Memories: University of North Texas Athletic Hall of Fame 2002

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

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[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.]

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[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]

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Sources:
*Personal recollections of Bobby Greenwood.
*BLOG: https://greenwoodpga.wordpress.com/2006/08/24/induction-to-the-hall-of-fame/
*BLOG: https://greenwoodpga.wordpress.com/2006/08/24/greenwood-inducted-into-north-texas-hall-of-fame/

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BOBBY GREENWOOD, PGA
Former PGA Tour Player
Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame
PGA of America Life Member

Official Website: http://www.greenwoodpga.net/
Official Blog: https://greenwoodpga.wordpress.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/greenwoodpga

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Memories: NCAA College Golf (3-time All-American)

Memories: NCAA COLLEGE GOLF (3-Time All-American)

From Bobby Greenwood, PGA:

“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

Article Direct Link: https://www.facebook.com/greenwoodpga/posts/3184996364870901?comment_id=3185528871484317&notif_id=1595779138207902&notif_t=feed_comment

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BOBBY GREENWOOD, PGA
Former PGA Tour Player
Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame
PGA of America Life Member

Official Website: http://www.greenwoodpga.net/
Official Blog: https://greenwoodpga.wordpress.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/greenwoodpga

Memories: College Days at Tennessee Polytechnic Institute (now Tennessee Tech University)

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 2^nd 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.]

Photo collage sources:

*1959 Eagle Yearbook, Tennessee Polytechnic Institute (now Tennessee Tech University), Cookeville, Tennessee.

*Personal recollections of Bobby Greenwood, February 18, 2020.

*Local newspaper articles dated 1958 (from private scrapbook collections of Bobby’s grandmother, Viola Simrell-Greenwood).

Source: https://www.facebook.com/greenwoodpga/posts/2790264491010759

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BOBBY GREENWOOD, PGA
Former PGA Tour Player
Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame
PGA of America Life Member

Official Website: http://www.greenwoodpga.net/
Official Blog: https://greenwoodpga.wordpress.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/greenwoodpga

In Memory of Bill Garrett (1940-2010)

“In golf, when you have the “honor” on the tee; then you have earned the right to go first. It seems only fitting that concerning the University of North Texas golf team that Bill Garrett should go first. We, the rest of his teammates look forward to being with Bill once again and perhaps ev…en playing golf with him and enjoying all the promises of God. When I get my new body, as promised by my Lord and Savior, I hope that it is 6’6”tall just like Bill Garrett’s instead of one that is 5’9” tall. The Lord told us to rejoice at death and cry at birth (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4), but I haven’t got the hang of that yet. Heaven must be wonderful for that to be true. May God continue to bless you, roomie. BG”.

[Bill Garrett played on the PGA Tour between 1964-1979]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Garrett_(golfer)

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/billgarrett

Missouri Valley Conference Golf Championship

Results from the Missouri Valley Conference: MEN’S GOLF

Per Mike Kern, [Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Golf, Championship Administration, Email dated 9/4/2007]:

Bobby Greenwood – “3-straight runner-up finishes at the league championship (1961-62-63).”

1961 – Tulsa, Okla. (Rolling Hills CC)
1. Ralph Baker (Tulsa) – 74-74-77=225
2. Bobby Greenwood – 72-78-79=227
Team Champ:  North Texas

1962 – Peoria, Ill.
1. John Stevens (Wichita) – 70-68-74=212
2. Bobby Greenwood – 75-69-68=212 (lost on the first hole of a playoff to Stevens)
Team Champ:  North Texas

1963 – Peoria, Ill.
1. Jim Ferriell (Louisville) – 74-77-68=219
2. Bobby Greenwood – 76-70-74=220
Team Champ:  North Texas

Bobby Greenwood: Three-Time NCAA-All American

1963 ALL AMERICA GOLF TEAMS

First Team
Roger Eberhardt Wisconsin
Jimmy Gabrielsen Georgia
Bobby Greenwood Texas State
John Lotz San Jose State
Richard H. Sikes Arkansas
Kermit Zarley Houston

Second Team
Peter Choate Stanford
Ken Folkes Wake Forest
Dave Gumlia Minnesota
George Hixon Oklahoma State
John Stevens Wichita
Dave Stockton USC

Third Team
Jim Ewing USC
Daniel Hogan Yale
Mark Hopkins Houston
Robert Littler Jr. Ohio
Jay Sigel Wake Forest
Terry Winter Purdue

1962 ALL AMERICA GOLF TEAMS

First Team
Homero Blancas Houston
David Boyd Georgia
Charles Courtney San Diego State
Labron Harris Jr. Oklahoma State
Jerry Jackson Purdue
John Lotz San Jose State

Second Team
Pete Choate Stanford
Howell Fraser Louisiana State
Peter Green North Carolina
Bobby Greenwood North Texas State
Fred Marti Houston
Tom Weiskopf Ohio State

Third Team
Pete Byer Marshall
Richard Cannon Oklahoma State
George Smith Duke
David Stockton USC
Mike Toliuszis Illinois
Jerry Truax New Mexico

1961 ALL AMERICA GOLF TEAMS

First Team
Frank Beard Florida
Homero Blancas Houston
Richard Crawford Houston
Peter Green North Carolina
Jack Nicklaus Ohio State
Stephen Smith Stanford

Second Team
David Boyd Georgia
Chuck Courtney San Diego State
Jerry Cundari Oregon
Labron Harris Jr. Oklahoma State
Kent Winton Stanford
Jim Wright Oklahoma State

Third Team
Rolf Deming Minnesota
John Lotz San Jose State
Mike Podolski Ohio State
Paul Quinn Maryland
Chuck Wallace Syracuse
Ron Weber Houston

Honorable Mention
Bobby Greenwood North Texas State

SOURCE: http://gcaa.collegiategolf.com/home.jsp?page=298

Tennessee Tech Men’s Golf

Tennessee Tech Men’s Golf
All-Time Participation List

Written by Rob Schabert

Wednesday, 16 March 2005

G
Dirk Gardner, 1973-75
Blake Garrison, 2006
Alex Geary, 1995
Payton Gibbs, 2004-06
Gary Gibson, 1961-64
Steve Gibson, 1963-66
Warren Gilley, 1959
Bill Gish, 1966
Terry Goad, 1987-89
Britt Gober, 1976-77
Brad Golden, 1998
Brent Goodrum, 2005-06
Mike Green, 1978
Bobby Greenwood, 1958
Ryan Greer, 2001-04
Chris Griffin, 1981-82

Source: TTUsports.com

Greenwood Inducted into North Texas Hall of Fame

FROM HERALD-CITIZEN NEWSPAPER, Cookeville, TN:
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’s 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 was Director of Golf at Sawgrass Country Club, home of the TPC 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. 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.”

*****Published December 19, 2002 3:06 PM CST
*****Source: COPYRIGHT ® 2004 Herald-Citizen, a division of Cleveland Newspapers, Inc. All rights reserved. <http://www.herald-citizen.com/NF/omf.wnm/herald/archive_display.html?%5Brkey=0024131+%5Bcr=gdn&gt;

Induction To The Hall of Fame

Bobby Greenwood was inducted to the Athletic Hall of Fame in 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.
 
  “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, by Elma Greenwood, Cookeville, Tennessee, October 31, 2003.

NOTES 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, 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 Tournament 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.