If you ask anyone who knows Robert Funk if he is any good at golf, the answer will be an emphatic YES. So, why is one of the best players in Senior Amateur Golf history engulfed in controversy after controversy? The answer is both complicated and disturbing at the same time.
Funk, who is playing the prestigious Ojai Senior Cup this week, seems to find himself in the middle of confrontation after confrontation. If you talk to the other players in Senior Amateur golf about Funk, you will get a lot of different points of view. There is no question people think he is a bit quirky, sometimes weird. Mostly though, players wonder why one of the top players in the world is causing so much trouble.
In the Spring of 2022, Funk was beat in the semifinals of the Southern California Golf Association Senior Match Play. The player who beat him is one of the greatest amateurs in California State history. Jeff Burda has been great for a long time. He's won more tournaments than he can count including 12 senior titles in Northern California and several more in Southern California. So, when he beat Funk at Pechanga Golf Resort in 2022, nobody was surprised.
However, soon after, Funk was telling people that Burda was guilty of several indiscretions during their match. What started out as sour grapes soon turned into a full-blown attack on Burda's credibility. Funk had told people that Burda "walked behind the hole when I putted" and "bothered me when I hit shots", as well as several other etiquette breaches.
Regardless, nobody really took Funk seriously, even though Funk continued the onslaught. Months later, at the Southern California Senior Amateur at Santa Ana Country Club, and later at the 2022 Ojai Cup, Funk continued to discredit Burda. It became a problem as players wondered out loud what Funk was doing.
"I really don't think anyone took Robert serious," said one Senior Player. "Some people got tired of him attacking Burda. I think he was just venting out of frustration. No matter what, it was Bush League to make that stuff up about Jeff."
Things got even more complicated for Funk later that summer. At the 2022 United States Senior Amateur at The Kittanset Club in Marion, Mass., Funk was involved in one of the most bizarre instances in USGA golf history.
During the second round of qualifying, on the back nine, Funk and fellow competitor Kevin Vandenberg were having a conversation as they walked off one of the back nine greens. While only Funk and Vandenberg actually know what was said, the conversation involved some kind of discussion about pornography. A woman, who was standing behind the green, heard the conversation and -- as would be expected -- was offended and upset that two world-class players would have such a conversation during a major championship.
When Funk and Vandenberg finished their round, all hell broke loose. As it turns out, the woman who happened to hear the off-the-cuff comment complained to the USGA, then left the premises upset. In response, after their round, the USGA pulled Funk and Vandenberg aside separately to find out what had happened. What was said in those conversations is only known by Funk, Vandenberg, and the USGA officials. The end result? Vandenberg withdrew from the tournament and Funk was allowed to continue to play.
"What happened to Kevin there was a travesty," said a player familiar with what happened at the Senior Amateur.
Clubhouse Golf Talk reached out to both the USGA and to Funk to find out what was said in those discussions. Neither party responded to our request.
Earlier this year, in May 2023, Funk was involved in another controversy of major proportions.
During the final round of the Trans Miss Senior Amateur, Funk called a penalty on fellow competitor Steve McPherson for playing from the wrong spot on the 8th hole. That penalty resulted in McPherson being disqualified from the tournament because "the mistake was not rectified before playing the 9th hole". At the time, McPherson was sitting 2nd and still had a chance to win the golf tournament. Again, after the tournament, all hell broke loose. What seemed like a simple disqualification was anything but.
At first, Funk accused McPherson of moving his ball from one position to the next. The irony of course is that McPherson is one of the top players in the country, so an accusation to improve his position from 140 yards, from the fairway, seems pretty far-fetched. There were also serious questions about whether or not Funk could even see where McPherson's ball lied.
McPherson responded to what he felt was a miscarriage of justice by filing a lawsuit against Funk. During the investigation of facts for that lawsuit, all kinds of disturbing information came to the forefront. That information created turmoil and divide amongst Senior Amateur players. Essentially, several players believed Funk was "targeting" McPherson.
As it turns out, Funk had been having conversations with another senior player, as early as December of 2022, essentially discrediting McPherson. Later, in the Spring of 2023, and before Funk called the penalty, Funk, in a conversation with other players, said disparaging things about McPherson while having lunch at another tournament. One of those players called McPherson to inform him of this fact.
Additionally, during the fact-finding process for the lawsuit, it was discovered that Funk had told other Senior players that he "stood up on his golf cart" to see where McPherson was playing from on the 8th at Hacienda Country Club.
"That is when I knew Funk was lying," said one of California's top players. "There is no chance any player would do that between the 8th green and the 9th tee at Hacienda. It would be too dangerous."
Again, Clubhouse Golf Talk reached out to Funk for comment but he did not return our inquiry.
McPherson, after the lawsuit was filed, received phone calls from two of the top senior players in the world. They were calling to ask McPherson to drop the lawsuit he filed against Funk. Their reasoning? It was bad for the game of golf and, specifically, really bad for Senior Amateur Golf.
It turns out players were taking sides throughout the country. A few days after McPherson was DQ;d from the Trans Miss, he was invited by some top players to join them on a golf trip. Funk was not invited. Later, it was rumored that a couple of Senior Amateur players, friends of Funk, were approached about loaning Funk money to help combat the lawsuit. The entire situation took on a life of its own. In the end, McPherson dropped the lawsuit as a courtesy to several guys who were concerned, among other things, about having to testify in court.
"Steve dropped that lawsuit for one reason," said a top Senior Amateur. "He respected those guys. They convinced him it was in the best interest of golf to drop the matter. I think Funk got lucky there."
Another interesting dynamic to the entire situation is that players came out of the woodwork to complain about both McPherson and Funk. Some guys accused McPherson of taking liberties with the rules of golf, while others accused Funk of lying to satisfy his arrogance towards McPherson.
"While Funk was running his mouth all over the country, Steve just took the high road," said another player familiar with the situation. "The anger and the hatred Funk portrayed against Steve was disgusting. I am really proud of Steve for the way he has handled the situation."
McPherson refused to comment to Clubhouse Golf Talk, with this exception.
"The whole thing is ridiculous," said McPherson.
"I feel really badly for Steve," said JD O'Neill, who has played a lot of golf over the years with McPherson. "He is so hurt by what happened that he hasn't played since. The joy of the game has been squeezed out of him."
"This situation is especially lousy because it is Funk. I remember a year or two ago at the Porter Cup, another player was talking shit about Funk, accusing Funk of all kinds of stuff. Steve defended Funk and put the guy in check. What Funk has done to Steve is chicken shit."
Funk is currently ranked in the top-50 of the World Amateur Golf Rankings for Seniors. He is a former player of the year in California, has won a lot of golf tournaments, and has represented both his state and his country in golf tournaments all over the world.
Regardless, we ask this one question: What will his legacy be?
Editors Note: Clubhouse Golf Talk reached out to the USGA, Funk, and McPherson for comment. None of them responded or agreed to answer questions. We spoke with several top players in Senior Amateur Golf, around the country and in California specifically, via text message and by phone. Some responded to clear up questions, others did not. To a man none of them wanted Clubhouse Golf Talk to share their identity because of the sensitive nature of the subject matter. As a result, Clubhouse Golf Talk follows Associated Press rules for using anonymous sources.
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