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Bob SowardsBob Sowards Playing Record - Researched 1/19/24 - PGA Director of Instruction at Kinsale Golf & Fitness Club. Won the 2004 PGA Professional Championship at Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio. Has played in 11 PGA Championships, tied for second all-time among PGA Club Professionals. Winner, 2014, ‘05, ‘04, ‘03 PGA of America PGA Professional Player of the Year. Winner, 2023 ,'22, ‘21, ‘19, ‘18 PGA of America Senior PGA Professional Player of the Year. His nine national PGA awards are the most in the history of the Asso...
Janet BeardsleyA Dayton Legend View Playing Bio - Born in Dayton August 12, 1918, Janet Shock and her brother Don had a distinct advantage. They grew up around the golf business. Her father was the manager at Community Golf Course. Moraine Country Club professional, Alex Campbell, taught Janet to play. Mr. Kettering gave Mr. Campbell permission to use the property adjacent to what is now Kettering Memorial Hospital to give lessons. Obviously, Miss Shock was one of his better pupils. In 1933, business teacher, Dick Sommers, asked Janet to join the first golf team at Kettering...
Elhannon CollinsEL COLLINS - Born on April 3, 1935 in Hazard, Kentucky, El Collins grew up playing golf on the nine hole Hazard Country Club where in his early years he caddied for his dad who was a good golfer in his own right. After a four-year stint in the Navy, he attended Eastern Kentucky University, once graduating he started his golf career as an Assistant Golf Professional at Lancaster CC, in Lancaster, OH before beginning his Head Professional Role at Sharon Woods in 1962 then moving onto Moundbuilders and finally settling in Springfield, OH, first at the Old Reid Park Golf Course in...
Oscar 'Ock' WilloweitOSCAR "Ock" Willoweit Bucky Alber's Obituary from Dayton Daily News from 1988 ‘Ock’ Willoweit was in at start of golf in U.S. Oscar Gustavus "Ock" Wllloweit always referred to himself as The Dutchman. His friends, poking fun at his penchant for talking too much, called him The Silent Dutchman. It was a name that was never appropriate until now. Willoweit, one of Dayton's best known golf professionals, died Sunday afternoon after a two-year illness. He was 85. “He was the most generous person I ever met” said former Daytonian Bob Rickey, whose fat...
Paul Runyan stuns Sam SneadIn the 1938 PGA, two of the era’s star players, Paul Runyan and, Sam Snead, met in the final for the Wanamaker Trophy. Snead was the oddsmakers’ 10-1 favorite to win the match. He was tall, strong and with a model swing drove the ball among the longest hitters on the professional tour. The slightly built Runyan – about 5 feet 7 inches and 130 pounds – used an unorthodox loopy swing as one of the game’s shortest hitters.

Runyan, who was raised in rural Arkansas, was introduced to golf as a caddie. He quit school after the eighth grade, and at age 18 became the head professional at Concordia Country Club in Little Rock.
Bob ZimmermanBob Zimmerman Birthdate: November 1, 1940 High School: Fairmont (1958) Height & Weight: 5-foot-10, 158 College: University of Dayton (1958-x) The son of Bill “Bones” Zimmerman and Marion Zimmerman, Bobby grew up in a house on Melrose Avenue near Community Golf Course. His younger brother, Mike Zimmerman, also became a golf professional. He was head pro at Kittyhawk Golf Course in 1998 when he died in an auto accident. Golf Accomplishments: Won Dayton City Match Play Championship in 1957 at age 16, defeating John Blesi, 4 and 3,...
Bogie BustersThe Bogie Busters Reprint of Original Article from Brendan Zdunek The Bogie Busters of Dayton, Ohio was an annual celebrity golf tournament that ran from 1967 to 1991.[1] Started by Dayton-area businessman Cy Laughter, the event brought together many celebrities and business and political leaders. The tournament was played at Dayton Country Club from 1967 to 1974 and then subsequently was played at the larger NCR Country Club.[2] Beyond the fame it brought, the tournament also played a key role in the construction of the University of Dayton Arena. Through Bogie Busters, UD A...
Frank MarchiThe Club Pro Miami Valley' s Frank Marchi fits the role By GARY NUHN Daily News Sportswriter (1977) The first time he swung at a golf ball, little, 9-year-old Frank Marchi figured he was going to hit it so hard; he'd knock it right on out of Columbus. So, let's see, grip tight, big backswing, let 'er rip. "I missed it and fell down in a heap and couldn’t get up” Marchi was remembering the other day”. “It turned out I had taken my knee cap out of place and I was laid up for two weeks” From those humble beginnings, one of Dayton'...
Gene MarchiGene Marchi 1905 - 1969 - Thanks to the Marchi Family Providing this Material - Photos Below Gene Marchi's association with the golf business spans more than half a century. The last 40 years of it at Miami Valley Golf Club. As a lad of Ten years, he started as a caddy at Upper Arlington Golf Club in his hometown of Columbus. He toted bags at that 9-hole layout until moving to Scioto CC when it opened two years later. Gene stayed on as a caddy at Scioto throughout his high school days. After graduating from high school, Gene stayed at Scioto CC for two more years, wo...
The MacGregor Golf CompanyThe MacGregor Golf Co. This information is a combination from a number of sources and compiled by Steve Jurick, PGA, ED for MIami Valley Golf - Besides Bucky's Albers Postcast embedded shortly into the story, there are two episodes from Talking Golf History with Connor T Lewis and John Barba from MyGolfSpy. Please share with steve@mvgolf.org any historical updates or comments as this page is meant to capture as much of our Hometown Company's Early History as Possible. The MacGregor Golf Co. was founded on innovation -- on the creative process of making something new from exis...
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