T H E S TAT E | S P O R T S
The Freeing Fairway
The first documented round of golf played in Oklahoma was in 1900 at Guthrie Country Club, seven years before the former Indian Territory gained statehood. In the century-plus since, the Sooner State has developed a colorful golf history. With plenty of great private and public courses for all skill levels open and developing around the state, Oklahoma has hosted numerous high-profile professional events like the 2022 PGA Championship and tournaments in the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour and PGA Champions Tour. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, hordes of new players took up the game since it was a great way to get outdoors and get some exercise. Plus, golf is one sport which facilitates social distancing – helping fuel the sport’s popularity. In fact, most people who have taken up the game in the past few years are sticking with it. “The wait at public courses around the state right now is exceedingly high. Private courses – their memberships are full, and they’ve got waiting lists,” says Ken McLeod, director of the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame. “The boom hasn’t shown any signs of letting up.”
Golf ’s popularity across the state continues to grow.
Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa is one of a number of awardwinning courses in Oklahoma. Photo by Gary W. Kellner
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A Rich History
OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | JULY 2022
Collegiate Golf
Several Oklahoma-based colleges and universities are ranked among the best in the sport. As of June, the Oklahoma men were ranked No. 1 and Oklahoma State third in Golfstat’s collegiate rankings. The Oklahoma City University women were atop the latest National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) rankings while the OCU men were in the top 10. Karsten Creek in Stillwater, the private course home to the OSU men’s and women’s teams, has hosted the NCAA Golf Championships in 2003, 2011 and 2018.
Going Official
The game’s footprint in the state will be further expanded by two bills introduced in January 2022 by State Representative Sheila Dills of Tulsa, who played collegiately at OSU and is a four-time Women’s Oklahoma Golf Association State Amateur Champion. The first, House Bill 3637, explores creating an Oklahoma Golf Trail to honor the state’s rich golfing history, like the Oklahoma Fish Trail, which has proved popular among anglers and contributes $45 million in economic impact to the state annually. Dills’ other piece of legislation calls for the third Wednesday in June to be designated Oklahoma Golf Day. Expected to begin in 2023, this day would recog-
