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| Colorized Postcard 1938 Miami Country club |
By Letty Stapp Watt
*For the sake of the “Timeline of Miami Country Club” I have chosen to use the exact words from the newspaper writers because they date the times and the language of golf, and the cultural standards from the war and depression years.
1938 September 5 MRDN
Country Club into new era of popularity with new grass greens. One of
the State’s best golf courses with 160 members on the rolls. (Full story on previous blog post.) New Grass Greens
1938 January 20 MNR A commercial add for B and K Men's Wear shows the cost of shoes at this time. Florsheim SHOE SALE $8.45 Most Styles • CROSBY SQUARE and WALTER BOOTH Dress Oxfords Regular $4.00, $4.50, $5.00. $5.50 now $3.00* $3.37* $3.7$ • Work Shoes and Oxfords Formerly $1.95, $2.45, $3.00 $3.50, $3.95 and $4.00 NOW $1.46, $1.84, $2.25 $2.62, $2.96, $3.00
1938 January 20 MNR Frank Lewis of Ft. Smith, Arkansas, veteran golf professional, has signed a one-year contract for a full-time instructorship at Miami Country Club, effective February 1. The hiring a Lewis marks the first time since 1930 that the local country club, now in a new period of growth, has boasted a full-time links teacher. Mrs. Lewis will serve as a cateress. John Embrey, who was employed to construct the new greens on the nine-hole layout, has left for Kirkwood, Mo.
1938 March 13 MNR "Tee Shots" by Frank Lewis, professional at Miami Country Club #1
To follow the series of eight lessons by Frank Lewis please click on this link to see them in order, as published in the Miami News Record during the Spring of 1938.
1938 March 13 MNR Frank Lewis, Jr tall, wiry son of the new Miami Country club professional, plans to stay in Miami this summer to polish up his golfing game. Young Frank, 20 years old, is a par golfer. In 1936, he captured the state interscholastic links championship in Arkansas, playing over a Fort Smith course in par figures. The younger member of the Lewis golfing family went to the finals of the annual Fort Smith invitational tourney in 1934. Last year he was medalist in the same meet.
"I intend to do a lot of practicing over this course during the summer months," Frank said. "I am not going to turn pro, not for the next few years at least, because I want to compete with the amateurs in several major tournaments."
Among the links attractions for young Lewis will be the Broadmoor Invitational at Colorado Springs. Meanwhile, though he will help is father in managing tournaments and club matches. He said he hopes Miami will have several tourneys this year.
1938 March 20 MNR "Tee Shots" by Frank Lewis, golf professional at Miami Country club can be found by clicking on this link to read #2.
1938 March 21 MNR Large
turnout expected at country club if weather cooperates. Miami Country
club officers announced that the greens are in "A-1-condition" and
pointed out they saw no need of further delay in opening the course,
unless the weather takes a drastic turn. A large number of local
linksmen practiced over the layout yesterday, but Sunday will attract
one of the largest turnouts in recent years. The greens have been
progressing rapidly, the grass now showing a good stand and ready for
the test by local shot makers.
1938 March 29 MNR Sam Snead burned up the greens and fairways of the Valley Brook course in Greensboro, NC yesterday to win the annual $5000 greater Greensboro golf tournament with a brilliant 72 hole 271. PGA tournament officials said Snead's mark set a new low record for a major golf tournament during the current campaign. His score was two strokes better than Ed Dudley of Augusta, Ga (formerly from Rockdale CC). Ky Laffoon of Miami, Oklahoma wound up with 293.
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| How to play a stymied ball...1938. |
1938 March 29 MNR Grist by Mac Bartlett
Smiles replaced frowns on the faces of local golfers today as the sun promised to do some work on the new grass greens. Rainfall, which totaled 1.70 inches on Monday, was not even necessary for crops.
Frank Lewis, the Miami Country club instructor, is giving some of the boys early tutoring. Leon (Punk) Laramore should do some scouting. Frank Spencer's drives have more reach this season.
1938 April 4 MNR A sharp wind from the southwest swept across the Miami Country club course yesterday as 65 golfers tried their skill on a layout that has yet to yield a par score to any shotmaker since construction of the new grass greens. Despite the winds that proved a tremendous handicap to the long hitters, some of the scores turned in to Frank Lewis indicated that several players will be near par figures under better conditions.
Lanky Charley Lewis, son of the pro, who flirted with par throughout the afternoon, finally wound up with a fine 75, three above par. Shooting with George Coleman Jr., Glenn Scott, and Howard Thomas, the latter of Baxter Springs' most consistent players, Lewis played steadily all the way. They played 18 holes, with Coleman annexing an 81. Thomas, the former's partner, and 83 and Scott, 85. Coleman, Thomas, and Scott have all toured the course in previous years at par figures (on sand greens).
Other nine-hole scorers reported to the club included a 41 for Joe Hutts,
Fred Newton bagged a 43, and Bill Neel a 44. Some players were reticent about their scorecards. The wind treated them badly. A New-Record photographer got close-ups of several players. Maybe they would like to see the pictures before someone else does. They showed some strange expressions, especially of one group whose putters wouldn't behave.
A list of other players is shown on the right.
1938 April 8 MNR The Grist by Mac Bartlett. A couple of inches of snow blanketed the golf course here today, gave Frank Lewis, the club pro, decided chills and interrupted a few growing feuds that have stimulated interest--on the street corner and in the clubhouse.
B.S. (Before snow): Charley Lewis was the first to shoot a 36. He's gradually working himself out of competition and stroke handicaps are so trying these days.
A.S. (After snow): Sam Fullerton wants to wrestle a reporter who said he played 16 holes only one stroke over par the other day. The report, Sam said, cost him some friendships as well as some play with "boys in my own class."
1938 April 17 MNR "1888--1938 Fifty Years of Golf"
1938 May 8 MNR Miss Ruth Peacock, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Peacock, 301 B st. northeast, is one of the most promising young feminine golfers in the district. Take it from Frank Lewis, professional at Miami Country club, Miss Peacock has possibilities of becoming an excellent shotmaker.
"She needs experience, of course," Lewis said, "but she has the form and every symptom of being a fine golfer. She's taking lessons now and I think she will develop very rapidly." Miss Peacock, who will be graduated from Miami high school May 19, started playing the links game only last June. During last summer her best score was a 40 for nine holes, a mark some of the men players would be proud of at the country club. Miss Peacock plans to enroll at the University of Arkansas next September. She intends to get a lot of golf this summer and hopes to spend some time at Chicago. While there she will go to the Northmoor club, where she hopes to do some practicing under the direction of Ky Laffoon, the Miami golfer who is head professional at the Chicago course.
Feminine
interest in golf has grown steadily with the introduction of new grass
greens. Last Tuesday twenty women played at the country club. Instructor
Lewis said, "I am willing to do all I can to stimulate interest among
the women. I'm looking forward to the time when at least fifty ladies
will be playing golf regularly."
Tuesday may be designated soon as "ladies day" at the golf course. Club officials said they have been encouraging women to play in the mornings
1938 June 9 MNR Tulsa's Oakhurst Country Club is hosting the Women's Trans-Mississippi Tournament. It is expected to see a final dual of Miss Patty Berg and Better Jameson. Other outstanding lady golfers in the field are Mrs. Opal S. Hill of Kansas City, and winsome Miss Sarah Guth of St. Louis, Mo., who eliminated one of the favorites Marion Miley of Lexington, Ky.
1938 June 19 MNR Last week Glen Scott missed a hole-in-one on Miami Country club's No. 3 by a scant two inches. One more hop and he would have had membership in the select club of hole-in-one artists. The No. 3 hole is now 150 yards in length. It was recently increased 30 yards. Incidentally, the nine-hole layout has been stepped up to 3,310 yards, making it a championship course.
1938 June 26 MNR The
ladies of the Miami Country club, who are interested in golf, are asked
to a golf day luncheon at the clubhouse at 1 o'clock on Tuesday, June
28. The luncheon reservations are to be made with Mrs. Fred Newton,
Phone 939. The first meeting this year of the Women's Tri-State Golf
association will be held Wednesday, June 29 at the Neosho Country club. A
large representation of the ladies of the Miami Country club is
desired.
1938 June 30 MNR Mrs. Floyd Newton and Mrs. Denver Seals were awarded golf balls at the Miami Country club Tuesday after they won over 14 other women players in the afternoon tourney.
1938 July 5 MNR Sam Fullerton called his score at Miami Country club at the special Fourth of July tournament and won two golf balls for being by "strokes" the best clairvoyant in the field. Nine prizes were awarded during the day. Club pro Frank Lewis, who sponsored the tourney, said Fullerton told him before shooting his 18 holes that he would come in with an 85. "He might have coasted a little to make that count on the last few holes, but he did it." Low gross in Class B was a 90, shot by Gail Hutts. An extra prize went to John Wallace, who missed his guess by one stroke.
Horace Payne, assistant county attorney, made the low gross score of the day, a 78. That was good for two golf balls. Melvin Hutts turned in a 79 for the second low gross. Highest score of the day was a 130 admitted by Jim Campbell. He won a golf ball for his truthfulness. Joe Hutts bagged three birdies, most of any player, and received a golf ball for his efforts. Bill Grisham used up 12 strokes and a couple of pounds on hole No. 6 to take an award for the most strokes on any one hole. Lewis said that Clyde Lodge, who guessed he would fire a 94, captured the title of "biggest liar." "Why, he came in 10 strokes less than that with an 84." Lewis declared. "So I gave him a golf ball for his excellent yarn." Lewis stated that thirty-six men competed in the weekend tournament, and he thought that the turnout was especially good for the holiday.
1938 August 12 "On This Day"
Ben Hogan, Paul Runyan, and Byron Nelson played a practice round at Oakwood Country club prior to the Cleveland Open. Hogan and Nelson finished with a four round total of 291, eleven shots behind the winner Ky Laffoon. Sam Snead finished second, one stroke back.
1938 October 2 MNR "Women Golfers Will Compete Tuesday in First Feminine Golf Tournament Here in Six Years." The field of 30 women will begin play at 9 a.m. and will complete the tourney before dusk. The event will be a handicap affair with play in three flights, said Frank Lewis, professional.
Mrs. Audrey Connell, president of the ladies' division of the country club, and Mrs. Fred Newton, chairman of the women' golf committee, have arranged the program in collaboration with the club pro. Lewis emphasized that the "beginner" will have just as much chance to win a prize as the veteran players. Some awards will be given for putting on certain selected greens and others will be offered on blind holes. The pro will determine the handicaps.
At 1 p.m. the ladies will have lunch at the clubhouse, Tuesday being the regular meeting date for the ladies division. Mrs. Floyd Newton, Mrs. C.N. Harrell, and Mrs. Bert Wall, all of whom played in the Tri-State meet at Joplin Thursday and Friday, are among the tourney favorites. The following business firms will offer awards: Coleman-Hutts, Hub Clothing, Economy grocery, Rosebud, James and James, Millner Hardware and Furniture, Carselowey shoes, Coco-Cola, Brown Stansell, and Dryer Brothers.
1938 October 5 MNR Twenty prizes were scattered among 17 players Tuesday in the first women's golf tourney of the year at Miami Country Club. First flight winners: 1st Mrs. Matt Connell, 2nd Mrs. Horace Payne, 3rd Mrs. C.N. Harrell, 4th Mrs. Cora Myers, 5th Mrs. Florence Newton. Miss Ethel Beck and Mrs. Bert Wall tied with Mrs. Newton for the fifth lace, but the latter won the award by a cut of the cards. Second Flight winners: Mrs. Jack Horner, Mary Lewis, Mrs. Ralph Chambers, Mrs. Homer Willim, and Mrs. Gayle Pickens. Third Flight winners:Mrs. Charles Carseloway, Mrs. O.T. Hatfield, Mrs. Joe Hubbard, Mrs. Clarence Carseloway, and Mrs. Gail Hutts. Five special awards were given to the following: Mrs. Cora Myers, for taking on 17 putts on nine holes; Mrs. Earl Elliott, for play on No. 6; Mrs. Connell, lowest score on Nos. 3,6,9; Mrs. Howard Hampton, highest score of the day; and Mrs. Homer Willim for the three highest scores on any three holes. The awards were offered by local merchants.
1938 October 6 MNR Joe Kirkwood, the Australian golfer who has won world-wide recognition for his mastery of trick shots, will appear at the Miami Country club course in an exhibition role Tuesday afternoon.
Kirkwood, now at Carrol, Iowa, notified club officials by telegram today that he would start his exhibition at 2 p.m. Kirkwood said he would be willing to participate in an 18-hole match, either a twosome or foursome, and would follow this with a long series of trick shots, and a 30 minute lecture, during which he would explain any questions asked by spectators.
Admission will be $1 a person. Tickets may be obtained at Coleman-Hutts, Hotel Miami, or the News-Record. A committee will canvass the downtown area.The men's division of the country club will also hold a stag dinner the same day. Dinner will be served at 6:30p.m.
Kirkwood, who has traveled over the entire globe participating in major professional tournaments and giving exhibitions, probably will play only nine holes here. Club directors said they wanted him to devote more time to his demonstration of golf shots.
Word has it that this Australian has accomplished major feats with a golf club. It was in 1923 that Frank Lewis, Miami club pro, saw the internationalist pull one of his greatest shots. Standing 225 yards from a polo post, Kirkwood twice drove balls against his target, out of three attempts. Incidentally, Lewis recalls, the old master got $50 for each of his bullseye drives. Someone thought he couldn't do it.
1938 October 9 MNR Qualifying rounds of the Miami Country club golf championship will get under way over the nine-hole course today. The tourney, last won by George Coleman, Jr. in 1936 will be a match play event. The men's events should attract a large field since the courses is in top condition. All the greens are in excellent shape. Another top-dressing was spreading Saturday morning on No. 9, the one which cutworms damaged in August.
1938 October 10 MNR
A pair of 78's turned in by Jim Bowers and Glenn Scott led a field of
34 qualifiers Sunday for the annual Miami Country club championship. Of
the 34 who teed off yesterday, five still have nine or more holes to
play before their qualifying scores are accepted. Lewis stated that the
scores were surprisingly high yesterday and Lewis attributed the
figures to the "toughness of this course." He pointed out that at least a
dozen "championship flight" linksmen have not turned in qualifying
scores. Some observers believed a few of yesterday's qualifiers were
"dropping off" some to keep a lower competitive bracket.
1938 October 12 MNR "Fans Given Double Treat as Ky Joins Kirkwood on Links" Returning to the course which gave him his first experience as a linksman, Ky Laffoon paired with George Coleman, Jr. Miami Country club president, here yesterday to win a nine-hole exhibition match 2 up, over Joe Kirkwood, the trick shot master, and John Robinson, Jr. of Miami.
Ky Laffoon toured the layout in one over-par figures, bagging a 37 that bested Kirkwood's score by two strokes. Coleman picked up on two holes and Robinson did likewise on one. Approximately 100 persons followed the golfers. Kirkwood and Coleman both got away to bad starts, with the former taking a 5 on a par 4 No. 1 hole, 331 yards in length. Robinson picked up on No.2, a 420 yard hole, while the other three all holed out for a par figures. On the short No. 3 hole, Coleman picked up with remaining members of the foursome carding par 3's. Coleman birdied No.4, the others getting down in par 4.
A
strong southwest wind that increased in intensity as the match
progressed had a telling effect in the play as golfers finished the last
three holes. After Kirkwood and Laffoon negotiated Nos.4 and 5 in par
figures, Coleman recorded the longest drive of the afternoon, a
prodigious 310 yard wallop that carried past the bunker on the 565-yard
No. 6 hole. (This article and the one in the Miami Daily News Record debunk any stories and rumors that I heard growing up, that my father, Johnie Stapp head pro from 1954-76 had the bunker on hole No. 6 put in to stop George Coleman, Jr. from landing his airplane on the golf course.)
Trick shot artist Joe Kirkwood
1938 November 3 MNR Luther Sheldon eliminated Melvin Hutts 4 and 3 in their championship flight match at Miami Country club yesterday. High winds raging over the course from the south and west continued to bother linksmen yesterday and the two tourney players had difficulty getting both distance and accuracy off the tee. Sheldon will meet George Coleman, Jr. defending champion, in the championship semi-finals. Coleman eliminated A.C. Schmedeman, 3 and 2, to advance to the last four. The Coleman-Sheldon affair will be played off as soon as weather conditions permit. Glen Scott, who already has forged to the finals, will meet the winner.
1938 November 3 MNR Ky Laffoon, Miami's No. 1 golfer, leaves today for West Virginia and a month of competitive events in the East and Southeast, along the Atlantic seaboard. Ky, accompanied by his wife, will travel with Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Ott. Leonard arrived Tuesday from Denver and announced he planned the trip to West Virginia, especially if Laffoon would accompany him.
Ott and Ky will compete in about a half dozen events, the major one being the Pinehurst, N.C. North-South open. They may enter one or two meets in Florida, but Laffoon will not make the California tournaments this year. Laffoon will return around December 1 to get in some quail shooting, one of his favorite sports, and probably will remain here until time to go back to his Northmoor Country club job in Chicago.
Golf Notes:
Authors Note: My interest in this history is sincere and simple. My father, Johnie F. Stapp, became the PGA head pro at Miami Golf and Country Club in the spring 1954. I was six years old and already playing golf. Now at age 73 I find as much passion and fun in the game as I did in the 1950's. Because of my parents, I have a great deal of love and respect for the game of golf and its history from Scotland to the wind swept prairies of the plains state. My plan is to preserve that history and some of those stories.
*This is a work in progress outline. For the purpose of this blog TIMELINES are being used to collect and share archival information. As these timelines become near completion stories will appear in single blogs. My sources have been the Archives of the Miami New Record, Miami Daily News Record, Joplin Globe, "Golf in the Ozarks" by Monte McNew, "The Story of Golf in Oklahoma" by Del Lemon.
For other stories about golf and Miami, Oklahoma please click on the link to my personal blog Literally Letty
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