The History of PCCC in Words and Pictures

Ponca City Country Club
The 60th Anniversary
1945 - 2005
Table of Contents
Page 1 ~ Introduction
Pages 2 thru 6 ~ Ponca City Country Club – Then and Now
Pages 7 thru 9 ~ A Visit with C.D. Northcutt
Pages 10 and 11 ~ T.J. Cuzalina
Pages 12 and 13 ~ Dr. Tom Glasscock
Pages 14 thru 17 ~ The McGraw Family
Pages 18 thru 24 ~ Growing Up Golfing At The Club
Pages 25 and 26 ~ Perry Maxwell
Pages 27 thru 34 ~ PCCC Pictures
Picture Slideshows
Over 300 historical pictures can be found at www.poncacitycountryclub.net
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“PCCC Pics From The Past” ~ 114 pictures
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“Golf Course History” ~ 112 pictures
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“Growing Up Golfing” ~ 49 pictures
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“Old Front Nine” ~ 22 pictures
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“Old Back Nine” ~ 20 pictures
Introduction
Earlier this year I was asked if I would research and document some of the illustrious past
history of our great club. The request was driven by the fact that we will celebrate Ponca City
Country Club’s 60th anniversary later this year.
I am retired now and knew I would have plenty of time to do the work. I have been lucky enough
to live in Ponca City my entire life and have been a Resident member of the club since 1985.
This is my last year as a member of the Board of Directors. For all of those reasons, I agreed to
take on the assignment. It’s been interesting and fun!
I have learned a great deal about the history of Ponca City Country Club and our past members
and staff over the last few months. I have interviewed lots of people and have looked through
many boxes of old documents and hundreds of old pictures.
As you might imagine, official documents and pictures from the very early years are few and far
between. The bottom line is that I have tried to capture, with the input of others, some of the
most noteworthy historical events and memories from the last 60 years.
Under Club History out on our PCCC website, you will find links to almost 400 pictures from
some of the memorable happenings at the club over the years. They include major parties and
events, then and now golf course layout pictures, and some photos of golfers, both young and
old, from days gone by.
I would like to thank several people that have gone out of their way to help me compile the
enclosed information. They include Gervis and Mike McGraw, J.B. Hron, Richard Welborn,
C.D. Northcutt, Steve Kinzie, John Vest and my wife Sonya.
We all tend to take things for granted and sometimes forget how good we really have it. We live
in a clean, historic city with very little crime, we have a wonderful school system, we can jump
in our cars and be anywhere in town in 10 minutes or less, and, best of all, we are members of
one of the very best private clubs in Oklahoma.
As you read through our Ponca City Country Club history and look at the pictures from our past,
pause for just a moment. Reflect on all of the good times you and your family have had at the
club and think about what the future might hold. Hopefully, the best is yet to come!
Frank Rogers
Ponca City Country Club ~ Then and Now
December 19th, 2005 will mark the 60th anniversary of the Ponca City Country Club.
Not surprisingly, the club’s roots go back to the days of E.W. Marland and
the oil boom era. The original name of the land and facilities was the
Marland Institute with buildings located where the Academy Hills housing
addition is now. Built in the mid-1920’s, it included spanish style, stucco
buildings with dormitory type living quarters for some of the men who worked in
management for Marland Oil Company at the time. For recreation the men, along
with other Marland employees, played the 18 hole, sand greens golf course located next to the
Marland buildings. The golf course, built in 1928, would later become an integral part of the
Ponca City Country Club.
When Marland Oil Company merged with Continental Oil Company in 1928 and the golf course
was completed, the name was changed from the Marland Institute to the Conoco Golf Club.
In 1940, Dan Moran, President of Continental Oil Company, made the
decision to sell the unused buildings and the land they were sitting on to
Col. William Cox. The golf course and remaining club land were not
included in the sale. At that time, Ponca Military Academy was started
and operated at the site from 1941 to the late 1970’s. Young men 6 to 18
years of age from mostly affluent families throughout the United States
attended school at the academy.
A.W. Tillinghast, a world renowned course architect, visited the club and walked the course on
January 18th, 1936. He offered his expertise on the methods to use and the potential cost of
switching to bentgrass greens. Tillinghast designed several legendary U.S. Open venues
including Winged Foot, Baltusrol and Bethpage Black.
In 1940 the sand greens were replaced with bentgrass for the nine holes south and east of our
present clubhouse and the other nine holes of the golf course were abandoned.
The Conoco Golf Club continued to operate until 1944, when Mr. Moran decided Conoco
needed to get out of the golf
business. His vision was to see a
country club organized to include
Conoco employees, professionals
from the downtown area and local
private business owners.
Mr. Moran sat down and worked
out a detailed strategy with
Archie Wilkinson and D.W. Sims
and together they put the wheels
in motion to get the club started.
Before turning the property over to the club, Moran offered to build grass greens on the 9 holes
that were abandoned earlier. Ground was broken for a new clubhouse just a few days before the
moratorium was issued by Congress prohibiting the use of critical materials needed for our
country’s continuing World War II efforts. The clubhouse was not completely finished until
1947.
The initial membership campaign for Ponca City Country Club was so successful that 251
charter members had been recruited by December of 1945. Shares of stock sold for $150.
Thanks to the generosity of Continental Oil Company, the charter members had the good fortune
of having an 18-hole golf course and other amenities on 223 acres of land for the unbelievable
cost of only $1.00.
Original Directors For Articles of Incorporation – August 25, 1945
F.C. Duvall
Wilfrid Johnson
W.D. Edwards
Thomas McElroy
O.S. Ellifrit
T.W. Prentice
T.D. Harris
D.W. Sims
R.L. Hart
A.C. Wilkinson
D.R. Johnson
Founding Board of Directors at First Stockholders Meeting – December 19, 1945
F.C. Duvall – President
A.C. Wilkinson – First Vice President
O.S. Ellifrit – Second Vice President
W.B. Johnson – Secretary/Treasurer
Joe Lewis
Jack Cunningham
R.C. Brown
W.D. Edwards
A.D. Jennings
R.L. Hart
T.D. Harris
Facts From The Past:
44 members attended the first stockholders meeting on December 19th, 1945.
The first general manager of the club earned $250 a month.
The golf course budget in 1946 was $9,200 and included wages, equipment and the total
maintenance of the course and grounds.
Membership dues in April of 1946 were $4 a month.
The first locker room attendant was hired in August of 1946 at a salary of $100 a month.
A guest green fee was $1 in September of 1946.
For many years there was a caretaker’s house with a stable and corrals for 18 horses
located south of where hole #14 tee box is now. There was also a skeet range for
members in the same vicinity.
Many renovations, both major and minor, have been completed on the clubhouse and
grounds over the years. The new swimming pool was dedicated on July 4th, 1956. The
outdoor tennis courts were built in 1964. The indoor tennis facility was completed in
1987.
The golf shop was originally situated in the corner of
one of the Marland Institute dormitory buildings and
later was housed in a garage building. It was moved
to the new clubhouse after an addition costing
$60,000 was completed in 1952. In 1959, a new golf
shop was built at the northeast corner of the
clubhouse at a cost of $47,000. That area is now used
as the ladies’ locker room. And, in October of 1967,
the current golf shop/golf cart storage building was
constructed at a cost of $118,000.
There are not any official documents, but based on the
memories of several long-time members, only the holes on the
original front nine of the course, south and east of the
clubhouse, were designed by the legendary Perry Maxwell in
the late 1920’s. It’s unclear who designed the original back
nine holes north and east of the current golf shop that were
abandoned in 1940. Those nine holes were redesigned by
former Conoco Golf Club and then PCCC Head Golf
Professional Bill Oliver in 1945 and opened for play again in
the summer of 1946. Oliver continued to tweak the design of
the course until leaving in 1951.
For several reasons, much of the original golf course was totally redesigned again in
1971-72. Many members had been unhappy that hole #9 did not end at the clubhouse.
The golfers also wanted the driving range moved from just inside the entrance to the
Club, on the hill, west of the current #15 tee box, to a location closer to the golf shop.
The greens were in dire need of reconstruction. And, with a new irrigation system about
to be installed, some golfing members thought it would be a perfect opportunity to
revamp the entire course.
Noted golf course architect Don Sechrest was hired to design and oversee all of the
changes. It was an especially difficult task because portions of the golf course remained
open to the members during the entire rebuild.
The decision to totally change the golf course was not without controversy. Many
members felt the revamp was unjustified and would be taking away much of the
historical significance and difficulty of the course.
Under the direction of the Arnold Palmer
group, other major changes to the golf
course have included the rebuilding of
holes #5 and #8 in 1987 and holes #1 and
#3 in 1989.
All of the PCCC greens were lost to
disease in the late summer of 1995 and 7
of the 18 greens were redesigned at that
time; the remaining 11 greens were
reseeded.
After having three different managers from 1946 to 1948, Ed Detzel was brought in from
Dallas to run the club. After Detzel’s death in 1956, Ray Martin was hired. He left in
1960 but returned when General Manager Paul Johnson resigned in 1962. Other General
Managers have included Dennis Kinkaid, Mac McCreedy, who served on two occasions,
Brent Hughes and current General Manager John Vest.
Besides Bill Oliver, other Head Golf Professionals at Ponca City Country Club have
included Hack Williford from 1952 to 1957, Gervis McGraw from May of 1957 to
January of 1982, and Rich Maril from 1982 until the present.
The Head Golf Course Superintendents have been Rolla Breedlove, who retired with 40
years of service, Steve Wilcoxen, Charlie Tiede, and Doyle Brookshire.
One thing that has never changed is the fact that Ponca City
Country Club has always had the reputation of being a fun
place to visit with a variety of activities for the young and
the young at heart.
Most importantly, the members have always had an
unwavering dedication and commitment to their hometown,
their club and each other.
A Visit With C.D. Northcutt
The only two remaining charter members of the Ponca City Country Club are C.D.
Northcutt and Dr. Tom Glasscock. As most PCCC members know, C.D. has a memory
that is better than people half his age and he agreed to sit down and share some of his
memories from the early years.
Following are some thoughts and opinions from C.D.
Please tell us about some of your memories from the first few years at the club?
“Dan Moran ordered Dee Sims to originally organize the
Ponca City Country Club. Dee called a meeting that was
held at the old American Legion Hut with a large number
of Ponca City people attending. Dr. C.E. Northcutt, a
relative of mine who was a physician and surgeon here in
town, had imported me to Ponca in 1938. I lived in his
home for three years. He loaned me the money to open a
law office.”
“I had just returned from my tour of duty serving in the
European Theater in WWII. Dr. Northcutt asked Tom
Glasscock and I to attend the meeting with him. The
proposal was that anyone that wanted to join the club
would be required to buy a share of preferred stock for
$240 and a share of common stock for $150. Dr.
Northcutt bought three preferred shares.”
“A few weeks later, Dr. Northcutt called both of us and said he thought we should join
the club. We told him that buying stock and then having to pay dues of $4 a month was a
lot of money. He said that it was important, career wise, for us to associate with the right
people and offered to loan both of us the extra shares of his preferred stock. Both Tom
and I then scraped together some money and joined the club!”
“Ed Detzel was our hard-nosed club manager, and although not unfriendly, wasn’t
particularly friendly either. He ran a tight ship. He had only one lady that worked for him
and she served as hostess, party coordinator, reservationist and did about everything else
that was needed. I recall Ed had the chef serve top-butt steaks. They were about 2 inches
across and two inches thick. They were wonderful steaks!”
“Bill Oliver was our first golf pro at the club. He sold me a set of clubs, including one of
his own personally designed drivers, for $25!”
“Lee Hunter was a Conoco employee and a very good golfer. He called and asked me to
play golf with him on a designated day that was selected to be used for indoctrination of
the younger golfers. Lee, and others like him, always made the younger members feel
welcome.”
What is your all-time funniest moment at the club?
“Probably the funniest moment that I can remember started with the time we had a big
revolt by the members over a proposed monthly dues increase. The Board was wanting to
raise dues from $6 a month to $10 a month, almost a 70% increase.”
“A few years later, after I had gained experience from being a board member a couple of
times, we had another vote to raise the monthly dues to a whopping $30 a month. The
proposed increase failed by only a vote or two. In a facetious spirit, I stood up and went
to the microphone and stated that since the vote was so close, maybe we should consider
raising the dues to only $29 a month. Several folks clapped and raised their hands in
support of my sarcastic proposal. Of course, the dues increase did not pass that year.”
In your opinion, who were some of the very best golfers at the club over the years?
“The best lady golfer at the club for a number of years was Margaret Williford, the wife
of Hack Williford, our golf pro at the time. Following her, Patty McGraw (Coatney)
would be at the very top of the list.
As far as the men golfers, we have had some really good ones including Lee Hunter,
Bulldog Miller, Louie Trapnell, Bud Creveling, Chuck Coatney, Rod Murray, and J.B.
Hron.”
Was your brother Paul a charter member?
“My brother Paul started his law practice here in 1950 and
joined the club a few years later. He is one of a select few that
have served more than one term as Board President. He has
always worked hard and did everything in his power to ensure
the club’s success.”
What do you think the future might hold for Ponca City
Country Club?
“Many country clubs everywhere are going through some tough
times right now. Higher dues discourage younger people with
families from joining. Country clubs don’t have the same
attraction to young adults as they used to have. There is so much
more to do now when compared with the old days. People have
busier lives now.”
“On the other hand, people like to be with people, and I would assume that even with
some ups and downs, that the Ponca City Country Club will survive and hopefully
prosper in the years to come. In many ways, our club has the facilities and a dues
structure that compare favorably with most clubs. Actually, our dues are less than most
clubs of similar size.”
How does it feel to be one of our two remaining charter members?
“I have always been proud to be a charter member. It certainly doesn’t seem like 60 years
since the club was founded. I have had opportunities on several occasions to switch to a
Senior membership at the club but I have always declined. I have kept my Resident
membership since 1945. After J.C. Hampton passed away last year, that left Tom
Glasscock and myself as the only remaining charter members.”
“As Minnie Pearl used to say, “I’m just proud to be here!!!”
T.J. Cuzalina
T.J. Cuzalina was born and raised in
Hartshorne, Oklahoma. He became a pharmacist
and operated a drugstore for a few years in
Hartshorne before moving to Ponca City and
opening Cuzalina Drugs.
For many years, T.J. had a column in the Ponca
City News called “Just Poppin’ Off” where he
gave his open and honest opinions and ideas on
just about every topic imaginable, from local
government issues to how often a person should
wash their car.
T.J. and his wife Genieva raised two daughters,
Karolyn Cuzalina Hron and Marion Cuzalina
Gibson. His grandchildren include J.B. and Suzy
Hron and Toni and Bobby Gibson.
Dee Sims and T.J. were talking one day and trying to come up with a fun and effective
way to have a major fundraiser for the Opportunity Center. They both loved golf and
thought it made sense to organize a golf tournament. The Cherokee Strip Golf Classic
was born in 1962 and 43 years later, is bigger and better than ever, thanks to the hard
work and creativity of its two founders.
T.J. loved traveling to Las Vegas and met many celebrities while visiting there. He
became best friends with Sands Hotel and Casino owner/manager Carl Cohen. With
Cohen’s influence and T.J.’s persuasive personality, many stars like Joey Bishop, James
Garner, Phil Harris and Louis Prima attended the Cherokee Strip Golf Classic each year.
The famous Indian logo used by the Cherokee Strip Golf Classic and Ponca City Country
Club was originally designed by Walt Ditson. T.J. sought and received permission and
approval from all of the area tribes before first using the logo.
T.J. Cuzalina passed away on December 13, 1967. His
love for Ponca City and the Ponca City Country Club
continues today through the Cherokee Strip Golf Classic.
Dr. Tom Glasscock
PCCC charter member Dr. Tom Glasscock was
born in Finley, North Dakota in 1918. He
graduated from Rush Medical College, a
branch of the University of Chicago, in 1942
and became a Medical Officer in the Navy
shortly thereafter.
Tom served four years in the Navy during
World War II with most of that time spent as
part of a PT boat squadron stationed in France.
He moved to Ponca City in early 1946 and
began his medical practice in the NiemannNorthcutt Clinic. Five years later he opened his
own private practice, retiring in the year 2000
after 53 years of dedicated service to the
citizens of Ponca City.
Along with C.D. Northcutt, Tom is one of only
two remaining charter members of the Ponca City Country Club. C.D. is now 88 and
Tom is 87 years young.
Tom remembers the days at the club when just about everyone participated in every
event. “We had lots of parties and fancy dinners in the old days and the food was
unbelievable. I was a small town boy and the country club style of living was something
new to me. It was a pretty plush deal for a young kid from North Dakota,” he said
laughing. “We had a strict dress code and it was a very rare occasion when coats and ties
weren’t required for an event.”
Tom also has memories of the “Thundering Herd”, a group of influential businessmen
that pretty much ran the golf course and the club in the early years. “They might go out
on the course and have a twelvesome all playing the same hole at the same time. They
liked to bet a lot of money and they never forgot to take their alcoholic beverages of
choice out on the course with them. I didn’t play with them very much because I couldn’t
keep up with them!”
“There was a time when the Tee Cup golf tournament was as big as the Cherokee Strip
Golf Classic. We would have a practice round followed by two rounds of tournament golf
and also have 2 or 3 huge, formal parties planned throughout the entire weekend.”
Tom continued, “I know it’s hard to believe but in those days we didn’t have electric golf
carts. We all hired caddies, whose average rate was about $2 a round for 18 holes of
golf.”
“A group of us used to travel to Vegas quite a bit and stay at the Sands, the Sahara or the
Tropicana. T.J. Cuzalina was generally the trip organizer since he knew most of the
influential people in Las Vegas. It wasn’t unusual for the entire tab of our trip to be
waived by one of the major hotel/casinos. In my younger days I also traveled to Pebble
Beach and played for several years in the the Andy Williams Pebble Beach Classic.”
Tom served as President of the PCCC Board of Directors in 1989. He remains optimistic
that the club will continue to prosper in the years to come. “There is no question that
Ponca City has changed in the last decade with many less professional type jobs located
here now. We used to have a waiting list of those wanting to join the club. In the last few
years our membership numbers have dropped considerably. Hopefully, under the
guidance and direction of the Board and some of our creative members, we can come up
with a defined business plan that will take the club well into the 21st century.”
Tom and his wife Jean are active members of the community and club. He still plays golf
twice a week with old friends Gale McArthur, Paul Northcutt and Clyde Becker.
The McGraw Family
Former Ponca City Country Club Head Golf
Professional Gervis McGraw first learned the game of
golf while caddying in Abilene, Texas and decided to
turn pro at the age of 19 after a very successful high
school career.
He worked as an assistant at the Abilene Country Club
until being hired by Southern Hills Country Club in
1953. Gervis was the First Assistant at the Wichita
Country Club from 1955 until he accepted the job of
Head Golf Professional at PCCC in May of 1957 at the
age of 27. He retired from the club in 1982.
Today, at age 75, he works with his son Tim as the
owners of the highly successful Gerv’s Golf Center on North Pennsylvania Avenue in
Oklahoma City.
The Cherokee Strip Golf Classic was started in 1962 by T.J. Cuzalina while Gervis was
the Head Golf Professional here. He has fond memories of the Hollywood and Las Vegas
celebrities that played in the event over the years including Joey Bishop, Jimmy Demaret,
Phil Harris, Don Cherry, Louis Prima, James Garner, George Gobel and Sands
Hotel/Casino owner Carl Cohen.
Gervis and his late wife Pat raised seven children while living in Ponca and three of them
are among the very best all-time players at PCCC. Still today, golf plays a major role in
their lives.
The McGraw children, along with their Dad and Chuck Coatney, Patty’s husband,
continue to have a very positive impact on all aspects of golf in Oklahoma, perhaps more
than any other family in the the state.
Patty McGraw Coatney is the Head Women’s Golf Coach of the University of Central
Oklahoma’s girls golf team. Coatney was a prep star while
playing mostly on the boys teams at Ponca City High School and
captured the first of her record nine Oklahoma State Amateur
championships as a sophomore. She won a state junior title in
1976, claimed the state high school girls championship in 1977
and was runner-up in 1978.
Patty won the State Amateur crown in four different decades,
winning that prestigious tournament in 1977, '79, '80, '81, '86, '88,
'90, '91 and '01.
Coatney also enjoyed a stellar career at Oklahoma State, starting all four years for the
Cowgirls. She had dozens of top-10 tournament finishes during her career, including a
pair of third-place showings in the Big Eight Championships, and led OSU to a best ever
third place national team finish as a senior.
Coatney turned professional after graduating from O.S.U. and played on the LPGA tour
for a few years in the mid-1980’s, qualifying for the United States Women’s Open in
1983.
She regained her amateur status after leaving the professional tour and worked in the golf
business in a variety of capacities until taking the UCO job.
Chuck Coatney, Patty’s husband, also grew up in Ponca City, graduating from Po-Hi in
1971. He played golf at O.U. for three years and
then started working for his future father-in-law,
Gervis McGraw, in the PCCC golf shop in 1974.
He qualified to play in the U.S. Open at Southern
Hills in 1977. Later that year he went to the PGA
Qualifying School and made it to the final cut,
actually leading the tournament after the first
day, but he failed to get his PGA tour card. He
made it to the finals of PGA qualifying school
again in 1981, but narrowly missed getting his
PGA tour card for the second time.
Chuck played in various state opens and pro-am
events and then married Patty McGraw in 1979.
He relocated to Stillwater Country Club at that
time because Patty was playing golf for O.S.U.
Chuck worked for Conoco for 13 years while still continuing to play in various
tournaments. He has won the Professional Division of the Cherokee Strip Golf Classic on
two occasions and won the Team Division four times.
In 1994 he went into business with Gervis and Tim McGraw, operating Gerv’s Golf
Center. He sold his part of the business in 2002.
Chuck was named the Assistant Professional Player of the Year for the South Central
Section of the PGA in the year 2000 and was recognized as one of the top 5 instructors in
the Central Oklahoma Region of the PGA in 2004.
He is currently an Assistant Golf Professional at Kickingird Golf Club in Edmond.
Chuck and Patty have two grown sons, Kyle and Chris.
Tim McGraw played in the Men's State Amateur at age 11
and made the cut at age 12. He won the Boys State Junior
Championship in 1971, the Texas-Oklahoma Boys Junior
Championship in 1973 and brought home the 4A Individual
Boys High School State Champion’s trophy in 1974 while
attending Ponca City High School.
McGraw won several tournaments while attending Odessa,
Texas Junior College and tried qualifying for the PGA Tour a
couple of times.
Tim is now in the golfing business with his Dad in Oklahoma
City.
Mike McGraw, Patty’s twin brother, just finished his eighth season with the Oklahoma
State golf programs and his first as the Head Coach of the
Cowgirls. McGraw came to Oklahoma State in 1997 as an
assistant coach for Mike Holder and the nationally recognized
Cowboy golf program. He played a vital role with seven
Cowboy squads, including the 2000 NCAA Champions.
In his seven years as part of the OSU men’s golf team, the
Cowboys won 16 tournament titles and had four top-five
finishes at the NCAA Championships, including two runnerup finishes.
In 2003, McGraw was named the inaugural recipient of the
Jan Strickland Assistant Coach of the Year award, presented
by TaylorMade-Adidas Golf.
Prior to coming to Oklahoma State, McGraw was head coach at Edmond North High
School in Edmond from 1994-97. Before that, he had been the assistant coach at Edmond
Memorial from 1987 until 1993. He had tremendous success in his high school coaching
endeavors, leading Edmond North to three state titles in four years and helping Memorial
to six championships in seven seasons. During his coaching career in Edmond, he
coached a total of seven individual state champions.
McGraw was named the Daily Oklahoman’s Coach of the Year in 1994, ‘96 and 1997.
He served as the President of the Oklahoma Golf Coaches Association in 1994.
McGraw received his bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications from the
University of Central Oklahoma in 1982. While a student at UCO, he lettered for three
seasons on the golf team and earned honorable mention All-American honors after
finishing 16th at the 1981 NAIA Championships.
Patty McGraw Coatney, Tim McGraw and Mike McGraw
Gervis McGraw
Growing Up Golfing At PCCC
Most of the families of the notable players listed below were members of Ponca City
Country Club. Since our club has proudly served as the home course of the Ponca City
High School golf teams for many years, almost all of the outstanding Ponca City golfers
from the past and present have literally “grown up” playing the PCCC golf course and
have received some of their professional instruction from either Gervis McGraw or Rich
Maril, our only Head Golf Professionals over the last 48 years. Quite a few of the players
have earned national recognition for their accomplishments, both on and off of the
course.
Shelby Futch graduated from Ponca City High School in 1959 and
was a member of the high school state championship team that
year. Other team members were Norvell Brown, Danny Morgan
and Glenn Hunter.
He is founder and CEO of the Scottsdale Golf Group and PresidentCEO of Golf Digest Schools. Shelby began playing golf in junior
high school and developed a natural swing on his own that earned
him a solid reputation in junior tournaments throughout Oklahoma
and a scholarship to Oklahoma State University. At OSU, the
encounter between a traditional, orthodox golf coach and Shelby’s
individualized, non-orthodox golf swing had less than favorable results. That served as
the catalyst for his vision and determination in developing the world's most successful
golf instruction programs.
Prior to establishing the Scottsdale Golf Group in 1970, Shelby played in numerous tours
including the Far Eastern, South American and several U.S. tours, and won the Illinois
PGA Championship in the early 70's. While in Chicago, Shelby owned and operated
many retail golf stores as well as a successful golf club manufacturing and fitting
operation.
Shelby has authored numerous instruction articles published in nationally recognized
publications and was featured in the book, Golf Gurus. He has appeared on The Golf
Channel's "Golf Academy Live" and is ranked as one of the best teachers in the country
by Golf Digest. He has produced two sets of successful golf instructional videos, helping
thousands of golfers improve and enjoy their game. He is a frequent guest speaker for the
Hong Kong and China PGA and is involved in the development of instructional programs
for mainland China. Shelby is also very dedicated to junior golf programs throughout the
country.
Shelby’s younger brother, Ronnie Futch, also grew up in Ponca and won the high school
conference championship in 1968. He was also a PCCC Club Champion. He now works
for his brother at the John Jacobs Golf School in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Margaret Williford, the wife of former PCCC Golf
Professional Hack Williford, won the Oklahoma
Women’s Open in 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1958. She was
runner-up on two other occasions. At age 54, Margaret
was the oldest woman to ever claim the coveted title.
Phil Howe won numerous junior tournaments throughout the state and
was among the very first Ponca City High School golfers to win an
individual state championship, capturing the Class AA boys
championship in 1963. He won the PCCC Club Championship in 1982.
Charles Weinshilboum won many junior
tournaments in the mid-1960’s and was also
Men’s Club Champion at PCCC on two
occasions. He served as the Head Professional
at Lakewood Country Club in Kansas City,
Missouri and was a Teaching Professional at
Brookridge Country Club in Olathe, Kansas.
Charles is retired now and currently resides in
Scottsdale, Arizona.
J.B. Hron started playing golf at PCCC at the age of 8
and won multiple junior golf championships statewide.
He also won several Club Championships in his prime.
He graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1970
and earned his law degree from O.U. in 1973.
Steve Kinzie was another outstanding player from
the 1960’s era and was ranked among the top junior
golfers in Oklahoma for several years.
Following high school, Steve attended Northern
Oklahoma College and Southwestern State in
Weatherford. While at NOC, he won the individual
title in the Region II Junior College Golf
Championship.
After serving in Vietnam, he was an assistant at
Dornick Hills Country Club in Ardmore from 197274 and then worked as a Teaching Professional at
Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa from 19741976. He was the Head Golf Professional at the
Chanute, Kansas Country Club from 1976 until
1981.
While still an assistant at Dornick Hills, Steve was instrumental in working with the
OSGA to have the Oklahoma Open played at Lakeside Golf Course in Ponca City from
1972-74.
From 1981 until 1994, he was a sales representative and then the Western Regional Sales
Manager and Major Tournament Coordinator for the Izod Golf and Tennis Company. His
duties included helping develop the tournament week merchandising plan for all of the
PGA major tournaments sites including Medinah, Hazeltine, Olympic Club, Colonial,
Las Colinas and others. Players under contract with Izod at that time included Tom
Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Watson, Juli Inkster and Nancy Lopez.
From 1995-98, Steve worked as Western Regional Sales Manager for Firethorn Golf
Apparel and then, from 1999-2000, as a Regional Manager for Tommy Hilfilger Golf.
One of Steve’s most cherished memories was the weekend in 1988 when he attended the
Centennial of Golf in America celebration at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. The
unforgettable festivities included attending a black-tie banquet and playing in the pro-am
with the likes of Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Kathy Whitworth, Jan
Stephenson, Ken Venturi, Nancy Lopez and Byron Nelson.
Steve and Oklahoma’s own Mickey Mantle were close friends and they enjoyed several
trips to Las Vegas together until Mantle’s untimely death in 1995 at the age of 63.
Steve and his wife Glenda have two children, Cory and Kasi, and are the owners of Ody’s
Turkey Creek Resort in Ponca City.
Rod Murray graduated from Ponca City High
School in 1967 and attended Northeastern State
University on a golf scholarship. He was
medalist at the Cherokee Conference
championship in 1969.
He was an Assistant Professional at Milburn
Country Club in Overland Park, Kansas from
1970-1972 and worked as a Teaching
Professional at Happy Hollow Country Club in
Omaha, Nebraska from 1973 through 1975.
In 1976, Rod competed on the Asian Tour
followed by a year on the PGA tour. From 1978
to 1982 he was a Teaching Professional at
Walnut Creek Country Club in Oklahoma City.
From 1997 until now, Rod has competed in various mini-Senior Tour events. He has
finished in the top ten money list on the Heartland Players Senior Tour every year since
he turned 50 years old. In addition to the mini-tours, he has played in eight Senior PGA
Tour events; his best performance was a 26th place finish in the Audi Mexican Open.
Rod has also qualified for and played in three Senior Majors; the 2000 and 2003 U.S.
Senior Open tournaments and the 2001 Senior PGA tourney. On two occasions, he
reached the final qualifying round in an effort to obtain his Senior Tour playing card.
Rod held the course record at Lew Wentz golf course for several years, shooting a 31-3263. The round included six birdies and an eagle.
His career highlight was getting to play with Arnold Palmer in a twosome while playing
in the 2001 3M Championship in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Murray shot 72 while Palmer
carded a 76.
Teresa Weinshilboum was one of the most dominant amateur
lady golfers in the state from 1966 to 1976. She won Oklahoma
Junior Girls Amateur Championships in 1966, ’67 and ’69. She
also captured the Oklahoma Women’s Amateur Championship in
1970 and 1976.
Teresa tried her luck on the LPGA tour for several years with
varying degrees of success. She worked as a Head Instructor at the
John Jacobs Golf School in Arizona for many, many years and has
appeared on The Golf Channel's "Golf Academy Live" several
times.
Teresa died in August 2005 as the result of a tragic traffic accident in Scottsdale.
Jim Begwin was the 4A Oklahoma High School
Individual Champion in 1981 and 1982. He went to school
at Oklahoma University and in 1984 was named to the AllAmerican team. In that same year, Begwin tied a record
for the lowest score ever recorded in an NCAA
Championship tournament round, a 63. The record tying
round was at Bear Creek Golf Club in Houston. Jim held
the record with Phil Mickelson and David Gossett until
Notah Begay shot a 62 at the NCAA Championships in
1994.
Jim competed on several mini-tours and has traveled the
world playing golf. He was Director of Golf at the Four
Seasons Resort in the British West Indies for several years.
He is currently working for John Deere and resides in
Ardmore with his wife and family.
Johnny Flegler won several PCCC Junior championships as
well as winning the Men’s Club championship. He was the
leader of the boys team that won back to back 5A Team
State Championships for Ponca City in 1985 and 1986. He
was named to the All-State team all three years while in
high school.
He graduated from Southern Methodist University and is
now the President of AMSCO Supply, a Tulsa-based family
owned H&A distribution company.
John and his wife Marnie have two children.
Craig Poet was a standout player on the Ponca City High
School golf team and was named as an All-Stater in 1987 and
1989. He was offered a scholarship and moved north to
Cornhusker country and played for the University of
Nebraska from 1989-1993. He was an Academic AllAmerican in 1992 and 1993.
Craig first turned professional in 1994 and played on the Canadian Tour in 1997 and ’98.
He continued to be active on various mini-tours through 2001.
Craig is now working as a Management Systems Information Coordinator for the United
Way of Ponca City, but he still has ties to the golf world. He works part-time conducting
clinics throughout the United States for Profile Sports Inc., a corporate golf outing
company based in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Craig and his wife Becky are the proud parents of Charlie, their two year old son and
future PCCC club champion.
Michaela Cavener began playing golf at the age of 9. She was
a four-time All-Frontier Conference and All-Region selection
at Ponca City High School and earned All-State honors as a
senior. She finished in second place at the Class 6A state
tournament as a freshman and won the Class 6A high school
individual state championship in her final three seasons of prep
golf (2002-2003-2004).
She is a sophomore majoring in International Business and
Spanish at Tulsa University and is playing for the Golden
Hurricane’s women’s golf team. She finished in third place in
the 2005 Western Athletic Conference tournament and was a
second team, all-W.A.C. player.
Michaela won the 2005 W.O.G.A. Match Play and Stroke Play tournaments, becoming
only the second woman in history to win both events in the same year.
Other notable Ponca City lady golfers through the years include Lori Lauritsen, who
played college golf at Kansas University and Kasi Kinzie, a former member of the
Baylor University women’s golf team.
Among the men, Scott Oulds had a very successful junior career and later qualified to
play in the 1987 P.G.A. Championship. He worked at Pawnee Prairie Golf Club in
Wichita and is now the Head Golf Professional at Greenbriar Country Club in St. Louis,
Missouri.
Brent Wilcoxen was a member of the Ponca City High School boys team that won state
championships in 1985 and 1986. He is an Assistant Golf Professional at South Lakes
Golf Club in Jenks and also serves as the Head Coach for the powerful Jenks High
School boys golf team.
Todd Lessert was also a member of the 1985 and 1986 state championship teams and
has worked as an Assistant Golf Professional at Oakbourne Country Club in Lafayette,
Louisiana and North Hills Country Club in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Cory Kinzie was a member of the 1985 high school boys state championship team and
served as an Assistant Golf Professional at Oak Tree Country Club from 1988 to 1994.
He is now in private business in Oklahoma City.
John Hron V won many tournaments throughout the state in the late 80’s and early 90’s
and was the PCCC Junior Club Champion in 1992. He was named as the Most Valuable
Player for the Po-Hi golf teams in 1994, 1995 and 1996. John finished in 6th place in the
6A State High School tournament in 1995 and was named to the All-State team in 1996.
He was a four year letterman at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, serving as
the team captain from 1999-2001 and also won the team’s MVP award in 1999-2000.
He also found time to play in and win the Men’s Club Championship at Ponca City
Country Club in 1999.
John served as the Assistant Golf Coach for the Northeastern State Redmen and Lady
Reds from 2001 until 2003. Since then, he has been working as an Assistant Golf
Professional at Hillcrest Country Club in Bartlesville.
Pat Collogan was named All-Frontier Conference for four consecutive years in high
school and averaged three tournament wins a year. In 2005 he was named to the AllState team. He is a sophomore at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and recently
finished in a fourth place tie in the Southland Conference tournament with scores of 7769-72. He was named as the 2005 Freshman Player of the Year by the Louisiana
Sportswriters Association.
Matt Ellis, currently a junior at the University of Central Oklahoma, has established
himself as one of the top golfers in NCAA Division II. He arrived at U.C.O. in 2004 as a
mid-season transfer from the University of Nebraska. Matt holds the course record at
Ponca City Country Club, shooting a phenomenal 10 under par 62 in the summer of
2001.
Perry Maxwell
Perry Maxwell acquired his reputation as one of the country's most distinctive golf
course architects only after first establishing himself as a prominent banker for 10 years.
His distinctive flair with huge, contoured putting surfaces and swales - known as
"Maxwell's rolls" - was developed as a means of creating interesting ground features on
native land that was relatively uninteresting.
In 1935 at the age of 56, Maxwell became
famous with his design of Southern Hills
Country Club in Tulsa. The course was a
bold experiment, as it featured the area's
first bentgrass greens, a turf that until then
could not be maintained in the Southwest's
searing summer heat.
Dornick Hills in Ardmore, Maxwell’s home course and his very first design in 1914, was
the first golf course in Oklahoma to have grass greens. He used a strain of bermuda that
was hardy in the clay soil of our state.
Maxwell's penchant for shaping low-level features out of native ground was put to
brilliant use with his nine-hole work at Prairie Dunes in Hutchison, Kansas, still widely
considered to be the purest links style golf course in the United States. Maxwell
reportedly walked the original 480 acre site for weeks before deciding where and how to
construct the original nine holes. After his initial exploration, he is said to have stated,
"there are 118 golf holes here. . .and all I have to do is eliminate 100 of them."
After World War II, Maxwell began working with his son, Press, who became a
prominent golf course architect in his own right. It was Press Maxwell who added the
second nine to Prairie Dunes in 1957, five years after his father's death at the age of 73.
He was so highly regarded by his peers that Maxwell was called in for a number of
prominent renovation projects, including Pine Valley and three new holes for Colonial
Country Club in Fort Worth. Maxwell also created the design for the putting surfaces and
approaches to the present 7th and 10th greens at Augusta National, home of the Masters
golf tournament.
Maxwell’s architecture went somewhat unnoticed for many years, primarily for two
reasons. First, he started his trade in the Dust Bowl region away from the large
metropolitan areas and second, he was soft spoken and did not ever pursue publicity and
the national limelight.
The “rest of the best” of Perry Maxwell’s Oklahoma designed courses include Ponca City
Country Club, Hillcrest Country Club in Bartlesville, Muskogee Country Club,
Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club, Oakwood Country Club in Enid, Jimmie Austin
Golf Club in Norman, Twin Hills Country Club in Oklahoma City, and Cushing Country
Club.
Other area courses that Maxwell designed include the front nine holes at Ark City
Country Club, Bristow Country Club, Cherokee Hills in Catoosa, Duncan Country Club,
Elks Country Club in Shawnee and Mohawk Park in Tulsa.
Technology and time change many things. Almost all of Maxwell’s original course
designs throughout the United States have been tweaked to varying degrees. The first
nine at Prairie Dunes in Hutchison probably remains more intact today than any other
original Maxwell design.
Happy 60th Birthday, Ponca City Country Club!
The road to fun times with family and friends
and lots of memories . . . . .