Susie Maxwell Berning - Part 2 (The Later Years and Three U.S. Open Wins)

Susie Maxwell Berning, World Golf Hall of Fame member, continues her story by recounting her three wins at the Women's U.S. Open including 1968 and going back-to-back in 1972 and 1973. Susie reflects back on the LPGA Founders she met and the tough competitors she faced. One of her fondest memories was when she and daughter Robin became the first mother-daughter duo to play in an LPGA event in 1989. 4-time major winner Susie Maxwell Berning concludes her life story, "FORE the Good of the Game."

Transcript

Mike Gonzalez 0:15

Well let's go back to that 1968 U.S. Women's Open when clo uh quite a bit more to talk about. I understand you might have been a little nervous playing with Carol Mann.

Susie Maxwell Berning 0:27

You know, Carol is one of the few that could give a little needle. She could be um, and I can't remember what she said to me, but she's sitting on the side of a hill. We're paired together the third round. And she's sitting on the hill, and I walked by her, and I said uh something like, let's have fun and play well. And she says, Don't bother me. She says, I've got plan A for you, and if plan A doesn't work, I got B. I didn't have the nerve to ask her when we were finished because I beat her, I think, by four shots that day. I didn't ask her if she went to plan B.

Bruce Devlin 1:10

Whatever she whatever plan she went to didn't work too well, did it?

Mike Gonzalez 1:14

No, no, it sure didn't, because you were still two ahead of her after the third round. And uh and uh I think you bogeyed the final three holes, but you still won it wire to wire by three. So you must have had a pretty comfortable lead as you were finishing up that round on screen.

Susie Maxwell Berning 1:28

I think I had a five-shot lead going into the last three or four holes.

Mike Gonzalez 1:32

Yeah. Now the the headline in the Spokane review described it this way. So you talk about how times have changed. Tiny Susie wins Gal's Open title. Can you imagine a headline like that in 2022? No. No. Uh getting back to Catherine Lacoste, who was the defending champion that year, and as we had mentioned, daughter of uh Renee Lacoste, who uh famous for the Lacoste clothing, but also the the the Wimbledon tennis champion, individual tennis champion. This was something I picked up in Sports Illustrated, Susie. Observing the intense gamesmanship of one of her competitors, Susie Maxwell, she declared, my word, it takes the fun out of golf, doesn't it? Why that girl would leave you in a pool of blood.

Susie Maxwell Berning 2:27

Wait, Lacan said this about me?

Mike Gonzalez 2:29

No, you said Yes, yes, no, that's right. She said that about you. She said, why that girl would leave you in a pool of blood. You must have been a tough competitor.

Susie Maxwell Berning 2:38

Oh, I never heard that. Uh I never knew that, but uh yeah, I was a competitor, but I was I was nice to him. I didn't I tell you what, uh Joanne Carner liked to give some stabs out there pretty good. Uh but I never did that. I I I never was on Sportsman like Joanne Carner one time. Uh I'm getting ready to tee off, and she says pretty loud to Red or Caddy, hey Red, is this the hole I hit an OB on yesterday left?

Mike Gonzalez 3:07

I mean Joanne.

Susie Maxwell Berning 3:09

She said it loud enough that I could hear. Saying Joanne. You think I'm gonna hit it to the right now, don't you?

Mike Gonzalez 3:19

Yeah, what a nice swing thought. So did you use your$5,000 first prize to buy a custom trailer for your 1912 Maxwell?

Susie Maxwell Berning 3:28

Well, I think the trailer cost me about$2,000. Yeah, it was um I was given a 1912 Maxwell car for a wedding gift and a beautiful touring car. And so being from Oklahoma, uh, I had um a horse trailer company make this custom um trailer for it.

Mike Gonzalez 3:53

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Susie Maxwell Berning 3:54

Uh-huh. Yeah, and it was it was the same color as the car. A blue and uh uh real pretty raw blue and a black. And that was the same color as the car. Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 4:04

Yeah, yeah. My father-in-law had a Maxwell dating from that uh vintage, I believe. Uh so anyway, uh 1969, Bruce, we got another win.

Bruce Devlin 4:14

Lady Carling open at Pine Ridge Golf Course, where you won by one over Donna Capone.

Susie Maxwell Berning 4:25

That was in Columbus, wasn't it? Did you say Columbus, Ohio?

Mike Gonzalez 4:31

It was in Pine Ridge Golf Course in Maryland. Does that sound familiar?

Susie Maxwell Berning 4:37

I don't Pine Ridge. Okay, well, I don't remember that.

Mike Gonzalez 4:44

Lady Colling opened?

Susie Maxwell Berning 4:46

Yeah, I remember that one.

Mike Gonzalez 4:47

Yeah. Yeah, that would have been in the Baltimore area, I think.

Susie Maxwell Berning 4:50

Okay, I didn't know Donna finished second.

Mike Gonzalez 4:53

Yeah, she did. Because there was one shot.

Susie Maxwell Berning 4:56

There was a tournament in Columbus, Ohio that I won that Donna finished second in.

Mike Gonzalez 5:02

Well, if if that's true, we're gonna come to it. That's right. Uh that's probably the uh well, let's see. I'm not sure which one that's gonna be, but we'll we'll figure it out. Um, let's go on to uh a tournament you won at the Raymond Memorial Golf Course by one over Donna Capone, Shirley Englehorn, and Clifford Ann Creed. That was a 1969 PAPS Ladies Classic. Would that have been a one?

Susie Maxwell Berning 5:33

That wasn't in Columbus, Ohio.

Mike Gonzalez 5:36

No. Uh actually it was.

Susie Maxwell Berning 5:42

You're testing my memory.

Mike Gonzalez 5:47

So it was called the Ladies, the Paps Ladies Classic in 1969. And in 69, that was played at Raymond Memorial Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio.

Susie Maxwell Berning 6:00

Okay, that must have been the tournament then.

Mike Gonzalez 6:02

That must have been the one you were thinking about.

Susie Maxwell Berning 6:04

That was in 69?

Mike Gonzalez 6:05

It was, yeah, that's the one you're thinking about.

Susie Maxwell Berning 6:07

Yeah, because Capone won the open in 69, didn't she? Well, yeah, so here's what happened there.

Mike Gonzalez 6:14

The U.S. Open?

Susie Maxwell Berning 6:16

69 is when Capone won the open, and I'll tell you why I know that.

Mike Gonzalez 6:20

Yeah.

Susie Maxwell Berning 6:20

Um in Columbus, Ohio, that tournament that you just talked about. Um trying to think it was a playoff. I don't think it was a playoff. But anyway, Donna being Italian, okay? You know, in Columbus, Ottawa, in Columbus, Ohio, this tournament was run by Italians organization. And anyway, I end up beating her by one shot. And during the presentations, I you know, I said, sorry, Donna. Donna says, Well, I'm Italian and I was supposed to win it. Just because you're Italian means you're supposed to win it, huh?

Mike Gonzalez 7:01

I don't think so.

Susie Maxwell Berning 7:02

I remember that, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 7:04

Yeah. Well, let's go on to U.S. Open win number two, which was in 1972 at Wingfoot, the East Course, quite a test, and that was by one over your friend Judy Rankin, Kathy Ahern, and Pam Barnett, uh, with a score of 299. Uh a really, really good closing 71, as a matter of fact. Uh, do you remember the tropical storm that came through, sort of made things soft that week?

Susie Maxwell Berning 7:30

Yeah, the course played really long. I mean, actually, I remember having a driver uh on the front nine, I and and it, and it it it didn't plug, but it just moved barely out of its pit mark. And I because I remember that because I called the USGA and asked if I could get relief because it was a clump of mud right behind my golf ball, but my golf ball wasn't embedded. That's how soft it was. Yeah, well, and I shot 60, 79 the first round, and I think it's still a record.

Bruce Devlin 8:06

Yeah, the highest score for somebody to have won the windows. Yeah, that record correct.

Susie Maxwell Berning 8:10

That record may not be broken.

Bruce Devlin 8:12

I think you're I think you're absolutely correct.

Susie Maxwell Berning 8:15

Yeah, they say all records are broken, but I don't think that one will be.

Mike Gonzalez 8:19

Yeah, and and at the end of the day, who cares? You that's right. Yeah, yeah. That's right.

Susie Maxwell Berning 8:24

Yeah, you're right too.

Mike Gonzalez 8:26

You took home the trophy. Yeah, you were four back a Pam after three rounds, but that closing 71 kind of shut everybody out. Uh that probably was the round of the day, I would guess, or had to be close to it.

Susie Maxwell Berning 8:37

Probably so. Uh what, you know, I didn't even know, frankly, I was in contention. I don't think until I got to the back nine, and there's a par five that I think I started feeling the pressure on. And then number 17, which is a par three, and I can't quite remember exactly how long it measured, but I hit driver to the middle of the green and made up made a 20-foot putt for Bertie, and that's win the tournament for me. Yeah, he's driver to a par three, so and of course played long.

Mike Gonzalez 9:11

Probably shot of the open for you then.

Susie Maxwell Berning 9:13

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 9:14

Birdie in that par three. Uh, let's go on next year, Bruce uh in 73, a couple of wins.

Bruce Devlin 9:20

Yeah, Heritage uh Village Open at uh Heritage Village Country Club in Connecticut, where you won one by four again over Sandra Haney.

Susie Maxwell Berning 9:31

You know, that was an interesting tournament. And uh we stayed with friends of my husband's, and it was a kind of a big neighborhood. This uh the gal was very nice, the lady we stayed with and her husband, and they were studying pyramid power. And they asked me what I needed to shoot, or what I wanted to shoot on the first round. And I said, Oh, a 68 would do. And so they want my three golf balls that I'm gonna tee up with. I gave her three golf balls and she puts them underneath this paper pyramid that she'd built. And also on my pillow was a towel written 69 or 68, whatever it was. And okay, fine. So what do I shoot? I shot I think it was 68.

Mike Gonzalez 10:25

Oh.

unknown 10:26

Yeah.

Susie Maxwell Berning 10:26

Which was written on the golf balls and the pyramid power and all the yeah, and so after the first round, second round, well, I said, Well, don't, you know, don't waste another towel, just leave it at 68. I shot 68.

Mike Gonzalez 10:42

Oh my. Now you're starting to believe, huh?

Susie Maxwell Berning 10:45

I am starting to believe this little stuff. Yeah. And then I think the last day I said, well, don't change it, but I think I shot 69, but I won one. And then, you know, I didn't think much about it, but I took the pay paper pyramid with me. They gave it to me. And also under that with the golf balls that week, I had three dimes in my pocket. So I would put the three dimes under the pyramid also at night. So anyway, I took the paper pyramid with me to the next tournament that I played in, which was the U.S. Open in Rochester. And I put the three dimes under the pyramid, but I didn't really think much about it. Anyway, the pyram the paper pyramid I gave to the uh World Golf Hall of Fame, um, along with the three dimes.

Bruce Devlin 11:38

Isn't that something?

Susie Maxwell Berning 11:39

And I don't know why, you know. I mean, let's look at uh why why didn't I think about it and carry the pyramid with me every tournament ever played in?

Mike Gonzalez 11:49

Yeah, really?

Susie Maxwell Berning 11:49

Because I won two out of two.

Mike Gonzalez 11:51

Really?

Susie Maxwell Berning 11:52

But I I didn't give I didn't think the paper pyramid had anything to do with my wins.

Mike Gonzalez 12:00

Speaking of superstitions, did you have superstitions? Did you carry T's in one pocket or another, or have a certain number of T's or colored T or same kind of ball marker every time?

Susie Maxwell Berning 12:11

No, I really didn't. Uh-uh.

Mike Gonzalez 12:13

No rituals like that, huh?

Susie Maxwell Berning 12:14

No, I didn't.

Mike Gonzalez 12:16

You didn't you didn't go for that stuff. No. All right. Well, let's go on then to uh the 1973 U.S. Women's Open, Bruce.

Bruce Devlin 12:29

Yeah, third victory in the Open Championship, but five over Gloria Airhitt and Shelly Hamlin.

Mike Gonzalez 12:38

Back to back in the U.S. Open.

Bruce Devlin 12:39

Yeah. Defend one of the few people that have ever defended the Open Championship for the ladies.

Susie Maxwell Berning 12:45

Yeah, I don't know. You know, it was just my week. Uh I didn't I didn't really give much thought to defending. Uh, because I don't think I defended any other tournaments well. Um just uh let's see, Robin was about two, what was that, 73? So Robin was two and a half, so my mind was, you know, taking care of her. And uh we developed real good friendships with the people in Rochester. And uh actually we my husband called the club and asked if there was anybody who would rent a house near the course, and we ended up um getting this house uh that was owned by uh Bill and Betsy Morris, who had Morris Lumber Company in Rochester, and to this day my oldest daughter Robin is working for the Morris Lumber Company. Kept in touch this all these years and developed a great friendship, and the country club at Rochester has made me an honorary member. And um, anyway, it was just a great week, and I just um I didn't I think I had a pretty bad round the second one.

Bruce Devlin 13:58

Yes, you did. 77.

Susie Maxwell Berning 14:00

Was it soon? Anyway, uh then I think did I have 68 the next one or 69 the following day? 69 and that put me back in contention and I think really I did look at who was uh uh behind me or who. And I remember thinking, oh, they they've never experienced the pressure of the open and I have.

Bruce Devlin 14:27

Because I think it was a couple players like Pam Higgins or something who had never really so you you did you did something at that open that not too many people ever do.

Susie Maxwell Berning 14:37

I changed my putting style.

Bruce Devlin 14:40

Ah, that's what I was gonna ask you about. Did you change putters as well? Or just the style of putting?

Susie Maxwell Berning 14:50

I think I changed putters.

Bruce Devlin 14:52

And it was one I think you did too.

Susie Maxwell Berning 14:55

Yeah, it was my husband, you know, he'd get bored out there and he he he he he didn't follow me every round, which is great. But so he got started collecting. He'd go to um junk shops and street fairs and stuff like that, and he collected old golf clubs and old golf books. And so this this was a bullseye putter, and it was a little bit extra long, I believe, than some of the putters I had. And I usually I went back and forth between bullseye and ping answers on most of my tour life. And bullseyes, I think I won more with than I did pings. But um I George Archer, we became good friends, and he was living in Reno, and I was living at Lake Tahoe. And, you know, we all were copied Arnold Palmer's method for putting, let's say. You know, we get our feet together, we get down to here, and we really use our hands, you know. Billy Casper, Arnold Palmer, you know, lots of hands in putting. And George, he says, you know, your nerves, your fingers twitch, and your nerves are in your hands. He says, you know, I'm starting to punt with my shoulders, my arms. And so he had me stand this way to get the feel of my arms, pendulum-like with my arms, to take my hands out of the stroke, out of the hit. And so that was a practice drill that George gave me. And uh so I stood that way this last two rounds. Um, my back hurt me a little bit, so that's why I didn't continue that stance for a long, long time. Because it was a lot of strain in my back, because I'd actually placed my right foot parallel to my target line, and then turn my left foot at a right angle to that. Didn't have to use my hands. I couldn't use my hands really.

Mike Gonzalez 16:55

Yeah, interesting. Well, yeah, the the the putter chain certainly worked because you finished 69-72. You were tied after 54 with Hamlin, but then went on to win by five. This was a special day. You uh you had a birthday uh when you won your second uh straight U.S. Open.

Susie Maxwell Berning 17:13

Yeah, you know, um I talked about pyramid power. There's also something about biorhythms, and you know, I'm not gonna say I believe in it, but um I think my birthday month, I won probably at least three tournaments in July or near there. So there's something to be said. They say your birthday month is your most productive, and they said six months uh after is lookout. That's your most dangerous month. And they've done studies, you know, on um airline pilots and and collisions and stuff like that. And they I don't know how true it is, but they say their Byrons were not good.

Mike Gonzalez 18:00

Boy, oh boy. Well, you mentioned Rochester. This this win uh happened at the country club of Rochester for your third U.S. uh women's open win. And uh that's where they played the first uh women's U.S. Open way back in 1953.

Susie Maxwell Berning 18:15

Oh, really? Oh, okay. I knew they played it open there, but I didn't know it was the first one.

Mike Gonzalez 18:20

Yep, yep. Uh uh as Bruce mentioned, uh you're one of only seven women who have successfully defended their U.S. Open title, and uh there's only four others. Um maybe five others that have matched that feat of winning three opens. Mickey Wright won four, Betsy Rolls won four, The Babe one won three, Hollistacey and Annika Sorensman all won three. That's pretty good names to be associated with, all Hall of Famers.

Susie Maxwell Berning 18:49

Thank you.

Mike Gonzalez 18:51

Yep, that's quite a that's quite a list. Um well let's go on to the next one. Bruce, it was in 1976.

Bruce Devlin 18:58

Yeah, the Lady Keystone Open at uh Sportsman's Golf Course in Pennsylvania. Three again, oh, this name keeps coming up. Three over Sandra Haney and Pat Bradley. That's a pretty pretty fancy victory over those two players, a couple of great ones.

Susie Maxwell Berning 19:17

Yeah, well, Pat was just getting started, I believe. Um that tournament was played at the RC Country Club the year before, and I think I finished second. And then they moved it. And I I remember playing with Pat the last round, and I I think she was a rookie that year. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it was her second or third year, but anyway, uh after the round, and we were talking, and I said, you know, Pat, I said, you know, you made some crazy mistakes out there. And uh she appreciated me saying and telling her she did some decisions that cost her not to to beat me.

Mike Gonzalez 19:57

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that would have been your uh your final LPGA win, but we fast forward 13 years, and you and your daughter Robin became a f a first at the uh Kanaka San Jose Classic.

Susie Maxwell Berning 20:11

Yeah, we were the first mother-daughter. Uh Robin got a uh she didn't take up golf until she was 16. She went to a private high school in Hawaii. We lived on the big island, and she went to HPA, which is a private high school there, and uh she uh the school I do believe they had to take a sport, and so she tried tennis and track and field, and she's kind of built like me. And you know, I I can't run, let's put it that way. My legs aren't long. And so Robin uh after her sophomore year, she said, Mom, I think I want to try golf because she had to do a sport. Well, you know, she picks it up at age 15, I guess it is. And uh at age 18, she's got a scholarship to San Jose State. Well, I do Mark Gale was the coach at San Jose, and I really think he probably thought that she had a future, you know, in it uh because of me, you know, who are moments.

Mike Gonzalez 21:12

Yes.

Susie Maxwell Berning 21:13

But and Robin Robin ended up that she ended up liking it. Uh we played in two tournaments together, and the first one was in San Jose, and uh we both missed the cut. And the next one was in uh Rochester, New York. She was invited to play in that one. But Robin didn't like the uh the pressure. People people they didn't think they'd say, Well, are you gonna be as good as your mom? Well, you know, right there is enough to discourage her.

Bruce Devlin 21:43

It's a lot of pressure.

Susie Maxwell Berning 21:44

Yeah. A lot of pressure. And that's why you know you don't see too many siblings uh out there on tour. Yeah. That make it, I should I say.

Mike Gonzalez 21:56

Yeah. Just to live up all those expectations. Yeah. So let's go back because you certainly played in an era where you must have had an opportunity to play with and get to know many of the founders of the LPGA, the 13 original founders. We've mentioned a few of them. What's your recollection of some of those ladies? Because as I've described in other episodes, you read the descriptions of some of these uh women, I call them some of them some badass women.

Susie Maxwell Berning 22:29

Well, you know, there's a few stories floating around that I don't know how true they are. Uh Patty Berg was she was my idol. I mean, when I was paired with her, I was thrilled. I I was just hoping I'd be paired with her. She's um for some reason I just, you know, I used to have freckles when I was a kid. Uh everybody says, oh, you remind us of Patty Berg. Well, I don't know if I do that, but uh, she was just always so nice to me. And you know, that's you know, because I guess maybe my connection with Wilson at first, but then I didn't stay with Wilson. I was offered more money from Dunmom, so I went to Dunlop. Um, got a big three thousand dollars a year. Um but uh yeah, and and Marlene Hagee, Marlene was the mom, she took care of all of us. I mean we would she would be in charge of finding a condo or a house to rent, and uh she did all the cooking, and Judy Rankin and myself and uh a whole bunch Kathy Whitworth, we all would stay, and Marlene did all the cooking, and she just loved to play mom. And um, especially to me when I was a rookie out there, she felt like she should hold my hand and make sure I didn't get in any trouble, you know, and stuff like that. But uh and then some of the founders I never never met, you know. There's a few of them I never met. Um I just admire what they did, you know. We think we had it tough. They had it. Yeah. Really, yeah. And um being uh I I re do recall uh Oklahoma I was an amateur, I don't know how old I was, I think I was still in I've been still in high school, and there was a LPGA tournament in Burneyville, Oklahoma. A guy named Waco Turner put it on. And um UC Ferguson got me in as an amateur playing it. And uh this this golf course was in the middle of nowhere down near Ardmore. And what happened, this guy, Wake Waco Turner is his name, he got mad at the people at Muskogee, not Muskogee, at Ardmore Country Club, and so he went out and built his own golf course. And I recall one hole, if he I hooked it out of bounds, and I'm in a watermelon patch. I mean he's had watermelon grown on the right outside the golf course on the out of bounds. Um and anyway, he had a big uh lodge, and a lot of the girls stayed in that lodge. Uh there was rumors that they uh borrowed a few things from the lodge and never returned, but I don't know how true that is.

Bruce Devlin 25:16

So, Susie, I gotta ask you a question. Do you recall the vehicles that he used to have in his garage?

Susie Maxwell Berning 25:26

Waco?

unknown 25:27

Waco?

Bruce Devlin 25:28

Waco.

Susie Maxwell Berning 25:29

Cadillacs, weren't they? They were all over the place.

Bruce Devlin 25:33

And all of them white, every single one of them. I think he had like ten of them.

Susie Maxwell Berning 25:39

How do you know that?

Bruce Devlin 25:40

Because we played a tournament right there where you girls played too.

Susie Maxwell Berning 25:45

Oh, did you?

Bruce Devlin 25:46

Yeah.

Susie Maxwell Berning 25:46

Well, I remember when he he had the Cadillacs parked out in fields.

Bruce Devlin 25:51

Yeah, he had them everywhere. He didn't have to walk more than about ten paces from any building to get into his Cadillac.

Susie Maxwell Berning 25:58

Yeah, you're right, yeah. He was kind of Did he? He was a little strange.

Bruce Devlin 26:03

Yeah, did he ever fly his plane over the top of you when you were playing in the tournament? Because he did that to the men.

Susie Maxwell Berning 26:11

No, no, he didn't, not that I can remember, no.

Bruce Devlin 26:15

Okay. No. Well, we ought to compare our stories about Waco Turner. Oh my god. We get a chance.

Susie Maxwell Berning 26:23

How how many times did you guys play down there?

Bruce Devlin 26:26

Uh I only played there once. It would would have been in 1963.

Susie Maxwell Berning 26:33

63.

unknown 26:34

Yeah.

Susie Maxwell Berning 26:35

And I think that I think we must have been before that.

Bruce Devlin 26:40

Yeah, it could have been. I I'm not sure.

Susie Maxwell Berning 26:42

Because I turned pro in 64, and I played there as an amateur. So yeah.

Bruce Devlin 26:46

Yeah. So it would have been it would have been before that before. Yeah.

Susie Maxwell Berning 26:49

Well say we probably did it in about 1960 or so. Yeah.

Bruce Devlin 26:52

That's probably right.

unknown 26:53

Yeah.

Susie Maxwell Berning 26:54

Well, and he gave uh you'd get money for birdies and eagles.

Bruce Devlin 26:58

Birdies.

unknown 26:59

Yeah.

Susie Maxwell Berning 27:00

I don't know if you got money.

Bruce Devlin 27:01

You got ten ten ten thousand dollars if you could hold a bunker shot.

Mike Gonzalez 27:06

What? Wow.

Bruce Devlin 27:07

Yeah, there were no bunkers on the course if you remember.

Mike Gonzalez 27:13

That was a trick question.

Bruce Devlin 27:16

Huh? Yeah, so that was uh that was quite a quite an interesting uh golf tournament. Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 27:23

Yeah. Yeah.

Bruce Devlin 27:24

Quite a character.

Mike Gonzalez 27:26

So going back to 1973-ish, Susie, when the the LPGA allowed for the first time to have your own professional caddies, did you link up with someone on a regular basis to caddy for you, or were you still uh uh going through a variety of caddies?

Susie Maxwell Berning 27:43

My girls were mainly my caddies, but I did one summer, and I don't quite remember when it was or how long it was, I did uh hook up with a couple of them, and you know, I I I I I maybe I was too particular or something, but uh I just recall that I I felt like uh my girls could caddy and be as well. And Cindy, when Cindy started caddying, she was shoot, she was probably she caddy for Lenora Rittenhouse, and Cindy really didn't know what she was doing. And Lenora finished third that tournament because she said her mind was always on telling Cindy where to take the bag and where to park the bag and where to go and what to do. So her mind was never on how she was playing. Yeah, and she finished third, her best finish ever. And Robin caddied for Patty, she and some, and that's one reason I think that Robin her gospel resembles Patty's a little bit. Um, but anyway, I did try one summer, I think, a tour caddy, but it didn't work out.

Mike Gonzalez 28:54

Did you have a chance to play much internationally?

Susie Maxwell Berning 28:57

I was in Japan 13 times. Yeah, so I spent a lot of time going back and forth to Japan, uh being with Dunlop uh sports with my uh equipment contact. Um Dunlop, Japan, guy named Shotabari. He'd have me over there quite often doing things, and then Dafini clothing I represented, and we did a couple clinics in I want to say Sebu's department store, because they had Dafini clothing there. Um, and then we had a few LPG events over there, of course, too.

Mike Gonzalez 29:34

Yeah, so uh one of the one of the guests we had on recently was Amy Alcott, and she uh told us about uh the days when on those long Japan bus rides she would play uh uh the bus, she'd be the bus DJ and and play all her cassette tapes and then have uh lip-syncing competitions. Were you ever a part of any of that?

Susie Maxwell Berning 29:57

No.

Mike Gonzalez 30:00

She remembers her and Kathy Whitworth winning the lip syncing contest on one of the business. I don't call that none. Well, let's fast forward to uh uh today, then I guess, as we sort of wrap up your your playing career. Um it had to be a wonderful capstone of your life and career to be nominated and then selected uh as an inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame recently. Tell us a little bit about that experience.

Susie Maxwell Berning 30:30

Well, you know, I I never gave the World Golf Hall of Fame any thought. I I didn't think I'd ever be nominated for it. So I was kind of shocked when they called me up and told me I was in the class of at that time it was 2021.

unknown 30:52

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 30:53

Who made that call? You remember?

Susie Maxwell Berning 30:54

Uh our commissioner, LPJ Commissioner Mike Ron, called me and said I had been uh selected and uh along with Tiger Woods. And uh, you know, I thought, well, that's that's nice.

Mike Gonzalez 31:13

Yeah, really nice.

Susie Maxwell Berning 31:14

Yeah, I don't think I knew exactly what it uh it was all about for a while because I didn't pay too much attention to it. Um because I always felt like you had to be in the LPJ Hall of Fame before you could get into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Well, the LPGs kind of missed the boat there. They don't even have a they don't induct anybody anymore into their Hall of Fame. So I guess that's why I given didn't give the World Golf Hall of Fame much thought, because I wasn't in the LPG Hall of Fame. Which, you know, but anyway, it was quite an honor and and it was a it was a wonderful experience. Um my brother Roger uh has some very influential friends that lived in Phoenix area, and we all went to Florida in one of their nice big jets. And so that you know that made the trip nice and uh you know it was just it was great, it was a great week. And both my girls were there and grandkids and uh Matt Tiger. Just a fun time.

Bruce Devlin 32:21

Who was your presenter?

Susie Maxwell Berning 32:22

Oh Judy, Judy Rankin. Yeah.

Bruce Devlin 32:26

Your bridesmaid, I remember.

Susie Maxwell Berning 32:27

Yeah, they showed a picture of Judy and I in 1968 at my wedding. Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 32:36

How nice. Is it true that she passed out at your wedding?

Susie Maxwell Berning 32:39

She fainted. She did. Uh you know, it was May 18th. Oklahoma. It was a Catholic wedding, and the church was not air conditioned, and apparently it was quite hot. And uh fortunately, uh when the groomsman caught her before she hit the floor. And uh uh that revived her. I mean, she but and why she fainted she didn't know. I think because of the heat.

Mike Gonzalez 33:10

I remember you referring in your remarks at the World Golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony to your daughters, Robin and Cindy, as your fifth and sixth majors.

Susie Maxwell Berning 33:20

Mm-hmm. Yeah, you know, I mean, gosh, the girls, the girls, they're my life, and uh they made playing out there easy for me. Like I said, it took a lot of pressure off me because I didn't think about my golf after it was over with that day. Uh, and it's just uh joy. Uh Robin still has a good swing but doesn't play at all, and Cindy has a pretty good swing and doesn't play at all either. So hopefully someday they'll pick it up.

Mike Gonzalez 33:53

Well, uh at the outset, uh Bruce had mentioned uh some of the other recognition you've received in your life. A lot of this predates the recent Hall of Fame induction, but uh the 2018 LPGA Pioneers Award in 2000 recognized by the LPGA as one of the top 50 players and teachers, uh several other sports and and and uh organization Hall of Fames. I've got to ask you this, and I don't know where I picked this up, but does your license plate say three U.S. Open?

Susie Maxwell Berning 34:25

It does, yeah. Uh and so it should. I got the idea from uh Susie Morton, Susie McAllister, who played the tour, and her license plate says one win. And that kind of gave me the idea. And then there's Craig Fawnsworth who lives here in the desert, and he's known for his short game, putting, and his license tag says putt doctor on it. I've always wanted to do a survey and find out just how many license tags throughout the country are related to Goff and what they say.

Bruce Devlin 35:03

I think it'd be I've bet this quite a bit.

Susie Maxwell Berning 35:05

I think it'd be fun to try and find out, yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 35:09

Well, as we wind down, uh we always have a few questions that we like to ask our guests, and I'm gonna let uh Mr. Dublin go first with the first question.

Bruce Devlin 35:21

Okay. So uh if we take take you back to when you were first started on the tour when you were 23 years old, and you knew then what you know now, what would you do differently? Or would you do anything different?

Susie Maxwell Berning 35:48

I don't think so. I can't think of what I would want to do differently. You know? Um No, I I mean I was gonna say maybe play a little few play more tournaments would probably be about it. Because I didn't play, I mean, if if there were years when I play I think I played seven tournaments in '68, maybe or something. There were years where I didn't play many tournaments. Being married, living in Hawaii, and of course, um the girls Robin was born in 1970 and Cindy in 1977. So um there's times when I was pregnant and I didn't play a lot, you know. And then afterwards didn't play a lot either.

Mike Gonzalez 36:32

Yeah, yeah. All right, let's go with the second question. And you might have given us the answer earlier, but I'll be interested to see what you say. We're gonna give you one career mulligan. Where do you take it?

Susie Maxwell Berning 36:43

I mean at a tournament?

Mike Gonzalez 36:45

Yeah. One shot, you get to you get to do it, do it over.

Susie Maxwell Berning 36:49

Oh, we should have already told you that one. The open in 76. Yeah, the opening 67. 67 67, the open with that the Catherine Lacoste won. And that chip shot that I jumped. Or if I had another mulligan, if I had another mulligan, it'd be the third round of the LPJ Championship up in Concord, New York, upstate New York. Par five, I was hit a drive to the right down some thick rough, and it was a shortcut to the green over water, and I thought, I'm God, because I'd played really good the first two rounds. I thought, I'm God, I can do anything. Because Kathy Woodwards said later, she says she was back there shaking her head, saying, I can't believe what I see she's trying to do. Anyway, I get it in the water.

Mike Gonzalez 37:48

Is that the one Betsy Rawls won?

Susie Maxwell Berning 37:50

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 37:51

In 1970, yeah.

Bruce Devlin 37:53

Yeah, yeah. Go ahead, Bruce. So our last question. How would Suzy Maxwell Burning like to be remembered?

Susie Maxwell Berning 38:03

As a as a loving person, as a good person, somebody who contributed to the society, uh helped the game grow. Um wanting to help and introduce golf to more and more young girls and having them continue the game and go to college on scholarships. I and my understanding is I don't know how true it is now, but a couple years ago they said there was 300 scholarships out there not given to young girls. Golf. They couldn't find and all you had to do, I think, is shoot around 80 or you know, maybe 79.

Bruce Devlin 38:44

Be able to break 80.

Susie Maxwell Berning 38:45

Depending on what school you want to go to, of course. But yeah, I'd like to get more girls involved in golf and have them stay with the game. There's a lot of little girls out there playing the game. But you know, once we get to high school age, there's other things to do, and there's the boys, you know. Yeah, and uh, you know, I fortunately the boys let me play golf with them. In my high school, later high school days and college days, I played with the boys. So yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 39:17

Well, Bruce Devlin, I've got a feeling that in 50 years, as we have little girls and little boys listening to this story of this remarkable young lady, they're going to be uh uh quite enjoying this story that uh that uh we're gonna be bringing to them for hopefully years to come.

Susie Maxwell Berning 39:34

Well, you know, you don't have to be from a golfing family. My mother and father had they didn't even know what the golf was what what it was at first, you know. Um but uh I was lucky. I got a lot of good breaks, let's face it. I was in the right place at the right time. If I hadn't asked if I could go caddy, and then my horse ran over the green. I mean, you know, if those two things hadn't happened, I probably would have been still riding horses.

Bruce Devlin 40:09

Well, I can tell you one thing, Susie. It has indeed been a pleasure to have you with us today. Both Mike and I uh have looked forward to this, and we thank you for your time today, and uh uh we hope you uh we hope you enjoyed it as much as we have.

Susie Maxwell Berning 40:25

Thank you for having me. I yes, I had fun. Thank you.

Mike Gonzalez 40:29

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we take it up again for the good of the game.