Ted Kroll
Rick Hap
Former PGA Tour winner Kroll dies
April 25, 2002
BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) -- Ted Kroll, who won eight PGA Tour events
during a 34-year career and led the money list in 1956, died at age
82.
Kroll suffered from Parkinson's disease, according to his daughter,
Danity Kroll Cave. He died Tuesday night at Hospice By The Sea.
Born Aug. 4, 1919, in New Hartford, N.Y., Kroll hitchhiked to Texas to
compete in the 1941 U.S. Open at Colonial. He was in the Army during
World War II and earned three Purple Hearts, then began his PGA Tour
career in 1949.
His best year was in 1956, when he won three times and led the money
list with $72,836. He also played on three Ryder Cup teams and had a
3-1-0 record.
Kroll had two close losses in the majors. He led by one stroke with
four holes to play in the 1956 U.S. Open, but finished behind winner
Cary Middlecoff and runners-up Ben Hogan and Julius Boros. Later that
year, he lost in the final of the PGA Championship to Jack Burke Jr.,
3 and 2.
Kroll is survived by his wife of 50 years, Jane, and four daughters.
GOLF ROUNDUP: Ex-tour star Kroll was known for chatter
April 26, 2002
BY JACK SAYLOR
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
Ted Kroll, a former PGA Tour star and pro at Franklin Hills Country
Club in Farmington Hills, has died at age 82. Funeral services will be
held Saturday in Boca Raton, Fla., where he lived. Kroll died Tuesday
night of cancer and Parkinson's disease.
A member of the PGA since 1937, Kroll played in 293 tour events and
was the leading money winner in 1956, when he earned $72,836. He won
eight times on the regular tour, including the World Championship at
Chicago's Tam O'Shanter and the Tucson and Houston opens in '56.
His first victories came in 1952, when he captured the inaugural San
Diego Open (now the Buick Invitational) and the first Insurance City
Open, which endures as the Greater Hartford Open.
Kroll nearly repeated at Hartford in 1956, but lost a playoff to a
young pro in his first full year on tour, to whom he had loaned a
putter. The winner: Arnold Palmer. Kroll also lost another Insurance
City title in a playoff with Billy Maxwell in 1961.
He developed a habit of losing playoffs, dropping one to Lloyd Mangrum
in the '54 Western Open and to Johnny Pott in the '60 Byron Nelson
Classic. But after tying Palmer for runner-up (to Billy Casper) in the
inaugural Buick Open in 1958, Kroll broke through again, winning the
Canadian Open in 1962.
Nicknamed "Lippy" on the tour for his willingness to chatter or give
advice, Kroll hitchhiked from his New York home to Ft. Worth, Texas,
to compete in his first U.S. Open in 1941.
During World War II, he served in the Army and was awarded three
Purple Hearts for action at Angio in Italy.
Kroll became a part-timer on the golf tour after he took over as head
pro at Franklin Hills, where he worked in 1964-71. He won the Michigan
PGA Championship in '64.
Kroll settled in Boca Raton in 1972 and played 106 tournaments on the
Senior Tour in 1980-90 before retiring.
Survivors include his wife, Jane, with whom he celebrated their 50th
anniversary last October, and four daughters. Services are scheduled
at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Joan of Arc Church. Burial will be Monday
with honors in a Florida military cemetery.
Ted Kroll Dies At 82
Won First ICO In '52; Second To Palmer In '56
April 25, 2002
By BRUCE BERLET, Courant Staff Writer
Ted Kroll, winner of the first Insurance City Open at Wethersfield
Country Club in 1952, died Tuesday in Boca Raton, Fla., after a long
battle with cancer. He was 82.
Kroll, a native of New Hartford, N.Y., learned to play with
hickory-shafted golf clubs that he made. He won 11 PGA Tour events,
including the 1962 Canadian Open as a part-time player, and lost to
Arnold Palmer in a playoff in the 1956 ICO, which was Palmer's first
tour victory in the United States.
"He was one of the most gregarious guys ever," said Ted Britschgi,
Kroll's nephew, godson and part-time caddie on the Senior PGA Tour.
"He never had a bad thing to say about anyone and was one of the
tour's first entertainers. That's why they called him `Lippy.'"
Kroll was among the game's straightest hitters after practicing
hitting balls through football goal posts as a kid, before turning pro
at 17.
He served in the Army during World War II, in Italy and France, and
received three Purple Hearts. After the war, Kroll played the tour
from 1947-60, finishing in the top 15 in 77 percent of his starts. He
was the leading money winner in 1956 and played on the U.S. Ryder Cup
team in 1953, '55 and '57.
"Despite all the things he accomplished in golf, everyone in the
family is most proud of what he did in World War II," Britschgi said.
After finishing his PGA Tour career, Kroll was a club pro in Florida
and one of the original 10 players in the Senior Tour's first Legends
of Golf Championship in 1978. He could be found on the practice range
teaching golf until last year.
Still, Kroll appeared at a past champions gala last year when the
ICO/Canon Greater Hartford Open celebrated the tournament's 50th
anniversary. As the first champion, he received $2,400.
"We had a lot more fun and didn't work as hard," Kroll said when asked
if pros in his era enjoyed the tour more than current players. "It
wasn't a matter of life and death when we played because you weren't
going to make that much.
"We didn't carry a briefcase with us because we didn't need it. Now
they need a briefcase with them for all the contracts and everything
like how much stock they have left. I don't have much stock left."
Kroll is survived by his wife, Jane, four daughters and four
grandchildren. His funeral is Saturday in Boca Raton, Fla., and he
will be buried with military honors and a 21-gun salute Monday at the
Bushnell Military Cemetery in Ocala, Fla.
The World Wide Wade
was about 8 or 9. I believe it was a match in the Challenge Golf series
(Arnold Palmer and Gary Player against opponents of the week) at Hesperia
Country Club in California.
--WWW.