On Wecal's plaque: He was co-captain of the 1976 team, the only three-time honorable mention GCAA All-America, and the first three-time All-Ivy recipient in program history. He tied teammate Vince Scarpetta for low score among Ivy players to help Penn win the team's first Eastern Intercollegiate Championship title in 1974. The previous fall, he was low Penn player as he took second place individually at the ECAC Championship with the team capturing their first team ECAC Championship. He finished second at the 1975 Eastern Championship and the 1976 Ivy League Championship and was sixth among Ivy players at the 1973 Easterns, earning first-team All-Ivy each time. He contributed to Penn's advancement to the NCAA Championships in both 1973 and 1974, competing in all four rounds as an individual on each occasion, and earned a spot on the All-East Team during his sophomore year.
 
by Joe Juliano
 
Like most young boys in New England, Tom Wecal thought about playing hockey as he entered his high school years. However, when he was 12, Wecal's father introduced him to golf, and even though it took him a while to become accustomed to the game, golf now competed with hockey as the object of his affection.
 
That was fine with his father.
 
"Hockey was not his sport," Wecal recalled. "He really didn't like the fact that I was getting pushed around and body-checked and stuff like that. It took me awhile to get used to golf, but I liked hitting the ball. Golf was something I practiced a lot and got good at. I went through high school and won some championships and got to college playing golf."
 
That he did. Although he played hockey right up to his graduation from Woonsocket (R.I.) High School, golf became his dominant sport. The high school golf team was among the best in Rhode Island and Wecal was one of its top players.
 
In his junior season, he won four titles including the Rhode Island State Junior Championship and the state high school crown. One perk of his success was an opportunity to travel to the Insurance Youth Classic and play with the likes of future major champion Tom Weiskopf.
 
As he entered his senior year, Wecal found himself inundated with letters from colleges asking him to join their team. One of the interested parties was Bob Hays, in the final stretch of his 30-year tenure as Penn's golf coach.
 
"A lot of the schools wanted you," he said. "If you made the team, they would give you a golf scholarship. The schools that I was looking at, they said, 'We know you're a good player, you've won some championships, but if you come down and make the team, we'll take care of you.' It was kind of risky."
 
But Wecal, who described himself back then as "kind of self-taught without any formal instruction," knew what he wanted to do, and he committed to Penn.
 
"There weren't a lot of teachers like there is today," he said. "It was just basically watching other players, watching guys on TV, reading Golf Digest. As for Penn, my father was a guidance counselor in high school. Out of all the schools that I applied to, he goes, 'If you could get into Penn, that would be your best bet.' So he and my family were saying, 'That would be a good school for you.'"
 
It was a fortunate decision for Wecal, who became a three-time Golf Coaches Association of America honorable mention All-America, a three-time first-team All-Ivy participant, and a contestant in two NCAA Championships. For his success in the game, the 70-year-old Rhode Island native has been selected for induction into Class XIII of the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame.
 
"I was shocked," Wecal said. "It means a lot. It's not life-changing but it feels good when somebody recognizes how good you were at a certain point in your career. It's been exciting for me, my friends, my family, my wife. My friends asked me, 'Why did it take so long,' and I'd say, 'I have no idea.' But it's a great honor."
 
Wecal impressed right from the start. In 1973, the first year freshmen were allowed to play, he fired a 72 to help Penn win the fall ECAC championship while he finished second individually. The Quakers captured the 1974 Eastern Intercollegiate Championship as Wecal and fellow Penn Athletics Hall of Famer Vince Scarpetta tied for low score among Ivy League players.
 
Wecal's best memory in collegiate golf, however, came in his first two years when he made the cut at the NCAA Championships, finishing in a tie for 92nd as a freshman and a tie for 67th as a sophomore. It was also the high-powered company that excited him.
 
"Playing with the likes of … I saw Ben Crenshaw, Gary Koch, Craig Stadler, all those guys were there, they were a year or maybe two years older than me," he said. "To be in the same tournament with those guys was tremendous. And then to make the cut was even better.
 
"In '74, I watched Curtis Strange eagle the last hole for him to win NCAAs and help his team win, which was incredible. When I got done, I would just go out and watch the guys that I thought were outstanding. You had Curtis Strange, you had Jerry Pate, a former U.S. Open winner, Andy Bean. It was a collection of all-stars, it was tremendous. That was one of the best times I've ever had."
 
His skill on the golf course was not the only thing that endeared him to his teammates. Jim O'Leary, who entered Penn as a freshman when Wecal was a sophomore, said he learned a lot from his friend.
 
"He just was a very accomplished and polished player, and I was a high school kid coming up trying to wiggle my way on the team," O'Leary said. "He was clearly the best guy on the team. But also, he was giving with his knowledge. I learned a lot being around him as a freshman. He was not just this accomplished player, he was a leader. He would pull other players around and inspire you to get better and achieve."
 
O'Leary said Wecal had a complete game, and admired his confidence.
 
"His confidence, his course management, was very impressive," he said. "Playing college golf in the spring in Philadelphia is an adventure. You're in the rain, you don't have much time to get ready for the season. It's a challenge and he met those challenges. He was very confident, and that confidence would help pull you through, too."
 
Jim Bickle, another teammate of Wecal, liked his competitive side.
 
"He was a great competitor in everything he did—golf, hockey, ping pong," he said. "He was always confident he could pull off any shot."
 
Wecal said he was "very quiet, extremely quiet" on the course. O'Leary agreed he had a "quiet confidence" but added, "He could give as well as he got. He had that little way of letting you know, he knew he was good."
 
Wecal entered the business world after graduating from Wharton, working one year for ADP and a second year in the General Motors accounting department "to pay off some of my school loans." One night at home, however, the pull of golf took over.
 
"I talked to my wife and said, 'Look, I've got to get this thing out of my system,'" he said. "She goes, 'Well, do it. Quit your job and turn pro and see what you can do.' That was my decision so I gave myself a plan to get my game in shape, see how far it would carry me. Golf got me into a lot of different places."
 
Wecal worked on his game for about seven years, tried to qualify for the PGA Tour without success and competed in New England State Opens and mini-tour events. He managed a golf store in Rhode Island for 10 years. He began a long career as a teaching professional, which continues to this day. Some of his most memorable times came in the five years he worked in Puerto Rico as a seasonal employee and frequently played with recently deceased golf legend Chi Chi Rodriguez.
 
Wecal has taken a different path from most golf professionals. He has never been a PGA of America member, saying, "I never wanted to be tied down to a club pro position. I always wanted to play or teach." He has taught since he was 28 and is still going strong, now working out of Crystal Lake Country Club in Burrillville, R.I.
 
Wecal enters the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame a year after one of his best friends, Walter Brown of Melrose, Mass., was inducted into the Temple Athletics Hall of Fame. They would debate over who deserved to get into his respective Hall first.
 
"Walter used to call me and get on me about not getting into the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame, saying he had better credentials than I did and all this stuff," he said. "I went, 'Walter, let's face it, you know who the better player is.'
 
"So when the Penn coach called me, I thought it was Walter impersonating somebody asking how would I like getting into the Penn Hall of Fame. I'd go, 'Yeah, put me in.' I asked if he was poking a joke, and the coach said, "No, this is the real coach.' I'm like, 'You've got to be kidding me.' It was funny."