Obituary for Eric Sheik Monti
Eric “Sheik” Monti 91, the former long-time golf pro at Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles, CA passed away on February 1, 2009 of prostate cancer at his home in Laguna Woods, CA. He was born December 6, 1917 in Pekin. He was one of seven brothers. He is survived by his daughter Lisa (Tony) Benach, two grandchildren; Garrett and Ashley Benach, three brothers; Aldo Monti of Pekin, Emil Scodeller of Laguna Woods, CA and Paul Scodeller of Laguna Niguel, Ca. His wife Evelyn preceded him in death in 2006. Eric and his wife Evelyn ( the former Evelyn Straub also formally of Pekin) moved to Southern California in the mid 1940’s. He first taught at Los Angeles Country Club before becoming assistant pro at Hillcrest Country Club in 1945. In 1950 he became the co-head pro with Mortie Dutra and in 1955 took over the position of Head Pro. He retired in 1990 but continued teaching a few days a week for some time. He started playing on the PGA tour in the late 1940’s and won PGA tournaments in Miami in 1955, Hesperia in 1959 and Ontario, Canada in 1961. He came close to winning the L.A. Open on two occasions, third place in 1949 and a three way tie for seventh in 1960. Eric instructed many celebrities at Hillcrest Country Club, including Henry Fonda, Burt Lancaster, Jack Benny, Danny Thomas and Dinah Shore, he even appeared in an episode of the Jack Benny Show, playing the part of himself as a pro at Hillcrest. He will be greatly missed by all that knew him
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