Seventy-one Years Ago--A Red Letter Day

 **Dear Miami Golf and Country club members/readers. I am slowly working my way through the 1980's, 1990's up to 2010 to be posted here and sent to you. In the meantime, I have spent many hours writing in my personal blog "Literally Letty." She is my animated self and also, an historian. This story will also be posted on <https://www.literallyletty.blogspot.com>  If you would like to follow Literally Letty/a.k.a. the Golf Gypsy, please reply to this with a yes, and I will add you to the mailing list. My email for that blog is <letishiawatt@gmail.com> Please add this email to your contacts so the stories will continue to arrive and not go to spam. 

I hope you enjoy this Red Letter Day for NEO in 1953. 

Sunday, November 29, 1953 will go down in Northeastern A&M college's records as one of the most significant dates in the local institution's history. NEO received the Eastern bid to participate in the Junior Rose Bowl football game at Pasadena on December 12. NEO, which came into being as the "School of Mines" back in 1919, has never before basked in the national spotlight. 

NEO Coaches: Dewey Lynch, Head Coach Red Robertson, Bill Smith

The Norsemen, a rugged gridiron squad has overwhelmed nine rivals this season. They are expected to give Bakersfield, California Jr. College a rousing battle. It is hoped that the game will be another smashing triumph for Red Robertson's aggregation.

 November 30, 1953 Three hitchhikers in an automobile near Vinita heard the radio bulletin: "Northeastern A&M will play in the Jr. Rose Bowl!"

The husky trio let out a whoop and asked the driver, a young lady, to please stop at the nearest public telephone. Jim Wilmoth, Darrell Brooks and Jerry Price couldn't wait to reach Miami before calling home--collect, of course--who could blame them. 

The three hitchhikers will be traveling first-class to Pasadena next weekend. All three are members of the powerful Northeastern football team. Wilmoth and Brooks play guard, and Price is a flashy halfback. "We will win. I'm sure of it." Carter declared after receiving the bid.

No one worked harder promoting the team than Homa Thomas, business instructor and sports publicist. 

December 6, 1953

The Miami News Record reports that the entire NEO football team will be going to Pasadena and so are the Norse Stars...the Airforce ROTC band...and others who can pay for the trip.

Dr. Bruce G. Carter, college president stated: We all get to go. We may eat hamburgers instead of "high off the hog," but the important thing is that we won't leave anybody behind." 

$5000 dollars-plus was raised in a whirlwind three-day rally, and still remains short of the $8,00 goal. Countless individuals have contributed to the fund. 

Lahoma Sue Thomas Weese (7th grader) , daughter of Homa Thomas, attended the game along with Barbara Sue Robertson (9th grader), daughter of Coach Red Robertson, Gladys Robertson, Pat Smith, and Lois Thomas. 

This is her memory of that trip Seventy-one years ago.

We began our excursion on Route 66 heading west through Oklahoma, where our eyes saw nothing but roadside gravel.

We spent our first night in Gallup, New Mexico. I only recall the hills were all reddish colored rocks. 

Now up and ready to go, we drove to the Grand Canyon. Here we explored the sights and grandeur of the canyon. We stayed at the oldest hotel, the El Tovar at the Grand Canyon. Here Barbara Sue and I found out that rubbing your feet on the carpet and touching someone or something like a doorknob would produce a spark of electricity. Can you imagine the fun the two of us had with our mothers that morning.

El Tovar Historic Hotel opened in 1905

After breakfast, we were on our way west. We noticed a young man walking down the road carrying a gas can. We stopped and asked if he needed help. He accepted our help, and we drove him to his car down the road. After the young man stepped out of the car and we were back on the road our mothers gave a great sigh of relief. It seems as though we were all a little nervous with a strange man in the car.

We enjoyed the sights along the way, not knowing what an interesting part of history we had seen going through all of the towns and seeing all of the sight along Route 66.

When we arrived in Pasadena each of us went to the places where we would stay.

One night we attended a filming of a TV show “What’s My Line?” It was Mel Blanc that night and after they recognized him, he performed many of the voices we recognized from the cartoons. After that we all walked across the street to the Formosa Café where a lot of the TV personalities would hang out. Barbara Sue and I saw Frank Sinatra, but we were to bashful to ask for his autograph.

The parade kicked off the game day in California. We all attended the parade ….

The game is another story for the record book.

Yes, we really won the game or would have won the game if the referee hadn’t moved the ball back to the one-yard line on our last touchdown. I know everyone says that, but in this case it’s true! They have admitted it.

The Miami News Record reported that Coach Robertson had nothing but praise for his boys. "The breaks went against us, but we were beaten by a really good ball club. I thought we had a victory until that fumble came along late in the third." Robertson was keenly disappointed with his team's failure to score when they had the ball on Bakersfield's three in the final stanza. Robertson said he thought Graham had scored on the dramatic foot-to-go plunge on the fourth down. Players, too, questioned the decision. But two of the five West Coast officials on duty said Graham's head, but not the ball penetrated the end zone. 

For the return trip the boys were sent home on the train. A train car was rented and Dad was the sponsor. It was a noisy trip with only one hitch. There was a 15-minute stop in Las Vegas, Nevada. As you would suspect, all of the boys got off the train car and ran into the station. When the 15 minutes were up, most of them got back on the train. A few were seen running down the tracks trying to catch the train. Dad pulled the emergency chord that stopped the train. I’m sure there were a few words exchanged with the Conductor, but Dad got his boys back on the train and didn’t care.

Kayleen Thomas, Norse Star writes: 

The Norse stars drove in private cars all the way out to Pasadena to be in the Junior Rose Bowl parade and perform at halftime. We wore two different uniforms our Indian one and our white Fringed one with hoops to do a New York rocket type routine.

The city dance teacher Virginia Lee Wilson was the choreographer for the North stars.

Betty Fields, NEO Band member writes: 

All the band marched in the parade--it was a long march, but the weather was warmer than for most football-marches! We also did a band routine at half-time. I think most band members made the long trip, but some people had already made other plans for the holidays. 

Thoughts by Literally Letty: 

Even though I was young, I heard this story of the Norsemen and Norse Stars going to the Junior Rose Bowl. numerous times.  I joined the Norse Star drill team in 1965 in hopes that we, too, would go to the Rose Bowl. NEO played in the Jr. College Rose Bowl in 1953, 1958 both times they were beaten, but never forgotten by their fans in Northeast Oklahoma. 

As lady luck would have it, my husband and I took the opportunity to go to the Rose Bowl, 2003 in which the University of Oklahoma beat Washington State 34-14. For the one and only time in my life we spent the morning in Pasadena watching the Rose Bowl Parade live, sitting immediately under Al Roker in the CBS tower.  It was one of the sports highlights of my life. 

NEO recently honored Homa Thomas for his dedication to the school and the athletes. Homa Thomas Field

Our Shared Reality

 One late toasty-warm August afternoon when pancakes baked on the sidewalk, I stood in line at the post office, enjoying the cool air while waiting to mail a large stack of my Miami Golf and Country Club History books that I self-published. I was weary that afternoon but still my adrenaline flowed from the excitement of selling nearly 100 books. 

I only printed 30 to begin with and never expected more. It took two more printings to have 102 copies. Stepping up to the counter I plopped down the packages of books to be mailed with relief. With a tired but proud smile, I looked at the lady in white and blue and stated, "I'd like to mail these books in media rate, please."

She returned the smile, placed one on the weight machine, checked the location and zip code and while placing the stickers on the the package she asked, "Are you an author?"

The question caught me off guard. Two book signings, one in Miami, Oklahoma and the other in Tulsa, were most successful for me and for the people who dropped by to purchase the book, but I never thought of myself as an author. I was a writer, yes, but an author is well-known, has books in the public libraries, and makes money. 

After watching her weigh the second book and checking the address I finally replied, "Yes, I am an author and this is the history book I wrote about my hometown, the golf course where I grew up, and the people who were a part of my life."

Letty Stapp Watt, Vicki Martin Reynolds, Jonya Stapp Pry, Dobson Museum, Miami, Oklahoma

 

In full conversation by now she replied, "Oh, I wish I could write the story of the mountain in Washington state where I grew up skiing every winter and the lodge we called home." 

I saw her name "Cori" on the top left shelf of her post office station. It was a painted brick with her name engraved in stylish lettering. No one else could claim that station and her name. I liked her creative and individual taste. As she finished weighing and marking each package the doors to the post office locked, but we continued to talk about our shared histories and how people had come and gone in our lives. 

Even though we were separated in age by twenty years and 2,000 miles growing up in Washington state and Oklahoma, we found a common bond. 

Judy Woodruff said after a story she shared on PBS, 

"The need for a shared reality is one-way stories and history bring us together."

Authors, writers, journalists, storytellers, teachers, parents, ministers, historians, civic leaders......all possess the power of words to bring us together. We often look for stories that touch us inwardly, that connect us to others or another time and place.

I found this to be true, when a few days later I asked for help in the Hallmark store. I explained that I needed thank you notes for the many people who helped me publish the book and who encouraged and challenged me to finish it. The ladies looked at the various boxes that I had picked out and we talked our way through the best choice (I bought two boxes of Thank You notes.) 

One lady asked what I had written. I replied, "I've collected stories and created a timeline of the last seventy years of the people who built my town and the golf course where I grew up."

She lite up, "Are you a golfer?" 

I laughed, "Yes, I am and have been since the time I could walk."

"Oh, you lucky girl," she pipped. "I have always wanted to play golf, but never found the time. I watch it on television on the weekends and once went to a championship in Tulsa."  We chatted a few more minutes and then she asked, "May I buy one of your books?"

"Let me bring one in for you to see," I suggested. A few minutes later, she sat down with the book and thumbed through the pages. "Where are you in this story?" 

"Starting in the early sixties," I said, then turned a few pages until we reached a decade she recalled. "I want to buy your book. How much?" 

I was stunned. This lady didn't play golf nor had any connection to it, like I might have thought. "The book costs $35."

She took $35.00 out of her purse and asked, "Would you autograph it me."

As I was leaving the store, she said, "Thank you. I want to read about others who have lived during my time and understand what it was like." 

I beamed with gratitude and felt tears well up in my heart with her kindness and soft spoken words. 

I became a storyteller decades ago, thanks to a job at the Miami Public Library, because I saw people laugh and connect with the personal stories that I heard at the Miami Golf and Country Club, the stories my parents shared about the depression, the war, and the people who had come and gone in their early lives. (Some of the stories might be called "fishing for a good line or lie." I was never sure as a child how to take that.)

George Haralson and Thursday

One of my favorite memories to share is of an English bulldog named Thursday, who roamed the club in the late 1950's. His official home was on Yale Street and his backyard became the golf course and the clubhouse. One July 4, I witnessed Thursday run with his short legs and full body to catch an M-80 thrown by one of the club members. Oh, my... 

The rest of the story can be found on my history blog Thursday's story

My personal blog is "Literally Letty" where I often write as the 'Golf Gypsy'.  To read those stories go to <www.https://literallyletty.blogspot.com>  In the search bar type in Golf Gypsy or Miami Memories.

The homepage for my history blog is: 

<https://mgcchistory.blogspot.com/>

Miami, Oklahoma Golf and Country Club History

If you enjoy my stories please copy and share this website address with your friends. Blogging is becoming a thing of the past and I could certainly use help for my readers in sharing these stories with your friends and family.  

1987-1999 MHS GIRLS GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS by Harley Turner

 

MHS 1990 Girls Golf State Champions Trophy (Lori Lillard)

 Harley Turner, coach of the MHS girls golf team from 1987-1999 sent me this letter sharing his memories of our girls winning the High School Girls Golf State Championship two-years in a row. 

From 1986-1990 I coached the girls and often the boys Norman High School golf teams and watched our Miami girls win state two years in a row. How fitting that my hometown would beat the socks off my new home in Norman. 

 *Thank you Harley for sharing this.

Hello to you Letty.  I do remember meeting you and was very familiar with the Stapp name.   At the time I was coaching, many members of the club spoke affectionately of your father.

 

I loved every moment coaching the girls through the years of 1987 through 1999, when I retired.  My first year I was blessed with one senior and four incoming freshmen.

 My senior was Julie Rieger who won every event we had that season.  Julie finished her high school career by being state medalist, I don’t remember her scores, but during my coaching career there was no classification for girl’s golf, so she was most certainly state champion.  Maybe more important to me was the influence she instilled in the freshman, who were gifted in their own right.  With Julie’s leadership the team finished SECOND in state as a team.  

Those girls, Paige Parrott, Jan Haney, Lori Lillard, Shawna Fitzgibbon, continued working on their game and improving.  The winner of their first state championship competition was Jenks.  We played second fiddle to them that year and almost all the next two years.  Jenks won back-to-back state championship 87 & 88, and they were dominating in 89.  We continually finished second to them all that season. 

 But at the state tournament at Lake Hefner south golf course destiny took over.  After the first round we were in 4th place 11 strokes behind Jenks.  That night at the hotel I was upset with the girls because we were behind Edmond and Bartlesville and the week before we beat Bartlesville by I think 50 strokes. 

 Now to put things in perspective, at this time once a tournament began the coach could only speak to the players after 9 holes had been played and after the round was finished.  So, after the turn we were playing really well and with checking with other coaches, particularly Jenks their 1&2 girls were playing extremely well (they tied for state medalist) but their 3,4, and 5 were struggling.

Jennifer Gatewood, Shawna Fitzgibbon, Lori Lillard, Jan Haney, and Paige Parrott Had all finished and we had an excellent round.  Jenks girls (5,4,3) had finished and by my calculations Jenks 1, and 2 had to eagle the 18th hole to beat us.  On the   Negative side their balls were both on the green, putting for eagles.  Both missed and we had our State Championship.

The next year we not only had everyone back, but we also had a sophomore Kasie Sly who improved her game (she later became an all-stater).  We played the 1990 season undefeated, but because of heavy rain all day long, we only played one round for the State Championship and we won by 49 strokes.

 

It was because of being the only back to back team state champions in Miami High School history the girls were selected into the schools “HALL OF FAME”, in 2023.

1980's-1990's HIS STORIES OF MGCC by Jeff Gullett

 

Miami Golf and Country club facing the sunrise on the east, and watching as players reach their final hole at 18 green.

I grew up playing Jr. Golf in the 80’s and 90’s at MG&CC.  The Golf Professionals during those times were Don Atchison and Steve Becker.  Our golf crew was comprised of Jason Hill, Charles Haney, Michael Rapp, Brett Vaughn, Greg Smith, and me. Most if not all of us worked and played at MG&CC.  There was nothing better than heading to the Club for the day of golf, pool, and golf again.  We spent countless hours and years developing our skills and even more, our friendship.  It started with us playing Junior Golf and as we progressed it led to Junior tournaments and then the Miami High School Wardog Golf Team. 

As many of you already know the Lady Wardogs had just won a couple of State Championships in the late 80’s.  It was now 1991, and we had finally reached the High School Golf Team.  Our leader was Harley Turner, known as HT.  Coach HT was a very kind, smart, and great man. Probably exactly what we needed at the time.  We knew nothing about team golf, we had just spent the last 8 years trying to beat a Snickers and a Coke from each other in our countless individual matches.  We did our best, but our freshman year was a learning experience.  The 1991 team was composed of Steve Simpson (Senior), Jason Hill (Junior), Charles Haney (Freshman), Michael Rapp (Freshman), and me (Freshman).

I struggled a bit, but the most memorable tournament was the Pryor Invitational.  We had a true Oklahoma Spring Day; sunny, cold, rain, snow, and sleet.  I somehow plowed through this day in a solid 79 (probably the best 79 of my life) and tied for 1^st.  Nervous as could be, I somehow found a way to win the playoff for my first tournament win.  To say the least, very memorable!  We played well in many tournaments.  As a team we made it through the Regional Tournament with and were headed to State.  This is what we had been waiting for!  Shawnee Lake, the Grand Daddy of golf tournaments.  It seemed so far from MG&CC.  The one thing I can remember from that tournament was that our booster club (aka parents and club members) had purchased us matching shirts and get this:  matching Ping Hoofer Bags with a stand.  We were maybe the only team in the State with these.  Thank you all!  I think we all had high expectations but did not really know how much pressure was there and how good the rest of the teams in the state were, due to most of our competition being in the Northeastern section of the state.  We grinded through three rounds and finished in third.  Pretty good for our first year with three Freshman.  I am pretty sure if you asked all of us, we felt like we should have won the championship.

The Sophomore season was here, and again we had high expectations.  There was a group of MG&CC members that had been traveling down to Puerto Vallarta for years and had crossed paths with a golf pro and a prominent junior player, named Juan Pablo Alvarez.  The connection was made, and Juan Pablo Alvarez would be coming to live with the Hill’s and would be able to play one year of High School Golf.  Oh boy, we were excited about this.  This kid had played at World Junior and other prominent Junior events and had plenty of experience.  We were going to be good.  Although we thought we were going to be good, it seemed we may have left our game at home on tournament days as we watched Juan Pablo try to carry us as a team.  We finished a lackluster 4^th place at State and moved on to the summer months to grind on the game to make it better for the next season.  Even though we may not have played well, we did learn a lot about the game and culture, playing with a student of the game that did not know very much English when he got to Miami.  Juan was a great addition to the community and school, and I hope to see him again one day. 

         There were some influential people that were in our lives and golf games that helped mold our games and specifically mine since I am writing this piece.  I cannot speak on behalf of the others, so I will tell how it helped me find my game.  Steve Becker was the PGA Professional at MG&CC during this time, and he taught me to teach myself.  He told me what I needed to know, but more than anything taught me to have confidence in myself.  I was a shy kid growing up and never quite felt like I could or would be good enough at the game.  He taught me to be on the good side of cocky, but not arrogant.  Marshall Smith Jr., Steve Hill, Jeff Ramsey, Keith Neal, and Mitch Jones.  There were so many more, but these are ones that I either worked with or had many games within the years preceding and during high school golf.  I have always said that it is not golf course that makes the game, it is the people who you play with that makes the rounds memorable. 

Around 1993, Cotton Montgomery came to the club to be the Golf Course Superintendent.  This man could grow some grass!  The greens had never been better, and the club was in the best shape since I had been there.  He also brought his son into our golf world, Brian Montgomery.  Brian had just finished up college at Oklahoma State and was preparing for the Mini Tours and Professional golf.  This really changed my game for the better.  I was challenged every time I put the peg in the ground.  I was playing Brian one day and he happened to shoot the course record, 63, and I believe I shot 71.  I got blown out of the water on our Nassau!  I learned so much watching him practice the short game and I no longer focused on a perfect swing but perfecting a good swing. 

My junior year consisted of teammates:  Charles Haney (Junior), Michael Rapp (Junior), myself (Junior), Brett Vaughn (Sophomore) and Greg Smith (Sophomore).  All of us had been playing together for the past couple of years and we thought we had the chance to finish well.  This was Charles Haney’s year, he played very consistently through the season, but he did not get much help from his team.  It was like all the preparation for the season during the summer went to waste but wait there is another year.  Sometimes what we are preparing for does not come until the right time, not our time.  (Sounds like living life with faith).  What we did get to do was go to Norman for a mid-season tournament.  That was the exposure we needed.  We went to play the bigger schools and statewide schools in the Sooner Classic.  Great tournament experience that HT and Miami High School gave to us that had been lacking the prior two seasons. 

The Senior season finally arrived!  We were missing a teammate by the time the season started, but we forged forward with the four +1 who were ready to play.  We were confident that the four regulars would put the numbers where we needed them.  I had begun practicing earlier than normal due to an ankle injury in December playing for the basketball team.  I had started my golf season about two months earlier.  It showed when we started the season with a team win at Shangri-La and I finished first place individual with 68-70.  A couple of weeks later won the Joplin Invitational at Loma Linda and I won individual with a score of 68.  We rolled this right into Regionals and won at MG&CC and went to State expecting greatness.  We played good golf instead of great, but it was the journey that was memorable.  We ended our Senior season where we began our freshman season, at Shawnee Lake.  We finished a little off the pace in 3^rd place and I put three good rounds together to finish in a tie for 2^nd (70-72-72).  Note:  won in a playoff.  As I am writing this, I don’t think I have ever lost in a playoff since high school.  On the academic side of things, Miami Boys Golf Team did win the Academic State Championship in 1994.

Post High School

I proceeded to walk on the golf team at University of Arkansas, and after a struggle with my game and adapting to college life I walked off the team later that spring in 1995.  I was at a crossroads with my golf game and did not really know what I wanted to do.  I don’t like to look back on my life and ask for a mulligan, but if I were going to go down the golf path for a career, I think I would take a mulligan on that drive.  Anyhow, I took a year off from golf and focused on school, then transferred to the University of Oklahoma and graduated in 1998 with a degree in Business Management.  I decided to go into the golf business, just like any other player, thinking I will be a golf pro and try to make it on tour.  Well, I proceeded to start working 80 hours a week and no longer played to the level that I was accustomed to, and the game fell away. 

My career path started at Bailey Ranch Golf Club, in Owasso and I worked there for 3.5 years where I learned the first part of the business.  What is a PGA Professional?  That was my training ground, and I will never forget it. 

In 2001, I went to Tulsa Country Club to work under Jeff Combe, and later received my PGA Membership in 2005.  The summer of 2005, I made the move to Boca Raton, Fl to Bocaire Country Club to become the First Assistant Golf Professional under Russell Carlson, who was previously the PGA Professional at Bailey Ranch during my time there.  He did not hire me at Bailey Ranch, but he taught me.  I have only worked for two PGA Head Golf Professionals in my career, and both had different approaches to the business, but both helped mold me into the Golf Professional that I am today.  I spent 16 years at Bocaire Country Club (12 as Head Golf Professional).  I am now at Boca Woods Country Club, a 36-hole residential club with 600 Members.  We host 60,000 rounds of golf per year and I am now going through my third golf course renovation as a PGA Member.    

Boca Woods Country club, Boca Raton, Florida

As you can see, the game of golf is a part of me, and the history of Miami Golf & Country Club molded me into who I am.  Many of my lifelong friends along with my parents’ friends were established at that club.  Although the club and course are no longer there, the games and memories I had at that club can never be taken away from me.  They are a part of me, and I still tell the stories today when I speak of the game I so love!

Jeff Gullett