We are deeply saddened to share that Jay Sigel, the legendary golfer and beloved Bryn Mawr native, passed away shortly after the publication of our May issue. We are honored to celebrate his extraordinary life and legacy in the following article.
Throughout his career as an amateur, Jay Sigel accumulated a resume few others did. There are those who believe the list of players Sigel stood behind includes just one name: the immortal Bobby Jones. There may have been others between Sigel and Jones, but two U.S. Amateur titles, a British Amateur championship, three Middle-Amateur crowns, nine straight Walker Cup appearances and countless Philadelphia-area victories put Sigel in rare company. He relished all the wins, but there was something he really delighted in—whipping the pros. “I enjoyed that considerably,” he says.
Sigel got a chance to do that on a regular basis in 1993, when he joined the 50-and-over Champions Tour, where he won eight times. While he was an amateur, Sigel was intent on beating those who played for money every time he could. He won the Philadelphia Open six times, and the fact he was friends with many of the pros in the field made his success even more delicious.
Perhaps the tastiest of those Philly Open triumphs was his first, which came in 1975 at Bidermann Golf Club in Wilmington, Delaware. On a course he describes as “a bear,” Sigel played 36 holes (in one day, as the format mandated then) in a three-under 137 and carded a 66 in the first round. In many tournaments, that’s a strong performance. A half-century ago at Bidermann, it was dominant. Sigel not only captured his first Philly Open title that day, he won it by 12 strokes. “I made a few putts,” he says, in his trademark understated way. “With my game, if I putted well, I was going to do well.”
Tracing its roots to 1903, the Philadelphia Open includes local pros and select amateurs, with the field capped at about 60. This July, it returns to Bidermann, where golfers and organizers will recognize the 81-year-old Sigel for his 1975 performance. “It’s amazing he won by so much because the course played so hard,” says Philadelphia PGA historian Pete Trenham, who golfed in that event. “Second was 149. It was an amazing performance.”
The year of Sigel’s landmark win was also the first time the tournament was hosted in Delaware. “That’s very special for the membership,” says Anthony Malizia, who’s now in his 14th season as head pro at Bidermann. Two years ago, the course completed an expansion, increasing overall distance from about 6,700 yards to more than 7,000, installing a new irrigation system and redoing all bunkers. These days, it may be even more challenging than the “bear” Sigel tamed in 1975. “I can tell you the golf course’s playability has never been better,” Malizia says.
Those who played with Jay Sigel regularly witnessed his ability to thrive on just about any layout. He was introduced to the game by his father, Robert, for whom Sigel used to caddy. One day, Robert asked his son if he wanted to try playing—and that sure sounded better than carrying bags.
“Sigel had played one practice round at Bidermann before the ’75 Philly Open…but few of the participants had experienced it. The course began as a nine-hole layout for the du Pont family, expanding to 18 holes in 1965 when it opened to outside members.”
Sigel was successful almost immediately. He played so well he earned a spot on Wake Forest University’s golf team. In the summer of 1963, Sigel put his hand through a window pane on a door and severed his ulnar nerve, abruptly upending his plans to play professionally. “It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” says Sigel today. “I never would’ve graduated from [Wake]. I never would’ve met my wife. I never would’ve been the golfer I am today. I had to become tougher and learn to get through problems. There are all kinds of good reasons for the injury.”
Sigel went on to become an insurance agent and play as an amateur. He’d experienced success before 1975, including six Pennsylvania Golf Association amateur titles and a Golf Association of Philadelphia title in 1973. But 1975 was a definitive year for him. He won the Porter Cup, one of the nation’s top amateur events, by nine strokes in Buffalo, New York. He also won his fourth straight Pennsylvania Amateur tournament that year.
Sigel was somewhat stoic on the course. He approached the game from the neck up, solving problems and controlling his emotions. “You had to have a steady head on your shoulders to deal with the ups and downs and ins and outs of it,” he says.
Sigel had played one practice round at Bidermann before the ’75 Philly Open. Ted McKenzie, who finished second to Sigel that year, notes that few of the participants had experienced it. The course began as a nine-hole layout for the du Pont family, expanding to 18 holes in 1965 when it opened to outside members.
McKenzie calls it “an elite club”—but he wasn’t too happy with it the day of the ’75 Open. After he bogeyed the 18th hole on his first round, he went into the clubhouse and told his caddie he was withdrawing. Then he looked at the other scores. “I didn’t see one lower than mine,” he says. “It was kind of a surprise.”
McKenzie went back out there. But he couldn’t catch Sigel—and neither could anybody else. “To shoot a 66 from the back tees there was pretty good,” McKenzie says. “That course was longer than the courses he played on the Senior Tour.”
Jack Nicklaus convinced Sigel to join the Senior Tour in 1993. He had “a good 49th year” of golf before turning 50 in November of that year. He logged four top-10 finishes in 1994 and won the GTE West Classic, the first of his eight victories. Those ’94 accomplishments earned him Rookie of the Year honors.
Though he won nearly $10 million as a pro, Sigel is still best remembered in this region for his remarkable amateur play and the 1975 Philadelphia Open runaway performance. “It was my opportunity to go out and beat the pros,” he says.
That’s something Sigel did again and again.
Related: 5 Famous Alumni From Delaware High Schools and Universities
