College Golf Museum: Bobby Clampett's 1980 WAC Trophy
The Final Medalist Honor of a Legend's Collegiate Career
We tend to connect best to history through tangible items. It’s one thing to read about past exploits, but seeing a physical artifact helps bridge our minds to a given moment and unlock the ineffable wonder. That’s exactly what we’re trying to accomplish with the College Golf Museum.
Join me today in examining Bobby Clampett’s 1980 Western Athletic Conference (WAC) championship “trophy.” This block of marble - which could easily function as a paperweight - serves as a representative cornerstone in the BYU legend’s storied collegiate career. Come discover why his 12th and final medalist trophy holds meaning that far exceeds its heft.
*NOTE: underlined text provides a link to references or sites with more information
Hall of Fame Collegiate Amateur Career
It’s difficult to properly quantify Bobby Clampett’s exceptional amateur career without overusing superlatives or just flat out listing all of his accomplishments. Winning isn’t everything - and in golf you do far more losing than you do winning - but Clampett sure did do a LOT of winning, many of the most prestigious collegiate and amateur events in the United State! Let’s take a look at his three-year run while in college to try to get a sense of the magnitude of this young superstar who chose BYU over other collegiate powerhouses such as Oklahoma State, Stanford, and Wake Forest.
FRESHMAN YEAR: 1977-78
John A. Burns Intercollegiate (hosted by Hawaii)
All-American Intercollegiate Invitational (“AAII”, Houston)
Clampett arrived on the BYU campus amid much fanfare, but he still had to prove himself among Coach Karl Tucker’s famously competitive roster. He did just that, qualifying for the very first event - the Beehive Collegiate Invitational in Oct 1977 - and finishing runner-up by a single stroke behind Weber State All-American Mike Gove. Bobby had another close call in the first tournament of the Spring. In Mexico at the Pan American Intercollegiate Games, Clampett tied with Oklahoma State All-American Lindy Miller for second place individually as BYU captured their fourth team title of the young season. Two weeks later in Hawaii, Bobby Clampett officially became a collegiate winner for the first time with a win at the 2nd Annual John Burns Intercollegiate.
In March, he led after two rounds at the Western Intercollegiate, but finished T3 behind winner Mark O’Meara [Long Beach State] as his Cougars took the prestigious team title. Clampett’s second (and final) individual victory his first season came the week before his 18th birthday. At the time, Houston’s All-American Intercollegiate Invitational (AAII) was widely considered to be second behind only the NCAAs in difficulty and prestige. Not only did the BYU freshman hold his own in a field of literal All Americans, Bobby set multiple records including an opening nine-hole 33 and a four-round total of 277/-11. Officially marked as the next phenom, Clampett finished the season with a runner-up at Arizona State’s Sun Devil Classic, a third place finish in the WAC Championship (where Arizona State snapped BYU’s six year winning streak), and 10th at the NCAA championship where the Cougars finished 4th as a team.
Few amateurs can boast about having as good of a year as Bobby Clampett did in 1978. Along with notching his first two collegiate victories, the BYU freshman was the Low Amateur at the US Open (where he was the youngest player in the field), California State Amateur winner, Porter Cup winner, and Sun Bowl runner-up. Any portion of that would have made for a nice year, but what made this one extraordinary was young Bobby becoming the first - and so far only as of 2025 - winner of both the Western Junior Amateur and Western Amateur in the same year! Only Jim Wiechers, Jamie Lovemark, and Jhared Hack have collected both trophies in their career.
Later that fall, Clampett added even more when he won medalist honors at the World Amateur Team Championships and helped the United States win the Eisenhower Trophy; making him the only player to capture the Western, Western Junior, and WATC...and again he did it IN THE SAME YEAR! A few weeks later, Clampett participated in the 4th annual US-Japan collegiate competition (held at Pebble Beach this year), winning all of his matches and being named the MVP.
Oh, and he made the WATC by virtue of making it to the semifinals of the US Amateur - lost to Wake Forest’s Scott Hoch on the 20th hole - which also earned him an invite into the 1979 Masters. Incredible!
SOPHOMORE YEAR: 1978-79
William H. Tucker Invitational (New Mexico)
Fresno Classic (Fresno State)
Cougar Classic (BYU)
WAC Championship
Shortly before his trip to Fiji for the WATC, Clampett opened his sophomore campaign with a victory at the William H. Tucker Invitational. True to form, he did so in record-setting fashion, eclipsing fellow BYU alum Johnny Miller’s (1967) 285 four-round scoring record by a whopping 6 strokes. His second collegiate victory of the season came in the spring Fresno State Classic, setting that tournament scoring record as well. He might have made a run at the Western Intercollegiate had it not been scheduled so close to the Masters. While he missed one of college golf’s greatest tests, Clampett took full advantage of his invitation to one of pro golf’s majors by finishing T23, capturing Low Amateur honors, and earning an invite to the 1980 edition by virtue of his top 24 finish.
It’s great to get a win at home, which Clampett did after tying with Mike Gove [Weber St] then defeating him on the fourth playoff hole. New Mexico defended their home course at the WAC championship, but Bobby Clampett tamed “The Monster” and walked away with the conference individual title by five shots.
Due to the proximity of the Walker Cup to the NCAA championship in 1979, Clampett, Gary Hallberg, and John Cook were all forced to decide between the prestigious amateur event and the culmination of the collegiate season. You’re going to have to join one of our later tours (spoiler: post coming soon!) diving into this wild spat between the players, the NCAA, and the USGA, but suffice it to say that it turned out decently well for the young men who all chose to support their collegiate teams. John Cook’s Ohio State Buckeyes won the NCAA team title, Hallberg became the third Wake Forest Demon Deacon individual champion, and Clampett finished runner-up (3 strokes back), helping the struggling BYU to another 4th place finish.
Bobby’s high finish at the NCAA’s along with his other accomplishments earned him placement on the All-WAC team, First Team All-American status, and the Heisman trophy of college golf: the Haskins Award.
There were plenty of highs and a few lows in 1979. On top of the collegiate victories and frustrating missed opportunity mentioned above, Clampett was the Low Amateur at the Masters and the medalist at the US Amateur. The latter accomplishment put him in rare air as the first of only three males (as of 2025) to be medalist in both the US Junior Am and US Amateur in their career - Tiger Woods and Blades Brown later joining him.
Another accomplishment was actually a low: Bobby Clampett has got to be the only player ever cut from the US Open twice in one weekend. After falling on the wrong side of the Friday cutline, Clampett joined the first group out on Sunday - which included 1978 NCAA champ David Edwards - to act as a marker in order to complete the pairing. Playing a “carefree round” and perhaps working out a little frustration, Bobby performed a series of trick shots to the delight of the crowd and utter dismay of USGA officials. He carried on past the warnings and was eventually asked to leave the course around hole #13.
JUNIOR YEAR: 1979-80
William H. Tucker Invitational (New Mexico)
Pacific Coast Intercollegiate
Fresno Classic (Fresno State)
Western Intercollegiate (San Jose State)
Sun Devil Thunderbird (Arizona State)
WAC Championship
Bobby Clampett’s junior year was his most successful in collegiate play. In the fall he repeated as Tucker Invitational champ, bettering his score from last year and setting the UNM South Course competitive 72-hole scoring record. In early January near his home town of Carmel Valley, CA, Clampett set the Spyglass Hill course record with a 65 in round 3 of the Spaulding Pebble Beach Pro-Am.1 He would go on to win the event the next day, but the $22,500 first place check went to recent (1976) BYU graduate Mike Reid.
Back in college a few months later, Bobby broke 200 to win the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate and followed that up by setting a course record on his way to medaling at the Fresno Classic. Right before his second trip to Augusta for the Masters, Clampett captured medalist honors at the Western Intercollegiate hosted at Alister McKenzie’s famed Pasatiempo. While he failed to defend his crown at BYU’s home tournament, the Sun Devil Thunderbird Classic in early May was the stage for a dramatic return to the winner’s circle. Clampett defeated Utah State’s Jay Don Blake with a birdie on their first playoff hole for his fifth title of the season as BYU captured its 8th team title in 12 events.
This finally brings us to our museum piece today: the 1980 Western Athletic Conference championship trophy. Bobby Clampett’s 12th and final collegiate victory helped make the BYU Cougars conference champions for the 10th time and secure Coach Karl Tucker’s 99th career team victory. Win #100 would come at the start of the next season (without Clampett), which begins the story of the improbable 1981 NCAA championship; something we will be exploring very soon! Bobby repeating as WAC medalist was not unprecedented as New Mexico’s Greg Harman had accomplished the feat in 1971 & 72, but nobody had reached that podium under as much pressure as Clampett who was constantly being asked about his looming decision to turn pro. Teammates Barry Willardson and Tom Costello finished tied in the runner-up position, helping BYU to a dominating 31 stroke victory.
While the Cougars blistered Torrey Pines in the WAC championship, Ohio State’s Scarlett Course proved a bit more difficult. An untimely nosebleed and second round 80 might have proved the difference for Clampett and BYU at the NCAA champions. Bobby bounced back with two 70s in the closing rounds, but finished 9 strokes back of the Jay Don Bake [Utah State] and Hal Sutton [Centenary]. BYU secured their highest ever team finish as runners-up, just four strokes back of Oklahoma State.
AFTERWARDS
For the third straight year Bobby Clampett was named a First Team All-American as well as the 1980 WAC Player of the Year. On top of those honors, he was crowned the best overall collegiate golfer and presented the Haskins Award for the second straight season. As of 2025, Clampett is one of only three players - Ben Crenshaw (1971-73) and Phil Mickelson (1990-92) - to earn college golf’s highest award multiple times.
Of course, the story doesn’t end with conclusion of his time at BYU. After a very public back-and-forth - especially while winning the prestigious Sunnehanna Amateur over former NCAA champ Gary Hallberg - Clampett announced in July, 1980 that he was going to turn pro early, saying:
“I’ve really accomplished about all I can as an amateur. The other thing is, it’s becoming harder and harder to play as much golf as I do and still concentrate on my studies.”
-Santa Cruz Sentinel, 7/10/80
The hope was to earn enough sponsor’s exemptions and place highly enough in PGA Tour events to reach the $8,000 earnings threshold that would automatically gain him a tour card. In six short weeks, Clampett did exactly that, becoming the second player (after Gary Hallberg who we’ll be talking about soon!) to make use of these new rules and skip the grueling Q-School experience most of his peers had to endure.
Thus began his long pro career that included playing on both the PGA and Champions Tour, as well as stints in both reporting and broadcasting. Now a member of multiple halls of fame including BYU’s Sports HoF, Clampett continues to impact the game of golf as a world renowned director of instruction for the Impact Zone Golf academy system headquartered in Naples, Florida.
Bobby Clampett is a true legend and we’re honored to have the capstone tournament trophy of his collegiate career in the College Golf Museum!
Thanks for taking the tour today! Do you have any intercollegiate photos/relics you’d like to share? We would love to hear from you and perhaps feature it/them in a future post!
Note: this is NOT the Crosby Clambake now referred to as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Instead, this is what is now referred to as the TaylorMade Pebble Beach Invitational, a non-PGA Tour pro event that still garners many pros from the PGA, LPGA, Champions, and Korn Ferry Tours.
Great article. Very informative,