ROBERT (BOB) A. ROOS JR. (1918–2002) was many things — a civic leader, business executive, sportsman, and champion golfer. A native San Franciscan, he was the President and General Manager of Roos Bros., one of the city’s iconic clothing stores dating
back to 1865.
He was a long-time supporter of San Francisco golf. Through Roos Bros., he sponsored both the City Golf Championship and the Father/Son tournament (now the Family Golf Tournament). He played in 36 consecutive Crosby Clambakes, now the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, assisting Bing Crosby and later Nathaniel Crosby during those years with pairings. He served on the NCGA’s Board of Directors in the 1950s, and chairman of the PGA’s Lucky International tournament at Harding Park.
Roos was a the State Junior Amateur champion at 16. He joined the Club at 20, and went on to win the Club championship six times. He also won eight Peninsula Club titles and one at Spyglass Hill, where he was a founding member. He competed in two U.S. Opens, as well as
11 U.S., six British and five French Amateurs. Roos won the 1968 Copenhagen Cup. In 1972, at age 54, he lost to Max Hunter, Jr., age 16, in the finals of the State Amateur. Roos was the oldest player to have ever reached the finals; Hunter was the youngest state champion.
Roos competed against the best amateurs in golf. In 1955, Roos lost in the San Francisco City finals to Harvie Ward, former British Amateur Champion. In the 1956 U.S. Amateur, Roos avenged a Club championship loss by upsetting tournament favorite Venturi, who nearly won the Masters that year and was low amateur in the U.S. Open.
His biggest legacy was obtaining the 1955 U.S. Open for the Club, the first of five U.S. Opens at the Club. Roos, while competing in the 1952 U.S. Amateur, asked Joe Dey, the USGA Executive Director, about the possibility of the club hosting a U.S. Amateur. Dey responded, “How about the U.S. Open?” Roos served as U.S. Open General Chairman and worked closely with architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. in preparing and modernizing the Lake Course for tournament play. The ‘55 U.S. Open, made famous when unknown Jack Fleck upset Ben Hogan in a historic playoff, showcased the The Olympic Club as one of the premier social and athletic clubs, and established the Lake Course as one of the truly great courses in the world.
