Corvallis golfer Bob Gilder having a successful career on the Champions Tour

By Kevin Hampton
Gazette-Times reporter

Bob Gilder is home again.

It won’t be long before he’s back on the road.

Gilder, a professional golfer who plays on the Champions Tour, is back in Corvallis after spending the most part of nine months traveling across the country to compete in 29 tournaments.

One of the first things Gilder did when the 2008 tour season ended in the first days of November was to settle down in front of his TV and watch some football.

Gilder, a Corvallis resident, rarely gets a chance to catch a game while he’s on the road. And he’s a big football fan.

Most of Gilder’s free time is spent with family and friends, children and grandchildren. He does try to get out on the golf course with friends, especially on the rare occasions when the sun is out.

Gilder grew up in Corvallis. While some golfers prefer to live in warm weather states where the sport can be played in the sun year-round, staying in his hometown was best for his wife and family.

“I don’t work here. I go play somewhere else and this is where I come home to,” Gilder said. “This has always been our home. Starting out, you’d live where your wife wanted to live because you could live anywhere. Being gone (so) much and raising kids, your wife had to be comfortable where she was and my wife was very comfortable here.”

The time off is almost too much for Gilder, who said he would like the tour to add a few events, up to around 33.

The Champions Tour is actually going down to 26 for 2009. The economy has forced some corporations to cease sponsorship. The tour lost one January stop out of two in Hawaii, so the season doesn’t get into full swing until February.

Gilder takes advantage of the time in January to head to Hawaii to get warmed up for the season, but isn’t in favor of the three-month break.

“It feels like you’ve quit,” Gilder said.

Gilder joined the Champions Tour (formerly the Senior PGA Tour) in 2001 after a long career on the PGA Tour, where he experienced solid success. Gilder won six PGA tournaments, finishing in the top 10 67 times and taking in $3,032,108 in winnings.

Most of his top finishes came in the 1980s. Gilder turned pro in 1973 and had developed a strong game by the end of the decade.

As Gilder approached 50, he found himself competing with golfers almost half his age and the wear and tear of constant competition took longer to throw off. Gilder kept in good shape and his skills were not eroding, so he figured the transition to the Senior Tour would go well. He knew some of the top players were getting older and weren’t all staying fit.

“Usually that’s the way it feels when you’re 50, when you’re the young guy on the block,” Gilder said. “It’s like a 22-year-old coming into the regular tour, he’s hungry. He can’t wait to get out there and play every day. Well, all of a sudden, in your mind, when you’re in the Senior Tour, it all comes back to you. All of a sudden, you’re invigorated again and you’re hungry and you’re the bully on the block because you’re the youngest guy out there, and you get off to a good start.”

Gilder took the tour by storm, winning six events in his first two seasons. He’s won nine so far, along with seven second-place finishes and nine thirds. With purses getting fatter through the years, Gilder’s earnings on the Champions Tour quickly surpassed that of the PGA Tour and stands at $9,443,293.

The success was great, but Gilder also enjoyed getting back on the course with legendary players such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Hale Irwin, among others.

Some of the players on the tour have slipped a bit. Others seem to be getting better with age. They all retain a competitive spirit. There are still a few tossed clubs or slammed lockers after a bad day.

“You have all the big names that made history or are in the Hall of Fame and stuff like that and they’re still very competitive,” Gilder said. “The only difference is you’ve made your career. You don’t have anything to prove to anybody.

“We all like to beat each other, just like we always did. I don’t think that ever leaves you. It’s a little bit more relaxed. A lot of people think it’s a lot more relaxed. Looking from the outside it may seem that way, but I think old rivalries are a little more mellowed but they’re still there.”

In 2008, Gilder finished in the top 10 five times. He plans on playing for another four or five seasons, if his back and knees hold out.

He had a brief scare during a recent tournament when his knee ballooned up and he thought surgery might be necessary, but treatment eliminated the pain and swelling.

“I don’t want to have any more operations until I get done playing, if I can,” he said. “Other than that, I have good endurance and I can stay with it. I’m swinging decent, I’m swinging pretty good and the putter’s working pretty decent and I’m still making good money, so why not?”