2015 Induction Dinner Press Release

Ardmore native Charles Robert “Charlie” Coe stands alongside Bobby Jones as one of the great amateur golfers in U.S. history. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1949 and 1958 and was runner-up to Jack Nicklaus in a historic battle in 1959.

Coe, a three-time Big Seven Conference champion at Oklahoma, also won the 1950 Western Amateur, was runner-up in the 1951 British Amateur to Dick Chapman, won the Trans-Mississippi Championship four times and played on six Walker Cup teams. He was a playing captain in 1959 and non-playing captain in 1957.

Coe made 19 appearances in The Masters at Augusta National and holds numerous amateur records including most cuts made (15), top-24 finishes (9), top-10 finishes (3), eagles (6), rounds played (67) and most times low amateur (6). In 1961, he rallied from six shots down in the final round to finish one shot behind Gary Player.

McAlester native Robert B. Dickson won both the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur in 1967, the first man to do so since Lawson Little in 1934 and 1935. The U.S. Amateur triumph was particularly satisfying, as in 1965 he had suffered a four-shot penalty for having a 15th club in his bag during a one-shot loss to Bob Murphy at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa.

A two-time All-American at Oklahoma State in 1965 and 1966, he also won the Oklahoma State Amateur in 1965 and 1966 and the Oklahoma Open in 1966 and 1971.  Dickson began a 10-year career on the PGA Tour in 1968, winning twice before being hired by the PGA as Director of Marketing for the Tournament Players Club in 1979. He was also a rules official on the Senior PGA Tour before resuming his playing career on the senior circuit at age 50 in 1994. He won the 1998 Cadillac NFL Golf Classic in a playoff with Jim Colbert and Larry Nelson.

The current Oklahoma State athletic director, Mike Holder set a standard that will likely never be challenged during his 32 seasons as head coach of the Cowboy golf team. Taking over for Labron Harris Sr. in 1973, Holder coached the Cowboys to eight national titles and 24 conference championships. He coached 101 All-America selections, 20 conference individual medalists and five individual national champions. Every Holder squad made it to the NCAA Championship and made the cut.

In addition to his brilliant coaching, Holder proved to be a masterful fundraiser and single-handedly led the effort to raise funds for and build Karsten Creek Golf Course, a highly-ranked Tom Fazio design that serves as the home base for the men’s and women’s golf teams.

The genius of Perry “Duke” Maxwell was his ability to divine the natural ebb and flow of any particular site and, using primitive earth-moving equipment, let his course routings take every advantage of what Mother Nature provided.

Without Maxwell’s handiwork, Oklahoma would be bereft of many of its greatest golf course treasures, including Southern Hills, consistently ranked among the top-25 courses in the United States, and site of three U.S. Opens and four PGA Championships.

From his earliest work at Dornick Hills in Ardmore to such great courses as Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club, Twin Hills CC in Oklahoma City, Hillcrest CC in Bartlesville, Oakwood CC in Enid, Muskogee CC, Oak Hills CC in Ada, Ponca City CC and many public courses as well, the former Ardmore banker left an indelible legacy on our state.

The long-time member and resident of Oak Tree National, Morgan has enjoyed one of the most incredible “second chance” careers of all time. A seven-time winner and consistent performer on the PGA Tour from 1977-90, Morgan’s consistent ball striking and unflappable demeanor proved a magical elixir when he moved to the Champions Tour.

Morgan has won 25 Champions Tour events, more than any golfers except Hale Irwin and Lee Trevino. He won three senior majors and pocketed more than $20 million. In his first two full seasons on the Champions Tour (1997 and 1998), Morgan won 12 events and had 23 top-three and 37 top-10 finishes in 50 starts. He continued to win at least one event annually through 2007.

Tishomingo native Bill Spiller fought valiantly for equal access on the PGA Tour for African-American golfers and, though he never really got to enjoy the fruits of his victory, his efforts were crucial in paving the way for Charlie Sifford and others to finally integrate the tour.

“Bill Spiller is a hero, but unappreciated,” said national golf writer Al Barkow, who wrote the definitive story on Spiller’s integration efforts for Golf Digest in 2008.

“Charlie Sifford gets a lot of the credit for breaking the racial barrier, but Bill Spiller paved the way.”

Spiller moved to Tulsa at age 9 and experienced the sting of racism first-hand at his father’s store. He eventually moved to Los Angeles and took up golf around age 30. He started competing and winning blacks-only amateur golf tournaments during the 1940s. After being denied entry in the 1948 Richmond (California) Open by the PGA of America, Spiller spent many years challenging the segregation policy of the PGA of America and its Caucasian-only policies.