Drum & Quill

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Drum & Quill

Drum & Quill Honors Sportswriter's Legacy Drum & Quill is not just a historic tavern that serves up casual cuisine and cocktails in the heart of the Village; there is a profoundly personal story behind its name and honors the most remarkable feat in golf – Golf’s Professional Grand Slam. Owner Kevin Drum’s dad, Bob Drum, a famous sportswriter whose work documenting Arnold Palmer’s every swing is as legendary as the golfer himself. “My dad wrote stories that would document the exploits of the greatest athletes for the Pittsburgh Press,” Kevin Drum said. “But he covered a kid from Latrobe, Penn. that would make golf history.” Drum’s Early Life Bob Drum was a feature writer for the Pittsburgh Press. In the 40s, he first spotted a 14-year-old Palmer at the West Pennsylvania Junior championship. “My dad saw something and told the world, ‘This kid from Latrobe will be the best golfer in the world.’ Some of his fellow sportswriters laughed and didn’t see what Bob saw. Drum and His Quill The prediction Drum penned when Palmer was just 14 later came true when a young Arnold Palmer won the recently formed 1958 Masters. And so began Drum’s work in recording the career records of one of golf’s most illustrious players. During his time with the Pittsburgh Press, Drum traveled to Pinehurst to cover golfer Ben Hogan in the Ryder Cup. Throughout 1960, Drum wrote a series of stories on Palmer, projecting that he would accomplish something like what fellow golfer Bobby Jones had done in 1930 when he won the US and British Amateur and the US and British Opens as an amateur; that feat was considered then to be Golf’s Grand Slam. Golf was changing, and Drum knew it; it was now a professional’s game. The Grand Slam that Bobby Jones had accomplished with two amateurs never happened again. He felt the Grand Slam had to be reinvented with four professional tournaments of equal stature so today’s pro golfers could pursue a Grand Slam of their own: but which ones? Drum’s Grand Slam In 1960, Drum and Palmer decided that Palmer’s win at the still-relatively-new Masters, and his first-place trophy at the 1960 U.S. Open, would be the first two legs of his new Professional Golf Grand Slam. The final two legs of the “Grand Slam,” Drum & Palmer decided, would be The Open Championship at St. Andrews and the PGA Championship. Arnold didn’t win it, but it was enough in 1960 that PGA professionals still pursue those four tournaments wins to today; Drum & Palmer immortalized it as the “Professional Grand Slam.” Drum and the U.S. Open In 1971, Drum moved his family to Pinehurst to help the resort manage the World Open. All the while, the USGA winds were changing to the country’s great courses. It was announced in the 1990s that the 1999 US Open would be played at Pinehurst for the first time. Drum got his wish, but he didn’t live to see it. “In 2014, I created the Drum & Quill and named it to honor my dad to remind golf fans of the impact he had on the game of golf locally and nationally,” Kevin Drum said. “The ‘Drum’ represents my dad, and the ‘Quill’ represents his pen. I wanted to create the only golf-writer-themed tavern in the world here in Pinehurst, to add to villages’ rich golf texture. Golf writers’ stories can turn golf pros’ exploits into that of a legend like my dad did with Arnold Palmer,” Kevin Drum says. “We also hope to shed light on how my dad contributed to creating golf’s greatest prize, the Professional Grand Slam.” Drum & Quill is the “Home to Golf’s Professional Grand Slam.”