Memories: University of North Texas Athletic Hall of Fame 2002
Bobby Greenwood was inducted to the Athletic Hall of Fame on November 2, 2002, at the University of North Texas (formerly North Texas State University) in Denton, Texas. He was inducted with other four inductees, namely: Bill Blakely, Barry Moore, G. A. Moore, and Dee Walker.
[EXCERPT from North Texas Athletics – Mean Green History: “BOBBY GREENWOOD – Greenwood was a three-time letter winner in golf at North Texas from 1961-63, helping lead the Eagles to three consecutive Missouri Valley Conference championships. As a senior, he led the Eagles to the NCAA championship tournament in 1963, when North Texas placed third. Greenwood received honorable mention All-America honors as a sophomore in 1961 and was a first-team All-America as a junior and senior.” -Source: North Texas Athletics: Mean Green History, http://www.unt.edu/northtexan/archives/f02/hallof.htm%5D
[WRITTEN ON THE PLAQUE: “University of North Texas, Athletic Hall Of Fame – BOBBY GREENWOOD 2002
In the early 1960’s, Bobby Greenwood was instrumental in enhancing North Texas’s stature as a collegiate golf powerhouse when he led the Eagles to three consecutive Missouri Valley Conference championships while earning All-American recognition all three years he was on the team.
As a sophomore in 1961, Greenwood won the Southwest Recreation Championship and earned honorable mention All-American honors.
The next year he was named second team All-American and in 1963 as a senior, Greenwood won the Southern Intercollegiate Championship and was named to the NCAA’s first team All-American team.
Since earning a Business Administration degree from North Texas in 1964, Greenwood has enjoyed a lifelong association with the game of golf, including playing as a PGA Tour professional from 1969-1975.
He won more than 150 amateur and pro tournaments during his playing career, including the Rhode Island Open Championship (while he was on the PGA Tour), the Tennessee Open Championship and the Tennessee Senior PGA Championship three times. He served as the Director of Golf at the Sawgrass Country Club in Florida, which hosts The Players Championship, and has been active in golf course designing since 1978.
At the time of his induction, Greenwood was president of the Greenwood-Clifton Golf Design Group in Deltona, Florida.” – Transcribed by Elma Greenwood, Cookeville, Tennessee, October 31, 2003.]
[EXCERPT from Herald-Citizen, Cookeville, TN, December 19, 2002: Greenwood inducted into North Texas Hall of Fame By Buddy Pearson, Herald-Citizen Staff
It’s been almost 40 years since Cookeville golfing legend Bobby Greenwood played golf at the University of North Texas, yet the school located in Denton, Texas, still remembers the impact Greenwood had on the program. In a ceremony held recently at UNT, Greenwood was inducted into the North Texas Athletic Hall of Fame. Greenwood and four other inductees were the 2002 recipients of the University of North Texas Sports Hall of Fame awards and were honored during enshrinement. They each received a plaque and a Hall of Fame ring at the Hall of Fame Breakfast.
“North Texas is a big school and they treated me so nice, giving me the ring and the plaque at the breakfast,” Greenwood said. “North Texas is a great golf school. For me to get voted into the Hall of Fame is humbling. There are other players who should be in it before me, but I’ll take it.
A three-time NCAA All-American, Greenwood is the only First Team NCAA All-America in the school’s history. During his years at North Texas, the Eagles won three consecutive Missouri Valley Conference Titles.
Greenwood was selected by the NCAA Golf Coaches Association to play in the North-South All-Star matches in his senior year. And, he was also selected to the Prestigious 10-member Texas Cup Team in 1964.
“The greatest thing about it to me was that after 40 years, all my teammates decided to show up for my induction,” Greenwood explained. “I think there was one guy who didn’t show up and nobody knew where he was.”
In his rookie year on the PGA Tour, Greenwood was selected as “Champions Choice” to play in the Colonial Invitational Tournament in Ft. Worth, Texas. Past champions of the Colonial Tournament vote on the rookie to receive a sponsor’s exemption to play.
After spending seven years on the PGA Tour, Greenwood served as Director of Golf at Sawgrass Country Club, home of The Players Championship and most recently Head Professional at Suntree Country Club, a 36-hole Resort and home of the Suncoast Senior Golf Classic.
Greenwood, who currently resides in Cookeville with his wife Elma and daughter Viola, spends his time as a golf-course architect and also gives lessons on a limited basis.
Other than the induction ceremonies, Greenwood doesn’t get back to Denton much to watch any of the Mean Green sports teams, particularly basketball. But he will get a chance to see his alma mater play on Saturday when Tennessee Tech takes on North Texas at 7 p.m. at Eblen Center.
So, who will Greenwood be rooting for?
“I love Tennessee Tech,” Greenwood said. “There’s a different feeling about North Texas and the Missouri Valley Conference. I had a great experience out there and I love Texas people — they are positive and encourage you. I really had a great time there and was successful but Tennessee Tech is my hometown team.”
– Source: Herald-Citizen, December 19, 2002, 3:06 PM CST]
“During my seven years playing the PGA Tour (1969-1975), I would usually just pick up someone at the tournament site to be my caddy, usually in the parking lot when I first arrived. My preference was a young college student that was strong and hopefully loved golf.
Back in the 1970s on the PGA Tour, caddies would be required to shag balls on the practice range. This could be a dangerous situation because there were always 30-45 players warming up for their round; sure enough, one day I noticed my caddy staggering around, he was out about 200 yards away. He had been hit!
Sometimes I would get an exceptionally good and knowledgeable caddy.
LARRY ADAMSON and I met at the Robinson Open in Illinois. Larry was a High School teacher and he coached the basketball team. Larry was a great guy and he loved golf. He later worked for the USGA and became their Director of Championships. After I left the Tour, I asked Larry to make an appearance at Suntree Country Club, Melbourne, Florida while I was Director of Golf. I introduced Larry to my membership (36-hole resort with 1,650 members at Suntree). He was very interesting and a huge success.
[EXCERPT from Suntree In Review article: “United States Golf Association official Larry Adamson shared his various experiences working with the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, Senior U.S. Open, and other USGA tournaments during a March 3 ‘cracker barrel’ session in the Cabana Room (at Suntree CC in Melbourne, Florida).
The cracker barrel sessions were started in February by Suntree golf pro Bobby Greenwood and are designed to provide ‘a night of fellowship for members to get together with the pros and enjoy each other’s company,’ Greenwood said.
Greenwood and Adamson are golf buddies and met ‘in 1970 when Larry was a high school basketball coach and teacher. He brought his high school team to caddy at a tournament I was playing in and when they needed an extra caddy, they asked Larry. So, he was assigned to me and that is how we started our friendship,’ Greenwood said.”
-Source: Suntree In Review, by Vicky Valley, Melbourne, FL, March 1990.]
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GEORGE WATERHOUSE was another great caddy as a young boy and he followed the Tour and caddied for me for a couple of months. George later became a famous General Surgeon in Charlotte, North Carolina. I always knew that George would be a great man someday. George was a valued friend and supporter.
TOM McKENZIE caddied for me in the 1972 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, California. It’s a good thing I had an excellent caddy here because the conditions were tough to play, high winds, etc. Tom was older and smarter than me and he loved the Lord. He must have been praying because I was in 12th place after three rounds. I was paired with Masters Champ George Archer and British Open Champ Tony Jacklin in the final round. Tom McKenzie was a good friend in my time of need.
[EXCERPT from Tom McKenzie’s personal letter dated February 19, 2020: “I treasure memories of the US Open at Pebble Beach, nearly 48 years ago. I have been involved with Golf and Caddies since 1963. I can truly say that caddying for you at the US Open was my FAVORITE experience of all time. To make the cut, and be a part of the final round of the National Championship with you, a Christian influenced me forever!!!
You mentored me even from this distance and I love you for all the encouragement you continually provide.”]
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JIM BASS was a professional caddy and I think we joined forces in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He was a character, very intelligent and a good sense of humor. Jim is now at the world-famous Kiawah Island Club in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. I still hear from these great guys from time to time. When I was inducted into the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame in 2007, several of my closest friends showed up. One was Jim who had driven from South Carolina to Knoxville just to be there. Thanks Jim…
[EXCERPT from Jim Bass’ personal comment on a photo posted via Facebook dated January 10, 2010: “Bobby Greenwood’s induction into Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame. The first PGA Tour Player I ever caddied for. Magnolia Classic 1970 Hattiesburg, MS.”]
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In the heat of the battle, you think back in wonder, how did I treat my caddies?
DON ANDERSON was a strong supporter and loyal friend as my caddy in the Tennessee Open. I really liked Don a lot and we had a serious man to man working relationship. I feel he helped me win the Tennessee State Open tournament.
[EXCERPT from Nashville Banner: “The winning team, caddy Don Anderson and player Bobby Greenwood at work in winning the Tennessee Golf Association Open championship at Old Hickory. The two met several years ago at McCabe and Anderson, a brick laborer by trade, has carried for Greenwood in this area ever since. The pair cake-walked to the championship Sunday with a five-under-par 67 and a 54-hole total 208, eight strokes better than the nearest contestant.”
-Source: Nashville Banner, “GREENWOOD, HELPED BY CADDY, EASY WINNER”, May 13, 1968.]
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The late great BOBBY NICHOLS was my first caddy at the Cookeville Country Club when we were both teenagers. I helped Bobby with his game and he and I later played the Tour at the same time in the 1970s. Bobby also won the Tennessee Open and I picked him to play in the first Tennessee Challenge Cup Matches at Old Hickory Country Club in 1968. Bobby Nichols was a kind Christian man… I miss talking golf with him.
FREDDIE NELSON was one of my favorite caddies at the Cookeville Country Club. Freddie was the same sweet, soft-spoken gentleman that he is today as our current Putnam County Trustee. My grandmother, Viola Simrell Greenwood, would always be so happy when Freddie and Bobby Nichols would come home with me to eat some good home cooking at lunch time.
There was one caddy that was most important to the development of my golf game. His name was JERE MAXWELL. Jere was a local boy from Cookeville and we grew up together. Jere had a great sense of humor, and he kept me relaxed so I could play better. He was very loyal and smart and became one of my best friends.
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, Jere and I would hitchhike to tournaments in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama to play the ‘fried chicken circuit.’ We had great fun.
Jere Maxwell helped me with the most important part of playing competitive tournament golf… the mental game.
I shall look forward to seeing Jere and others in heaven someday soon.
Nowadays, playing golf on the PGA Tour is a team effort. You have a swing coach, a physical trainer, a psychological mind coach, a caddy, and hopefully a good supportive and loving wife. This is a difficult thing to put together… but don’t leave home without it! 🙂
Please let me say THANK YOU to ALL the Caddies that have caddied for me throughout all the years. Wish I had the mind to remember you all.”
Source: *Personal recollections of Bobby Greenwood, August 20, 2020.
BOBBY GREENWOOD, PGA Former PGA Tour Player Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame PGA of America Life Member
“NCAA College Golf has really grown in the last few decades. But who had the best golf team in the nation in 1963? It was North Texas State University (now University of North Texas) in Denton, Texas. I am truly amazed that several great players would arrive at NTSU and play at the same time, 1963.
NTSU finished 3rd in the NCAA tournament that year so why do I think North Texas was #1?
In 1963, we defeated the NCAA Champion Oklahoma State University six times prior to the season ending NCAA National Championship. In so doing, NTSU won the #2 ranked college tournament, the Southern Intercollegiate in Athens, Georgia. We also won the South-West Recreational in Fort Worth, Texas; the Oklahoma Intercollegiate tournament; the Border Olympics in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico; and NTSU was Runner-up in All-American Intercollegiate in Houston, Texas. During this time, NTSU won three consecutive Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Championships in 1961, 1962 and 1963.
If you add the two victories that year with OSU in the University Team matches, that would total six times we defeated OSU in 1963 when they were the National Champs!
In 1963, NTSU finished 3rd in the NCAA tourney ahead of USC, Georgia, Texas, Wake Forest, Navy and Stanford. And the year before in 1962, NTSU finished in 4th place but finished ahead of teams such as Stanford, Wake Forest, USC and Georgia.
So, how did that happen… How did we lose the NCAA? Well, we didn’t play well that week. I bogeyed the last hole for a 145 total, our #4 player Elgie Seamster shot even par 144 to be low for our team, another player on our team took a disastrous eight on the next to last hole, and… we only lost by four strokes!
Another very important fact: Our very best player on the North Texas team was our team captain, the great Dick Smith from Davenport, Iowa who was killed in a car wreck. I was not even in his class as a player and I was a First Team NCAA All-American selection that year. Dick was a beautiful player with great potential and probably would have been a major tournament winner if he had lived.
We developed wonderful friendships, shared many tough competitions, and created great memories. Thirty-nine years later when I was inducted into the UNT Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, I was surprised when all my fellow teammates showed up for the induction ceremonies. That my teammates would show up was what mattered most to me.”
NOTES:
*NTSU Golf Team Members FRANK LUKE, scratch player and winner of several tournaments in Texas; RIVES McBEE, voted Team Captain after Dick Smith died, winner of over three million dollars on the PGA Champions Tour; BILL GARRETT, the Coral Springs Open Champ, a PGA Tour event; DON WILSON, the NCAA Long Drive Champ and winner of the Oklahoma Intercollegiate, 1963 Honorable Mention NCAA All-American; ELGIE SEAMSTER, who shot even par 144 at the NCAA tournament and winner of numerous amateur events in Texas; and BOBBY GREENWOOD, Southern Intercollegiate Champ, South-West Recreational winner, 4th place Border Olympics golf tourney at Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Runner-up All-American Intercollegiate in Houston, Texas.
*Bobby Greenwood is a 3-time NCAA All-American. He was one of six college golfers in America to be named First Team NCAA All-American in 1963. Greenwood was inducted into the UNT Sports Hall of Fame in 2002.
Sources: *Personal recollections of Bobby Greenwood, July 26, 2020. *1963 Yucca Yearbook, North Texas State University, Volume LVI
Memories: College Days at Tennessee Polytechnic Institute (now Tennessee Tech University)
From Bobby Greenwood:
“My freshman year at Tennessee Tech University in 1958-1959, formerly called Tennessee Polytechnic Institute (TPI), was exciting and a bit scary at times, to say the least.
My love for basketball was still intact so I walked on the freshman team and played under the great Coach Johnny Oldham.
I also joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and was a member of the TPI’s Rebel Rifles Drill team.
Our golf team won the Tennessee Interscholastic Athletic Conference (TIAC) tournament that year and I was Runner-up in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Championship.
That was the first of my 4 runner-up finishes in college golf conference championships. So, I figured I was ‘first loser’ 4 times!… later to be told by TTU Golf Coach Bobby Nichols that he would always be happy to recruit any player that could finish 2nd four times in the Conference tourney.
As a member of the “T” Club, the initiation week was not much fun. Each freshman was designated an animal to keep with you. Mine was a horse that I rode to school each morning. They shaved our heads and cut a “T” in the top. One morning we were told to catch eggs in our mouth that were to be dropped from the roof of the cafeteria building… We were all given a wooden paddle and told to get 35 signatures before the week’s end. Each name was accompanied by a big lick with a paddle. Blood blisters were common on our backside. I don’t think they do that anymore…
I grew up loving Tennessee Tech and the Golden Eagles; I am so proud of the great University here in my hometown of Cookeville, Tennessee.”
Note:
*Bobby Greenwood was a member of the 1958 Collegiate All-State Golf Team, Tennessee Interscholastic Athletic Conference (TIAC).
*[Transcript: “THE BEST-DRILLED CADET”
“Cadet Pvt. Robert S. Greenwood of Cookeville received Tennessee Polytechnic Institute award as the best-drilled cadet private in the ROTC regiment. President Everett Derryberry made the presentation.
Platform guests, in addition to General Westmoreland, Colonel Thompson, and President Derryberry, were Col. C.A. Holmes Eubanks, PMST; J.M. Henderson, head of the school of engineering at TPI; Mayor Dero Brown; Col. William G. Downs, reserve officers association; Wilbur Shell, General Telephone Company; Miser Richmond, president of the Rotary club; Herman Yeatman, president of the Jaycees; and Hubert Crawford, president of the Lions.” — END. Source: Local newspaper published in Cookeville, Tennessee, c. 1958.]
From Bobby Greenwood, PGA: “You might ask how does Bobby Greenwood remember details of all those Amateur golf tournaments that he played 50-60 years ago.
Well, my grandmother, Viola Simrell Greenwood, was the first stenographer in Cookeville, Tennessee. She enjoyed keeping a scrapbook from all the newspaper articles. My wife, Elma, also enjoys history and genealogy and she found the scrapbooks that my grandmother had kept.
So, let me tell you about one of the best Amateur tournaments in the U.S. during the 1960’s. That would be the Top O’ Texas golf tourney in Pampa, Texas who would fly the best players from all over the country into town to play.
The field of 200 players would include several State Amateur Champions from Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, New York, Texas, Colorado, North Dakota, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. These players were former winners of the top tournaments of the day including the Eastern, Trans-Miss, Western, Sunnehanna Amateur, North-South and 2 NCAA Champions.
[EXCERPT from a Midland, Texas newspaper article titled: ‘Top Golfers Seeking Top O’ Texas Title’ PAMPA – A star-studded cast of 206, including two NCAA champions, state amateur champions, the Trans-Mississippi champion and defending titlist Bobby Greenwood, tees off at Pampa Country Club today in the first round of the 28th annual Top O’ Texas Golf Tournament.
Greenwood, the Cookeville, Tenn. champion, faces a rugged field in his quest for a second consecutive Top O’ Texas crown. NCAA champion Marty Fleckman of the University of Houston, Kansas Amateur champion, Jim Colbert, Trans-Mississippi titlist, the #1 ranked Amateur in the U.S., George Boutell of Arizona State, NCAA Junior College champ Jerry Smith, Nebraska Amateur winner Tabor, Amarillo’s John Farquhar and four-time Missouri amateur champ Bob Astleford will compose only a portion of the stiff competition which awaits the defending trophy winner.]
I won the 1964 Top O’ Texas with a 276 total, and the 1966 tourney with 280 to win by 5. In 1965, I made 26 birdies in 72 holes and finished 2nd to the great Johnny Farquhar. The NCAA Champion Marty Fleckman finished 3rd.
[EXCERPT: Here’s another newspaper article from Amarillo Daily News, published on Wednesday, September 8, 1965 by Frank A. Godsoe.
The USGA’s 65th men’s amateur golf championship is next week at Tulsa’s Southern Hills and the nation’s “little amateur” tourney (which really doesn’t suggest there is anything little about it) was concluded on Labor Day in Pampa, where the 28th Top O’ Texas tourney romped merrily into history.
Bobby Greenwood of Cookeville, Tenn., who was a first-team All-America Intercollegiate selection while at North Texas State, started the final day trailing Farquhar by five shots. So, he tooled off 14 birdies in 36 holes (he had 26 in his four rounds, or more than one every three holes) with 66-72-138 for 275, but Farquhar matched Bobby’s morning medal, and equaled it the afternoon.
WHEN A MAN SHOOTS 14 birdies and can’t gain a shot, it must be discouraging. Farquhar still wasn’t putting like Greenwood, and surely nobody else on this planet was. John still gained satisfaction in a jumbo measure, for a year ago Greenwood has edged him out by two shots in the Top O’ Texas jamboree.
Greenwood, to use his own phrase, made “five miles of putts.” The distance from the flagstick didn’t seem to matter.
Greenwood putted so well that had Billy Casper seen it, he would have hidden his head in shame.
The final 36 holes were played in a 25-mile-an-hour wind that swirled up enough dust to make the eyes of spectators and players feel like gravel pits.]
Another reason that the players loved to come to Pampa, Texas for the Top O’ Texas tournament was the exciting ‘Calcutta’ which was held at the club the night before the first round of the tournament. During the Calcutta, players were auctioned off to the highest bidder and the money that went into the pot. The wealthy oil men from Midland and around Texas would come to Pampa to bid on the big-name players. After I won in 1964, the next year in 1965, I was sold for 10,000 dollars… That was the year I finished 2nd. I think George Bush may have bought me… I’m not sure. 😊
As you may have heard, the Texans are the finest people in the world. They are so friendly and down to earth and so encouraging. Perhaps that is why I seemed to play well in Texas.”
NOTE: Bobby Greenwood won Top O’ Texas twice in 1964 and 1966 respectively. He finished 2nd in 1965.
ARTICLE: “The day he took down the Golden Bear” Published by: Tee Times Paper, May 2021, page 12.
Tee Times Paper Editor’s Note: Bobby Greenwood wasn’t expected to be much more than first-round fodder for an up-and-coming youngster out of Columbus, Ohio at the 1961 Colonial Amateur Invitational. Although a good player in his own right at North Texas State University, Greenwood, who played out of Sparta Country Club in east Tennessee, was relatively unknown outside the region. That all changed after his first-round match in Memphis that day. Here’s the story from that day in Greenwood’s own words.
THE GREENWOOD – NICKLAUS MATCH
From Bobby Greenwood, PGA:
“I just heard from the ‘Godfather of Tennessee Golf’ Dick Horton asking for information about the Jack Nicklaus match. Well, here goes…
The Colonial Amateur Invitational event in Memphis, Tennessee was ranked as one of the best amateur tournaments in the U.S. back in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, the Southern hospitality shown to contestants drew all the best Amateurs in the country to Memphis. Even the 2-time U.S. Amateur Champ Jack Nicklaus came to defend his title and I was chosen by the tournament committee to be his first victim. As a student of the game, I knew a lot about the current NCAA Champ. He was the longest hitter in the game, very strong at 5’ 10½” tall and 215 lbs. He wore Footjoy shoes, grey slacks, black alligator belt, white Munsingwear shirt, a baseball-type hat, and he played a Titleist 5 golf ball. Jack was the #1 ranked Amateur in the nation and I was scared.
[EXCERPT: “They followed Nicklaus’ amateur career as he captured the 1959 and 1961 National Amateur titles. Last year he scored a near clean sweep of amateur events. He lost to Bobby Greenwood, a North Texas State player, in the Colonial Invitational at Memphis, but won every other tourney he entered, the Western, National Intercollegiate, two Walker Cup matches, and the U.S. Amateur.” – by Fred Mendrell, The Hutchinson News Herald, “SportAngles”, c. 1962.]
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So, I did what most people do when they are afraid… I prayed! My prayer went like this: ‘Why does the great Jack Nicklaus get to come to my home State of Tennessee from Ohio and beat me 6 and 5 or 8 and 7! Dear God, I am one year older than him, I have hit more practice balls than him, I am not robbing any banks. Please Lord, have mercy on me… help me to play my game with some courage so I won’t be so embarrassed when I lose.’ I also thought, ‘OK he may beat me 6 and 5 but he won’t do it with his favorite ball.’ The next morning, much to my chagrin, there he was on the first tee, he looked great, we spoke and then he asked me what ball was I playing. I said Titleist and then he said, ‘what number’ and I said #5. ‘Do you have any other numbers?’ I said, ‘Let me look… no, that’s all I have…’ Is that wrong?… I don’t think so. He looked very determined, he was scary, so I decided not to watch him too much. It seemed to be working because I was only two down through 8 holes. He was playing beautiful golf. Best that I have ever seen. I won #9 and made the turn only one down to the great Jack Nicklaus! It was a moral victory for me. I felt some better. Perhaps he would not beat me so bad after all. To make a long, long story somewhat shorter, I was one down playing the long par-five 16th hole. We both hit our 2nd shots in the sand bunker guarding the green but I got up and down for a birdie to win the hole. Even going to the 17th hole, I’m in the mental zone… Wow! I think I can win! But wait, Nicklaus knocks in his 30-foot putt to go back one up with one to play.
[EXCERPT from Fairfield Glade Vista: “Then in the first round of the Memphis Colonial Invitation, Nicklaus rammed home a 30-foot putt for a birdie on the 17th hole. The birdie putt put him 1-up and sighs of “That’s it, Nicklaus can’t lose now, Greenwood is beaten,” whispered through the gallery. But the one man most involved, Cookeville/Fairfield Glade’s own Bobby Greenwood, didn’t hear the whispers, or if he did, they only made him more determined. (Yes, I heard them as I walked through the crowd.)
Minutes after Nicklaus had made his birdie, Greenwood smashed a 245-yard three-wood shot five feet from the pin on the par 5 finishing hole. He made the side-hill, breaking putt for an eagle 3 and forced the match into sudden death. On the first extra hole, Greenwood hit his second shot, a 7 iron 4″ from the cup for another birdie, and Nicklaus was sidelined in his bid to repeat as Colonial champion. It was the last time Nicklaus lost as an amateur, and to top that, Bobby was to enter his junior year at North Texas State University. Nicklaus was so stunned by his defeat to Bobby that he wrote about it in his books, ‘My 55 Ways to Lower Your Golf Score’ and ‘My Story’.” – Source: Glade Vista, “The Nicklaus Connection”, by Rick McNeal, Fairfield Glade, TN, May 16, 2006.]
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[EXCERPT from Jack Nicklaus Book: “My only match-play loss of 1961 was due, mainly, to a stubborn disregard of percentages. In the first round of last year’s Colonial Amateur Invitational in Memphis, I was leading Bobby Greenwood of North Texas State 1-up with three holes to play…I was lucky to get a 5, but still lost the hole to Greenwood’s birdie. As a result, when I won the 17th, it merely put me 1 up again instead of closing out the match 2 and 1. When Greenwood eagled the 18th and birdied the first extra hole I was beaten. The golfing moral is clear: when your opponent is in trouble and you’ve got a lead with only a couple of holes to play, don’t get greedy. You may go hungry instead.”- Source: “My 55 Ways to Lower Your Golf Score” by Jack Nicklaus, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 1962]
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[EXCERPT from Glade Vista: “When I beat Nicklaus, I didn’t have any idea what I had done,” said Bobby. “He hadn’t been beaten in two years and he won the U.S. Open nine months later.” Bobby’s relationship with the “Golden Bear” didn’t end with this encounter, as he traveled to several PGA Tournaments to watch Nicklaus compete. “He (Nicklaus) would spot me in the gallery and have a double take almost every time, and I guess he was thinking, ‘there’s that guy that beat me again’,” Bobby recalled. He (Bobby) who was also a golf course architect had heard about Nicklaus’ plans to build a golf course in Crossville named “Bear Trace”. Bobby then
Bobby’s relationship with the “Golden Bear” didn’t end with this encounter, as he traveled to several PGA Tournaments to watch Nicklaus compete. “He (Nicklaus) would spot me in the gallery and have a double take almost every time, and I guess he was thinking, ‘there’s that guy that beat me again’,” Bobby recalled. He (Bobby) who was also a golf course architect had heard about Nicklaus’ plans to build a golf course in Crossville named “Bear Trace”.
He (Bobby) who was also a golf course architect had heard about Nicklaus’ plans to build a golf course in Crossville named “Bear Trace”. Bobby then preceded to drive up from Cookeville in order to renew his relationship with Nicklaus and offer his services. The end result was Nicklaus hired Bobby to design golf courses overseas.” (Btw, that’s how I met my wife in the Philippines.) -Source: Glade Vista, “The Nicklaus Connection”, by Rick McNeal, Fairfield Glade, TN, May 16, 2006.]
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The last hole at the old Colonial Country Club was a 545-yard par five. Jack has the honor and hits first, another high beautiful fade. Then I hit one of my best drives 300 yards! I was thinking, I have just outdriven the long hitting Jack Nicklaus on the last hole, in front of this large gallery. We topped the hill and sure enough one ball was 320 yards… It was Jack’s. I hit my 3-wood 2nd shot on the green, five feet from the hole for a chance for an eagle. Jack hits a 1-iron over the green chips back ten feet and sure enough, he makes it. Now I need to make the eagle putt to tie. I read the putt and I decided that it will break five inches! So, I pray some more… ‘Dear Lord, I will always remember how I stroke this putt. I’m not asking for it to go in, please just give me courage to make a good stroke.’ I did and now we go to the sudden death playoff.
[EXCERPT from Memphis Press Scimitar: “Greenwood spent exactly three minutes surveying the situation then dropped in (the curling eagle putt to square the match. Then on to the sudden death playoff.)”-Source: Memphis Press-Scimitar, by Buck P. Patton, Saturday, August 19, 1961.]
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My 2nd shot with a 7-iron stopped four inches short of the hole. It was perhaps the best shot that I have ever hit under the conditions. From a bare lie, I hit a draw into a left to right wind four inches from the hole.
[EXCERPT from AP: MEMPHIS — “…a pressure-packed match that went to a sudden death playoff. Bobby Greenwood, 22, (playing out of Sparta Country Club) Tenn., a relative unknown, upset the big favorite from Columbus, Ohio, 1-up, in 19 holes with a tremendous surge of sub-par golf.”-Source: Associated Press, “Jack Nicklaus Upset in Colonial Amateur”, c. 1961.]
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Looking back, I might have to agree. Jack and I were even through 16 holes, Jack makes birdie on 17th and 18th holes and loses the match. I made birdie on 16th, three on 17th, eagle-3 on 18th and birdie-3 on 19th hole. 4-3-3-3 = 4-under par the last 4 holes. Jack was a gracious loser; he even wrote about our match in his book. Then, nine months later, he won the U.S. Open Championship. When I returned home after Richard Crawford beat me in the finals, people would ask me, ‘how good is Jack Nicklaus?’ My answer was, ‘he will win a major.’ I wish I had said he will win more majors than anyone in history. Then I would have been a prophet… I’m sure some were thinking, ‘If you beat him, he can’t be too good.’
[EXCERPT from Glade Vista: “‘Jack Nicklaus’, Bobby Jones began, ‘is the most promising young golfer in the country. He will win this tournament and many other major championships before he’s through’. Jones then presented Nicklaus his award as low amateur in the Masters which was won by Gary Player after Arnold Palmer’s bladed sand shot at the 72nd hole. In June that same year, the husky Nicklaus was a low amateur in the National Open, finishing three strokes back of the winner, professional Gene Littler, with a total of 284 shots.”-Source: Glade Vista, “The Nicklaus Connection”, by Rick McNeal, Fairfield Glade, TN, May 16, 2006.]
[EXCERPT from Herald-Citizen: “With a list of golfing accomplishments that is longer than a John Daly drive, some of Greenwood’s more memorable golfing escapades can be found in:
‘My 55 Ways to Lower Your Golf Score’ by Jack Nicklaus;
‘My Story’ by Jack Nicklaus;
‘Southern Golf Association: The First Hundred Years’ by Gene Pearce;
‘The History of Tennessee Golf’ by Gene Pearce; and, most recently,
‘The History of Sunnehanna Country Club and the Sunnehanna Amateur’ by John Yerger III.
These books started happening. I have five books that have been written with me in there,” said Greenwood. “It makes you look back and say, ‘Why didn’t I have more confidence?’ When you don’t know all that you’ve done.”
-Source: Herald-Citizen, “Greenwood’s Legacy Chronicled”, by Buddy Pearson, Cookeville, TN, July 24, 2004.]
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[EXCERPT: “… in the 1960s there was no better amateur player in Tennessee and he was one of the best amateurs in America. During the 1960s, he earned All-America honors at North Texas University and was ranked among the national’s Top 10 amateurs by Golf Magazine twice.” ~ Gene Pearce, page 270. “Greenwood wins over 100 tournaments in Tennessee before he turns pro and plays seven years on the PGA Tour.” -Source: “The History of Tennessee Golf: 1894-2001″ by Gene Pearce, Hillsboro Press, Franklin, TN, 2002, pages 10, 21-22, 28, 77, 174, 199, 257-58, 270-73, 284-85, 308-9, 330, 347-48, 352, 375, 381, 399-401, 21, 271.]
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[EXCERPT from Herald-Citizen: “Greenwood has done plenty to establish a legacy among the nation’s golfing community.” – Buddy Pearson, Herald-Citizen, “Greenwood’s Legacy Chronicled”, Cookeville, TN, July 24, 2004.]
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[NOTES from Bobby Greenwood IN BOOKS – I. EXCERPT:
“When Greenwood eagled the 18th and birdied the first extra hole I was beaten.” ~ Jack Nicklaus- Source: “My 55 Ways to Lower Your Golf Score” by Jack Nicklaus, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY,1964, page 104. (The great Jack Nicklaus writes about his last defeat as an amateur. Match played in Memphis nine months before he won his first U.S. Open.) II. The famous match in the Colonial Amateur; Greenwood made eagle on 18 to get even and made birdie on the first hole of sudden
These books started happening. I have five books that have been written with me in there,” said Greenwood. “It makes you look back and say, ‘Why didn’t I have more confidence?’ When you don’t know all that you’ve done.”-Source: Herald-Citizen, “Greenwood’s Legacy Chronicled”, by Buddy Pearson, Cookeville, TN, July 24, 2004.]
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[EXCERPT: “… in the 1960s there was no better amateur player in Tennessee and he was one of the best amateurs in America. During the 1960s, he earned All-America honors at North Texas University and was ranked among the national’s Top 10 amateursby Golf Magazine twice.” ~ Gene Pearce, page 270.”Greenwood wins over 100 tournaments in Tennessee before he turns pro and plays seven years on the PGA Tour.” -Source: “The History of Tennessee Golf: 1894-2001″ by Gene Pearce, Hillsboro Press, Franklin, TN, 2002, pages 10, 21-22, 28, 77, 174, 199, 257-58, 270-73, 284-85, 308-9, 330, 347-48, 352, 375, 381, 399-401, 21, 271.]
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[EXCERPT from Herald-Citizen: “Greenwood has done plenty to establish a legacy among the nation’s golfing community.” – Buddy Pearson, Herald-Citizen, “Greenwood’s Legacy Chronicled”, Cookeville, TN, July 24, 2004.]
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Let me finish by quoting a paragraph from my daughter’s school thesis about my friend Jack Nicklaus.
[EXCERPT: “More importantly, Jack Nicklaus is a fine man with high morals. I know this because my father competed against him head-to-head in a famous match in Memphis. Dad said he was a great man and a fine gentleman. With all those great qualities, Jack is also a wonderful husband to wife, Barbara, a great dad to his children and all his family loves him dearly. Without a doubt, Jack Nicklaus is the total package… a true golfing icon (Nicklaus, 1968).”-Source: Viola Greenwood’s School Thesis titled: “Jack Nicklaus: A Golf Icon and American Author”, Cookeville, TN, 2016. Book Reference: Nicklaus, Jack. “Take a Tip from Me”. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1968. Print.]
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OK… there you go Dick; I hope you enjoyed reading the rest of the story.”
NOTE: In the finals, Bobby Greenwood finished Runner-up to Richard Crawford who was First Team NCAA All-American from University of Houston in 1961. Greenwood returned to North Texas State University (now University of North Texas) in Denton, Texas for his junior year after being named NCAA-All American Honorable Mention in 1961. He was named to the Second Team in 1962 and First Team NCAA All-American in 1963. Greenwood was ranked 4 times in the Top 10 Amateurs in the U.S. in the 1960s.
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BOBBY GREENWOOD, PGA Former PGA Tour Player Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame PGA of America Life Member
1949 CHARLES STANTON
1950 HOOPER EBLEN
1951 JERE WHITSON
1952 CHARLES STANTON
1953 CHARLES DARWIN
1954 FRANK ALEXANDER
1955 HUBIE SMITH 1956 BOBBY GREENWOOD 1957 BOBBY GREENWOOD 1958 BOBBY GREENWOOD 1959 BOBBY GREENWOOD
1960 CHARLES STANTON
1961 FRANK ALEXANDER
1962 JOHN GILL
1963 PHILLIP C. WEBB
1964 PHILLIP C. WEBB
1965 PHILLIP C. WEBB
1966 CHARLES STANTON
1967 PHILLIP C. WEBB
1968 JOE BAKER
1969 PHILLIP C. WEBB
1970 DAVID MULLINAX
1971 MACK HUDDLESTON
1972 MARTIN MIGLIORE
1973 JIM ALEXANDER
1974 KEVIN HOUNIHAN
1975 KEVIN HOUNIHAN
1976 PHILLIP C. WEBB (139)
1977 JOHNNY ANDERSON (142)
1978 DOUG STANDIFER (140)
1979 CRAIG KING (145)
1980 CARLEN WEBB (144)
1981 DOUG STANDIFER (138)
1982 DOUG STANDIFER
1983 DOUG STANDIFER
1984 DOUG STANDIFER
1985 DOUG STANDIFER
1986 DAVID DRAPER
1987 DAVID DRAPER
1988 DAVID DRAPER
Bobby Greenwood was honored at the 55th Annual Sunnehanna Amateur Tournament of Champions, Johnstown, PA. He was presented a special sport coat at a banquet held at Sunnehanna prior to the 2008 Amateur tournament.
On Wednesday, Bobby Greenwood presented the borrowed putter he had used to establish the Sunnehanna Country Club record for a low round in 1965.
Greenwood, 69, of Cookeville, Tenn., was in Johnstown as an honored guest in conjunction with the 55th Sunnehanna Amateur Tournament for Champions.
In one of local golf’s great ironies, soon after Greenwood returned home this weekend, his 43-year-old record 63 round had been broken by Zach Sucher, who shot a 9-under-par 61 during Saturday’s third round of the Amateur.
“Beautiful,” Greenwood said, when reached by phone in Cookeville. “I had somewhere around 30 course records. This was the last course record that hadn’t been broken. It took 43 years to break it. With the technology and the new ball, every single one of my course records have fallen. This was the last one to go. I’m thrilled and happy. I wish I would have been there to witness it.
“I’m happy for the young man who did it,” Greenwood added. “If he has as much fun with his 61 as I had with my 63, he’s going to have a great future.”
Greenwood established the record during the second round en route to his victory in the 1965 Sunnehanna Amateur. He set the mark in unorthodox fashion.
Greenwood’s luggage and clubs were lost by an airline, so he borrowed woods from club member Jack Vanyo, irons from head professional John Goettlicher and a putter from course superintendent Joe Harlow.
He shot a first-round 70.
When his own clubs arrived the next day, Greenwood continued to use the borrowed putter during his record round of 63.
Bob Zender tied the mark during the second round in 1971, when he also was the overall winner. Lee Williams again tied the record during the third round in 2002, and Michael Sim repeated the feat during the second round three years ago while winning the Amateur after a five-hole playoff.
“I didn’t know the record,” Sucher said after his 61. “I thought it was somewhere around there but I didn’t know I had it by two.”
Greenwood, his wife, Elma, and their 9-year-old daughter Viola attended a banquet held at Sunnehanna prior to the Amateur last week. He was presented a special sports coat.
“A new record will help the tournament,” Greenwood said. “I remember the headlines when I shot 63. The headline was ‘Wow, a 63 at Sunnehanna.’ I’m looking forward to seeing this headline.”
Bobby Greenwood visited Niagara Falls Country Club located in Lewiston, New York just to renew old acquaintances in 2007. He remembered playing the Porter Cup but couldn’t remember when it was and how he finished the tournament. Well, surprise! Mr. Roberts, teaching professional at the club, showed him a copy of the 41st & 49th Porter Cup books and found when Bobby played the said tournament… This is what they found:
1965 Porter Cup Results:
Ward Wettlaufer….268
Jack Lewis…………..275
Denny Lyons……….276
Billy Womach………279 Bob Greenwood….280
Harry Toscano……281
Jay Sigel…………….282
Ed Tutwiler……….284
Deane Beman…….285
1966 Porter Cup Results:
Bob Smith…………….276
Marty Fleckman ….279
Denny Lyons ……….279
Bill Harvey ………….280
Ward Wettlaufer….280
Jim Welchers ………282 Bob Greenwood…283 George Boutell…….283 Jack Lewis, Jr……..283 Sherm Finger………283
He looked very determined, he was scary, so I decided not to watch him too much. It seemed to be working because I was only two down through 8 holes. He was playing beautiful golf. Best that I have ever seen. I won #9 and made the turn only one down to the great Jack Nicklaus! It was a moral victory for me. I felt some better. Perhaps he would not beat me so bad after all. To make a long, long story somewhat shorter, I was one down playing the long par-five 16th hole. We both hit our 2nd shots in the sand bunker guarding the green but I got up and down for a birdie to win the hole. Even going to the 17th hole, I’m in the mental zone… Wow! I think I can win! But wait, Nicklaus knocks in his 30-foot putt to go back one up with one to play.
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