Commemorative Bronze Statue of Frank “Sandy” Tatum by Sculptor Zenos Frudakis installed at Harding Park

The Sandy Tatum statuary made an “accidental” stop in Mark Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, Mo., while in transport to San Francisco from Philadelphia.

(PHILADELPHIA) — The recently completed bronze statuary of the late Frank “Sandy” Tatum, by renowned, Philadelphia-based sculptor Zenos Frudakis, is now safely installed at San Francisco’s TPC Harding Park in time for the course’s first PGA Championship (largely credited to Tatum’s efforts in restoring the golf course to PGA status), and first major of the year that gets underway this week.

En route to Harding Park, late last week, from Philadelphia, the statue of Tatum was ejected through the roof of the transport truck when it overturned and crashed into a field in Hannibal, Mo., the hometown of Mark Twain. The statuary sustained minor damage that was repaired in Berkeley, Calif. The rescue, repair, and installation operation was overseen by Dan Burke, the executive director of The First Tee of San Francisco, the national youth development program, the regional chapter of which Tatum established at Harding Park. One of the two drivers of the truck is recovering from minor injuries from the crash.

Zenos, whose professional artistic career spans four decades, was commissioned to create the over-life-sized statue of the former USGA president through a portion of a $5 million gift by investor and financial executive Charles Schwab, a longtime friend of Tatum’s. The bulk of the donation will be used to renovate The First Tee San Francisco Chapter. Sandy Tatum Jr. (July 7, 1920 – June 22, 2017) was an attorney, golf administrator, golf course architect, promoter, and amateur golfer.

The commemorative Sandy Tatum statuary, created by Zenos and cast at the Laran Bronze Foundry in Chester, Pa., includes a seven-foot likeness of Tatum standing in front of two youths flanking a staircase, which represents The First Tee’s nine core values – Honesty, Integrity, Sportsmanship, Respect, Confidence, Responsibility, Perseverance, Courtesy, and Judgement.

Zenos has created numerous large-scale public sculptures of sports luminaries over the years, including works of famed golfers Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Payne Stewart, to name a few, at sites across the country. Other sports figures include, Joe DiMaggio, as well as the four ten-foot- high bronze statues of baseball Hall of Famers Robin Roberts, Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt and Richie Ashburn that greet Phillies fans at various entrances to Citizen’s Bank Park. Other works include Zenos’ conceptual creation Freedom, widely considered to be one of the world’s best public sculptures; the U.S. Air Force Memorial Honor Guard, a copy of which stands at the British Imperial War Museum in Duxford, England; as well as many commissioned public monuments, portrait statues, and portrait busts of prominent cultural and historical figures located throughout the U.S. and abroad.