1966 Dickie Neel's Story From a Friend's Point of View

 1966 Dickie Neel's Story From Dick Lillard's Point of View

 

Some thoughts about my best friend Dick Neel. Dick was one of the finest men that I have ever met.  Dick had so many friends and I never knew a man, woman or child that did not like Dick Neel.  I moved to Miami and May 1963 and I met Dick that fall playing in a pickup basketball game, Dick, not being very tall was still good at that game as he was in all athletic endeavors. In that first meeting he found out that I liked golf, he said he played a “little” himself and we met a few days later to play our first round, of so many I cannot count, together at Miami Golf and Country Club.  Yes, he played a “little”! I was 24 at the time and Dick was 21, he was certainly the one best players I had played with or been around.  He was never one to brag about his accomplishments on the golf course even though there had been many before that time and many to come after as well.

I later found out that Dick along with his friend Bob Hill (an exceptional person and an exceptional golfer as well) had won the two-man high school state championship for Miami High School when they were seniors. It turned out that athletic state championship was the first state championship of any kind won by Miami High School.  Dick attributed his skills on the golf course to lessons learned from his father, brother and Miami Golf and Country Club Pro Johnny Stapp.  One of his proudest moments was being named the golf pro at Miami Golf and Country Club.

 

Thank you to Dickie Neel's family for sharing the photograph albums with me.

Dick and I played some winter golf that same year and, in the spring of 1964, Dick began to play “the circuit” of Invitational’s held by the country clubs in the four-state area. I had no idea that this occurred but it was a wonderful way to spend a weekend if you loved to play golf and if you love to have a great time. Dick won many of these tournaments that were usually just Saturday and Sunday events. I think Twin Hills country club in Joplin Missouri was a three-day event. He would usually sell the merchandise he won, that was an additional source of income at that time.  Another source was taking more than a few dollars gambling on golf games.

Dick won the Hickory Hills tournament in Springfield at least twice.  I know he won the Baxter Springs tournament two or three times and our local Miami Golf and Country Club Invitational.  He also won tournaments in northwest Arkansas as well as others here in Oklahoma. I believe it was 1966 or 1967 he talked me into playing the Baxter Springs invitational.  When my round was over in something like B Flight, I rushed to watch the conclusion of Championship Flight because I knew Dick was close to the top. Championship Flight ended in a tie between Dick and another gentleman forcing a sudden death playoff.  Dick asked me the caddy for him for the playoff.  His drive on number one was perfect, it ended up about 15 yards short of the green. The other gentleman was farther away and his next shot ended up about 20 feet from the pin. Dick pulled out a putter, I was a little shocked but he explained that the ground was smooth from his ball to the green and that the greens were mounded and he thought this was his best chance to get the ball close. He stroked the putt from off the green and it ran up the slope to within about 12 inches from the hole. The other gentleman missed his put.  Dick for a birdie for the win.  I shall never forget that day because Dick’s winning prize was a new set of Titleist irons.  He gave them to me. He knew my set was old and a mixed match.  He knew I could not afford them.  He had such a big heart.

I was in Dick’s wedding in 1966 and he was in mine in 1967. We played golf together almost every summer weekend until his death in 1994. He loved the game so much; I was always impressed that he never lost his temper he just tried to hit the next shot better.  In the early 1970s my golf game had improved. My uncle was a member at the Oaks Country Club in Tulsa and he invited Dick and me to play with him. I remember it well because I parred the first four holes and was four down because Dick had birdied them all.  I think he shot 67 and it was the first time he had seen the course.  Another very important golf story with Dick that shows his character and the kind of man he was happened years later when he and I were playing against two other gentlemen. We were up quite a bit and they pressed on the 18^th hole.  Our drives were both good and as we sat in the cart together, he said quietly they cannot afford to lose this amount.  I asked what he wanted to do and he said I’m going to miss the next shot on purpose, he did, we broke even for the day and our opponents were elated to have tied and they never knew how kind Dick Neel was to them that day. It was a teaching moment for me and another view into his soul.

It is been 28 years; I miss him and I shall never forget the kindness he showed to me. He was a fine golfer but an even better person. 

 

*This is part 1 of Dickie's story in golf. Part 2 will follow in the 1970's after Dickie earned his PGA card. 

Yours Truly,

Dick Lillard

(shared with Letty Stapp Watt 2023)