Chip Shots; Play Southern Hills, Andy Dillard reemerges with new book, Golf Trail seeks Commissioners

Six in a Row

by pat wheeler

In 1992, I was living in Georgia and traveling the Southeast for a mortgage insurance company. Late one afternoon, I pulled into a nice golf course for nine holes on the way home to Atlanta.

It was the Thursday of the US Open and I peeked at the television screen as I was checking in at the golf shop. To my surprise, they were showing my old friend from Tyler, Texas, Andy Dillard on the tube.

Wow, I wonder why they are showing Andy, I pondered aloud.

“Well, he birdied the first six holes starting out,” the young assistant pro said. Excuse me? The first six holes of the US Open? Oh my goodness, little Andy Dillard! It is hard to believe that week is now 30 years in the rearview mirror but time marches on and now little Andy Dillard is an older guy with grown children and instead of looking like the Michelin man, he now looks more like Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Dillard has a story to tell, the inner workings of a professional golfer trying to salvage a career, live out his dreams and paint his Andy Dillard masterpiece at the most beautiful course in the world – Pebble Beach. Just released in late May, Dillard’s book, “Six In A Row,” is a must read for the avid

Golf Trail seeks commissioners

The Oklahoma Golf Trail bill presented by State Rep. Sheila Dills has passed the state legislature and been signed by Gov. Kevin Stitt.

Next step is forming the nine-member commission that will solicit applications to be on the Trail and set up a structure for its operation and promotion.

Those with a background in golf operations and marketing who wish to be part of the commission can send a resume detailing their golf and marketing backgrounds to the three government officials who will be selecting the commission. Those who send in a resume will then receive an official application form.

When sending in a resume, copy each of the following:

Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell

Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell: Matt.pinnell@ltgov. ok.gov

Okla. Speaker of the House Charles McCall: Charles.McCall@okhouse.gov

Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat: Greg.Treat@ oksenate.gov Pinnell will make five selections to the commission while McCall and Treat will have two selections each.

State Rep. Once the commission

Sheila Dills is established it will determine a criteria and selection process for which courses will be included and how best to market those courses.

Commissioners are volunteer positions and can expect to meet at least quarterly and perhaps more often. Terms will be limited to six years.

Play Southern Hills in HOF Classic

The Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame Classic, a fundraiser to support the 501 C3 organization’s scholarship and Everett Dobson Award programs, will be held Monday Oct, 24 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, site of the 2022 PGA Championship and seven other major championships. Sign up now for this amazing event which will include great tee gifts, prizes, breakfast and lunch and many special guests, including members of the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame and rofessionals from around the state.

Entry fee is $4,000 per team of four am-

ateurs and bring your own professional, or $5,000 for a team of five amateurs. Other levels of sponsorship are available as follows: Scholarship Sponsor - Southern Hills CC $10,000 for one year Scholarship sponsors help sponsor the two $5,000 scholarships the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame presents to high school golfers annually as well as the $5,000 Everett Dobson Award. Hole Sponsor - $1,000. Includes signage for your company on a particular hole and in the pre-tournament media. Visit www.oklahomagolfhof.org for entry forms and more information. golfer. And the subtitle, “What The U.S. Open Taught Me about Golf, Faith and Purpose,” speaks of his personal transformation from a golf hustler to committed Christian and family man.

The only child of Don and Dixie Dillard, Andy grew up on the east side of Tyler and first noticed his gift for golf at the Putt-Putt course near his home. Later he was part of a dynamic junior golf program at the old Briarwood Country Club that was way ahead of its time. Probably a dozen of those junior golfers earned college scholarships in the late 1970s with Dillard, the Texas state junior champion at age 15, earning a full ride to Oklahoma State where he played on a national championship team with guys like Scott Verplank, Bob Tway and Willie Wood.

It was Verplank who planted the seed for Dillard’s comeback in 1992 after playing the tour a couple of years in the late 1980s but losing his “card,” or playing privileges on the all exempt PGA Tour. Verplank told Dillard during some pre-season training in January of 1992, in Palm Springs, that Andy had the best eye-to-hand coordination he had ever seen and just to trust in his ability to hit it where you are looking. Sounds simple, and sometimes it can be that way in the strange world of competitive golf.

Dillard’s book, released in time for the 2022 U.S. Open to be played at The Country Club near Boston, begins with the details of those six birdies in a row, still an Open record. Paired with fellow Texans Bob Estes and Tom Jenkins, Dillard left his birdie putt hanging on the lip of the cup on the iconic short par-3 7th hole to break his string that may never be repeated.

“Heck, I thought he was going to birdie every hole,” Jenkins told me later.

Dillard finished that first round with a 68 and in third place to first round leader Gil Morgan’s 66. After a second round 70, Dillard found himself in second place and in the final group with Morgan for Saturday’s third round. The remainder of the story I will leave to Dillard to tell as it is both riveting and revealing of the pressures of golf at the very highest level.

The beauty of his book is Dillard’s transparency as he describes the highs and lows of pursuing his dreams as a professional golfer. Not to spoil it for you, I will simply say there is redemption and there is transformation.

Six In A Row is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.