Having difficulty holding on to the club, Mike had my mother, Martha, sew to his specifications, a type of golf glove with long extending strips that Herbert could use to wrap around his hands.

This became the prototype for Mike's Correct Grip Glove, which was later improved with modifications. Mike was able to show this glove to a guy named Jack Nicholas, yes that Jack Nicholas the golfing great, who reacted by saying, "This is the single most important teaching aid in golf!"

Dad also came up with a swing plane tracker, a device that could be carried in your golf bag and taken out during practice. It had a flat base with standing line up rubber pylons. The challenge was to avoid the pylons with your club. It helped groove the plane of the swing. An arrow of flexible rubber was on the ground pointing along your line of flight.

The idea for the Swing Tracker came to Mike during a series of lessons he gave to touring professional, Tommy Armor, just before his Masters win.

Mike championed a signature swing fundamental he referred to as Inside-In. Mike and Tommy met up at Tucson National. Tommy was duck-hooking at the time as a result of an exaggerated inside-out swing. After the Swing Tracker taught him inside-in, the hooking was gone and Tommy had a new command of his swing.