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- Chronological Highlights of the Oregon Amateur
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Chronological Highlights of the Oregon Amateur
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| 1904-09 | 1910-19 | 1920-29 | 1930-39 | 1940-49 | 1950-59 |
| 1960-69 | 1970-79 | 1980-89 | 1990-99 | 2000-09 | |
Special contribution by Bill Mulflur
Men
Rodney (R.L.) Macleay was the main man in that decade, winning four of the six championships played. MacLeay, who learned to play golf at Princeton University, won on his home course of Waverley Country Club.
Waverley was the host to the first 13 tournaments and 15 of the first 16 contested. The other was held at Gearhart (1917). When the Oregon Amateur Championship started Waverley and Gearhart were the only golf courses in the state.
Macleay won three PNGA men's championships in a row (1903-05) and four in all. The scores from the first two championships are unknown. In 1906, A.S. Libby of Seattle defeated Allan Wright of Waverley for the title.
Women
There were six different women who won the first six distaff titles. Mrs. Thomas Kerr was Mabel Macleay, R.L.'s sister, and won the 1906 women's title.
That was the first finals women's match with a recorded score. Mrs. Kerr defeated Mabel Keyes 4-3 in an all-Waverley match.
Kerr is a name that appears several times in the early history of the Oregon Amateur.
1910-1919
The tournament wasn't played in 1918, the last year of World War I
Men
A charter member of Portland Golf Club, Rudie Wilhelm, one of Oregon's great early players, won the crown three times in this decade and five times total. The tournament wasn't played in 1918, the last year of World War I.
One of Wilhelm's championship victories was over Macleay, 7-5 in 1919. Wilhelm became the first amateur to win the Pacific Northwest Open when he won in 1916. He also won the PNGA men's championship in 1917 and 1927.
He was once challenged to a contest with a professional baseball player in Vaughan Street Baseball Park. After Wilhelm hit three golf balls out of the park, the player declined to compete.
One of the winners in this decade was Hal McCall, who won in 1912. His son, Tom, became one of Oregon's all-time favorite governors.
Women
Mrs. Peter Kerr, who was a sister-in-law of Mrs. Thomas Kerr, won the championship three times in the decade and once more in the twenties. She was twice medalist in that decade.
"Mrs. Thomas (Mabel) Kerr was my grandmother and Mrs. Peter (Laurie) Kerr was my great aunt," said Andy Kerr, who is presently a member of Waverley. "I never was able to play with them," said Andy. "My grandmother gave me some old golf clubs and a goose neck putter that I learned to play with."
Men
Dr. Oscar Willing of Waverley won four titles in this decade. This was a golden decade of golf in which Willing, Frank Dolp, Don Moe and Rudie Wilhelm were either winners (nine) or runners-up (six) in the 10 championships of the 20's.
The only time one of the foursome of greats didn't win the title was in 1923 when Clare Griswold of Seattle defeated Willing on the 38th hole at Waverley.
Willing, known as "The Golfing Dentist", played in the finals of the 1924 PNGA championship in Vancouver, B.C., against Charlie Hunter, winner of the 1921 British Open, and won 2 & 1 before a gallery of 2,500.
Willing considered his greatest victory the 1928 Oregon Open at Waverley when he defeated that year's US Open champion, Johnny Farrell, by one stroke.
Women
Mrs. L. W. Palmer of Eastmoreland became the first women to repeat as champion. Mrs. Palmer went one tournament farther and won three in a row - 1923, 1924 and 1925. No one else was able to duplicate her feat until Gracie DeMoss won a trio in the mid-50's.
Mrs. Ercel Kay of Portland won in 1921. The Kays almost scored a double for the family trophy case that year as Ercel gained the men's finals but lost the title to Doc Willing 3 & 2.
The Kays went on to build Salem Golf Club in 1926. Their son, Tom Kay, runs the club.
1930-1939
Men
Frank Dolp opened this decade with a trifecta - winning in 1930, 1931 and 1932.
Bob McReynolds, the late OGA historian who gathered and catalogued all the records in the organization's library, once said, "Frank Dolp was the greatest player we had who never played in the Walker Cup. He always had his best years in the non-Walker Cup selection year."
In addition to Dolp's five Oregon Amateur titles, he won the Western Amateur twice, the PNGA men's amateur twice and the Northern California Amateur.
Three-time runner-up Don Moe won for the third time in 1937. Oscar Willing won for the fifth and last time in 1938. Harold Salvador of Columbia Edgewater equaled the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl when he finished runner-up four consecutive times starting in 1937.
Women
Marian McDougall Herron of Waverley was a three-time winner in the 30's. Mrs. B.E. Eva of Columbia Edgewater won twice.
McDougall was a six-time PNGA champion and she won the Western Open in 1934.
She entered the Oregon Amateur for the first time at the age of 15.
"I will never forget that first day on the first tee," she told Bob McReynolds, longtime OGA historian. "I totally fanned the ball. That was one of the best experiences (I) could have had because the world didn't come to an end. It was a great learning experience."
McDougall went on to win six PNGA championships and the 1934 Western Open. In 1938, she defeated Betty Jameson in the PNGA finals. From 1934 to 1945, James dominated women's golf in America.
1940-1949
The 1942 through 1945 tournaments were not played because of World War II.
Men
Lou Jennings of Portland won three times and Roy Wiggins, Tom Marlowe and Ron Clark each won once. Jennings last win was a 1-up victory over Lou Stafford in 1948. That was a runner-up year for Stafford, who also finished second in the NCAA tournament and USGA Public Links.
Clark of The Dalles stopped Jennings in the 1949 finals 4 & 3 at Astoria
Clark, a lifetime resident of The Dalles, is thought to be the oldest surviving men's champion of the Oregon Amateur.
"It was a great win for me and my community," said Clark, who graduated from Oregon and was a CPA in his hometown.
"We played stymies in the Oregon Amateur at Astoria," said Clark, who played in the first Hudson Cup. "That might have been the last year we played them."
Clark played an exhibition match with Ben Hogan and two others at the 9-hole The Dalles CC.
"That was about six months before his life threatening auto accident," said Clark, "I found out later he asked my parents if I could go with him as he thought I could play on Tour."
Women
Carol Freese Bowman of Riverside won three of the six tournaments contested in this World War II decade. She also won the 1947 PNGA Women's championship and the 1952 Trans-Miss. She lost a match in the 1952 US Women's Amateur at Waverley Country Club to Anne Quast Sander, who at 14 years of age was the youngest player in Women's Am history.
Marian McDougall opened the decade with her fourth and final title. Helen Thompson of Medford won on her home course of Rogue Valley in 1948 and repeated at Rogue Valley in 1966 as Helen Davies.
Helen Thompson Davies Milne was a Rogue Valley Legend. She won the first of her 10 Southern Oregon Golf Tournament titles in 1947, beating her mother, Belle Thompson Schenk.
1950-1959
Men
"Winning that first tournament (at age 18) made me a beneficiary of Columbia Edgewater's plan to allow younger players in at an intermediate rate," said Bruce Cudd, who won back-to-back titles in 1952 and 1953. "I beat Dick Yost in the semis and Bob McReynolds in the finals in 1952."
Cudd said, "The second one was more poignant because it was at Alderwood which closed a month later to become Portland International Airport. I have a flag from one of Alderwood's holes and a couple of chairs from the clubhouse. It was a great golf course." He won the championship match from McReynolds again.
Cudd won the Northwest Open in 1953 and the Western Amateur in 1954. He finished fourth in 1954 in the Los Angeles Open.
He and fellow Columbia member Dick Yost were named to the 1955 Walker Cup team. The matches were played at St. Andrews. Prior to their selection, only one other club had ever had two members on the same Walker Cup team. Those two players were Bobby Jones and Watts Gunn from Atlanta in 1930.
Women
Gracie DeMoss, who climbed over a fence at Corvallis Country Club to put her golf game in motion, became one of Oregon's all-time greats.
She put together four titles, beating highly regarded opponents each time: 1951 (Pat Lesser), 1956 (Maude Borst), 1957 (Carole Jo Kabler) and 1958 (Borst again). Kabler (1955) and Lesser (1952) were also winners in that decade.
In 1950 she was medalist in the Western Women's Open, a semifinalist in the 1950 and 1951 U.S. Women's Amateur. And a winner of the PNGA women's title in 1950. This led to her selection to the 1952 Curtis Cup team - the first women from the Pacific Northwest to be named to the Curtis Cup team.
After a lifetime in Corvallis, Gracie DeMoss Zwahlen moved to Southern California two years ago to be near her daughter.
"I'm still doing the same thing," she said with a laugh. "Coaching high school girls." She coached the Crescent Valley High School girls in Corvallis for 21 years.
DeMoss played several tournaments in Florida and was called on to sub for Babe Didrikson Zaharias in a mixed 2-ball tourney. "It was about a week after she learned she had cancer and she asked me to play for her," said Gracie.
1960-1969
Men
The name Don Krieger has been associated with the OGA for over 50 years. He won the men's amateur in 1956, 1959 and 1967.
"My first win was very good for me," he said. "I was just starting out in the insurance business and it gave me some name recognition. My third win was memorable because I hit every fairway and every green and nearly lost it with my putter."
He served on the OGA board of directors for many years and started a three-year term as president in 1987. He was one of the key players in bringing the OGA golf course into being.
"I grew up in a great golf era," said Krieger. "I don't know if we ever had a better group of players than what we had in the 50's, 60's and 70's."
Dick Price (1961-62) of Longview and Bob Pall (1963-64) of Salem were back-to-back winners in that decade.
Women
"My three wins (1968, 1969 and 1970) had a lot to do with my career path," said Cathy Gaughan Mant. "I feel so very fortunate that I have been able to follow my passion for the game of golf and make a living while doing so."
"I remember the great match I had with Mary Budke in 1970," she said. "Mary stayed with our family that week. I won the last two holes to win on the 36th. We have remained friends over the years and now we find ourselves giving back through our involvement with the USGA Girls Junior Championship. We serve as rules officials during the week and that gives us a chance to catch up.
"The Oregon Golf Association should be commended for the great traditions carried on each year in the Oregon Am," said Cathy. "I remain an Oregonian at heart and follow the results each year."
Cathy Mant is now the women's golf coach at Georgia Southern University.
Carol Jo Skala won twice and Maude Borst three times in that decade. So three players won seven of the 10 titles played for in the 60's.
1970-1979
Men
Brent Murray won twice in this decade - 1974 at Shadow Hills and 1978 at Bend.
"The first win was a big boost for me as I was coming off a disappointing freshman year (at Stanford)," he said. "I remember the trees weren't very big because the course hadn't been open very long."
Murray would return to Shadow Hills for a three-year stint as head professional in 1987. Murray won the 1978 Pac-8 title and the PayLess Classic in 1979.
The first winner of that decade was Mike Davis of Riverside (1970) and the last winner of the previous decade was Dave Glenz of Coos Country Club (1969). Those back-to-back winners are now members of the 100 best PGA teachers in the USA according to Golf Digest.
Women
If Mary Budke isn't the best player to have won the Oregon Amateur, she was certainly the most dominant.
She won the women's title eight times in nine years and the year (1975) she didn't win, she didn't play.
"I had just played as the defending champion in the women's collegiate and my mother was ill," said Budke, who is an emergency room physician at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene. "So I decided not to play."
Budke won her first title in 1971 when she was 17-years-old by defeating Patti Miller. The previous year she lost to Cathy Gaughan on the 36th hole.
"The early wins were a measure of my level of play," said Budke, who grew up in Dayton and learned to play at the now defunct Riverwood Golf Course in Dundee.
Budke won the US Amateur in 1972 at the age of 18 and the collegiate championship in 1974. She was captain of the 2002 US Curtis Cup team.
"The third week in June and the Oregon Amateur have been very special to me," said Budke, who has served for several years on the USGA Junior Golf committee.
1980-1989
Men
Kent Myers, the behind-the-back putter, won four Oregon Amateur championships In three decades.
The first came in 1965 at Portland Golf Club "I was playing Bob Smith and I was 3-down on the back nine and tied it on the 36th hole," recalled Myers, who won the title by holing a 40-foot putt on the 37th hole.
Myers came from modest circumstances. "I have a picture of our Salem High team and I have wooden shafted clubs. I had on one brown shoes and one two-toned shoe I picked out of discards at Salem Golf Club."
Two years in service, where he perfected his putting style so he could get in money games, and five years earning his masters and doctorate in education kept him out of competitive golf until he was in his 30's.
"I was 50 when I won in 1983," he said of his 37th hole victory at Eugene Country Club over George Daves of Rogue Valley. "It was tough walking 36 holes three days in a row."
"Winning the Oregon Amateur has meant a lot to me," said Myers, who is still a competitive 5-handicapper.
Women
Amanda Nealy is only the second woman in OGA championship history to win four consecutive titles. Mary Budke did it twice. Nealy won the last three tourneys of the 80's and the first in the 90's.
"I was 18 getting ready to go to Arizona," said Nealy of her first win at Rogue Valley over defending champion Marcia Fisher 1-up. My coach (the much revered Grants Pass professional Jim Sheldon) was there. He did so much for me. You don't forget your first win.
"The next year at Portland there was a great field," said Nealy, who won on the 20th over Lara Mack (Tennant) in an earlier match. She downed Donna Olexio (Smoot) 9 & 8 in the finals.
"I played my best golf the next year at Michelbook," she said. She beat Renee Mack on the 20th hole in the first round and defeated Olexio again, this time 2-up.
Her fourth win was at Illahe Hills. "I played well at the finish (beating Karly Mills) and again it was special because Jim Sheldon was there."
After one year at Arizona, Nealy transferred to New Mexico State and played on two conference championship teams and advanced to the NCAA twice. She now works and resides in Baton Rogue, La.
1990-1999
Men
Oregon has always been a special place for Casey Martin, who is now the coach of the University of Oregon men's golf team.
"Winning the Oregon Amateur (1993 over Dave Lebeck) was a very big moment for me," said Martin, the day after returning from his team's second place finish in the Pac-10 tournament, "I had red shirt at Stanford that year and I had never won a championship in Oregon. It was very big."
Martin recalled, "It was a very close and tough match," he said. "I birdied the 36th hole at Witch Hollow and won the 37th with a par. I had never won a match play tournament."
Casey's championship run came the year after his brother, Cameron, had won the 1992 OGA men's championship at Oswego Lake.
"We were very competitive," said Casey of his relationship with his brother, who are the only brothers to win the Oregon Amateur.
Casey played as a senior on the Stanford team with a freshman by the name of Tiger Woods.
He played on the PGA Tour and instituted an action which has made it possible for handicapped Tour players to use carts.
Women
Charisse Spada has been a sterling member of the OGA for most of her adult life. She won the women's championship twice - in 1982 at Riverside and again in 1999 at Eugene.
"They were so different," she said of her two wins. "I was 20 years old and confident and had no fear at Riverside (a win over Susan Sanders).
The win at Eugene was much different. "I was exhausted and sick all night before the finals," she said. "I was going to withdraw when Jim Gibbons (then OGA Executive Officer). said, 'Give it a try.' I did and I won.
"The first win gave me confidence and the second one validated the first and gave me longevity," said Spada, who is a present member of the OGA Board and served a 3-year term as its president, starting in 2001.
Men
Jeff Quinney was the first male winner in the new millennium and the most recent player to have won the title twice.
Quinney won in 1998 at Willamette Valley, defeating Ryan Lavoie 4 & 3, and again in 2000 at Eagle Point with an 8 & 7 victory over Jimmy White.
The year 2000 was a great year for Quinney, who played college golf at Arizona State. He won the U.S. Men's Amateur championship by defeating James Driscoll on the 39th hole at Baltusrol.
That earned him a place on the 2001 US Walker Cup team. He was the seventh Oregon golfer named to the elite team. He joined Doc Willing (1923, 1924, 1930), Don Moe (1930, 1932), Chandler Egan (1934), Bruce Cudd (1955), Dick Yost (1955) and John Fought (1977).
In 2001, Jonathan Moore became the youngest player to ever win the Oregon Amateur, winning on his home course (Royal Oaks) at age 15. He also became a notable member of the Walker Cup Team, sinking the winning putt in 2007. That was a breakout year for Moore, who also captured the Men's NCAA Individual title at Crosswater in Sunriver, Ore. as well as helping his Oklahoma State Team capture the team title. Immediately following that title, he won at opportunity to play in the U.S. Open at a sectional qualifier held at Emerald Valley GC in Creswell, Ore.
Incidentally, of all those who played in the Walker Cup, Egan may have been the best known player in the state who didn't win the Oregon Amateur. His name doesn't appear as a runner-up or medalist and it's not clear if he ever played in the tourney.
He won two U.S. Amateurs, a NCAA title and five PNGA men's championships. Among the courses he designed in Oregon are Eastmoreland, Rogue Valley, Reames and Eugene. In 1928, he redesigned Pebble Beach.
He was so well thought of a water fountain was dedicated to his memory at Rogue Valley in 1937. Among those in attendances were Bobby Jones, Harry Cooper, Grantland Rice, Jimmy Thompson, Horton Smith and Lawson Little.
Women
Marcia Fisher started playing golf when she was 13. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever win one Oregon Amateur," said Marcia, who has won seven times to date
"The first time I played in the Oregon Amateur," she said, "I played Cathy Gaughan in the first round. She hit a 5-iron farther than I hit my driver but she was very nice to me."
"I was a little overwhelmed," said Fisher of her first win in 1980 at Oswego Lake over Molly Cronin. "I had just had our first baby in March, I got a little better each match and I was intrigued because I hadn't played a lot of match play."
Fisher said, "Each tournament is different because you are playing different courses and some of the players are different, too. In 1981 (a win over Sybil O'Byrne at Tualatin) I met Charisse (Spada) for the first time and we became very good friends."
That completed a string of 14 years in which three players won all but one title - Cathy Gaughan (3), Mary Budke (8) and Fisher (2). The other tourney winner was Judy Hoetmer at Royal Oaks in 1975.
She won her seventh title in 2000 over Jerilyn White at Eagle Point. That span covered 20 years and three decades.
