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Bruce Lee Fleisher

Facts

Golf

Sports

Bio

Bruce Lee Fleisher was born on October 16, 1948, in Union City, Tennessee.  In 1950 the Fleisher family moved to Wilmington, NC where Bruce began playing golf with his brothers, Leslie and Jerry.  At Wilmington’s Pine Valley Country club he “learned the golf swing and how to play the game: with the help of Assistant Pro, Henry Atkinson.

When Bruce was 14, the Fleisher’s moved to Miami.  Already a good golfer, Bruce enrolled at Miami-Dade Junior College and joined the golf team.  While attending Miami-Dade in 1968, Bruce became the third youngest player to win the US Amateur when, at age 19, he defeated Vinnie Giles in the finals at Scioto Country Club.

In 1969 Bruce turned pro and went on to have an outstanding professional career on the PGA tour.  In his early years on tour he had some success, but most of his top 10 finishes came in his last eight years on tour.  Between 1991 and 1998, Bruce had 35 top 25 finishes, 14 top 10 finishes, and a win in 1991 at the New England Classic.

In 1999 he joined the Senior PGA Tour (now Champions Tour) and went on to win 18 tournaments, including the 2001 US Senior Open.  He was the first player ever to win back to back victories in his first two Champions Tour Events and won the Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards in 1999.

In July of 1991, Bruce received a letter from the great Gary Player….. “Congrats on your brilliant win lately.  I saw it on TV and felt quite choked for you.  Golf is a great game and this win of yours did a lot for the game.  It also gave encouragement to many people.”

Bruce now spends his summers in Asheville, NC, and his winters in North Palm Beach, Florida.