View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Furman University Furman Magazine Volume 44 Article 9 Issue 2 Summer 2001 6-1-2001 Deep Impact Vince Moore Furman University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/furman-magazine Recommended Citation Moore, Vince (2001) "Deep Impact," Furman Magazine: Vol. 44 : Iss. 2 , Article 9. Available at: https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/furman-magazine/vol44/iss2/9 This Regular Feature is made available online by Journals, part of the Furman University Scholar Exchange (FUSE). It has been accepted for inclusion in Furman Magazine by an authorized FUSE administrator. For terms of use, please refer to the FUSE Institutional Repository Guidelines. For more information, please contact [email protected]. "I knew there was a lot of talent on the women's team," says Meredith, who left Furman in 1980 to become men's golf coach at Mississippi State Unjversity. "I saw them playing at the golf course and I knew how good they were. But they weren't organized, and they needed some kind of direction." The final pjece of the puzzle fe ll into place when Meredith convinced Sherri Turner, a Greenville golfer and Carolina Junior Deep Impact champion, to enroll at Furman, even though she had no inclination to do so. "She djdn't want to come," he says, "and it took me a Since its humble beginnings while to talk her into it. But I knew she was good enough to be 20 years ago, the Furman LPGA the one player we were missing." Pro-Am has become a major Furman actually began the 1975-76 season as the favorite to success story. win the national title. Despite their various problems, the Lady Palaillns had firushed thirdin the 1974 AlAW national championship and fifth in 1975, and they had just about everybody back. But it didn't take long fo r Tulsa to supplant Furman as the country's most By Vince Moore dorllinant team. "We could beat anybody east of the Mississippi River, but not Tulsa," Meredith says. "We won every tournament we played when Tulsa didn't show up, but they always beat us head-to-head." It started as a simple and modest idea. Tulsa even flew into Greenville that spring and won the Lady Betsy King, a 1977 Furman graduate Paladin tournament on the Furman course. who was early in her career on the LPGA But Furman had an edge entering the national tournament. tour, had seen firsthand how pro-am The Lady Paladins had played the Michigan State course earlier tournaments could be a good way to raise in the year when they had participated in the school's invitational money. So why not convince a few of her tournament. Tulsa had not. Meredith had even talked a local fellow Ladies Professional Golf Association booster into flyingthe team up on a private plane for the tournament. players to attend a pro-am at the Furman "We usually drove a borrowed Winnebago everywhere we golf course that would benefit the university's went," Ferro says, "so it was really something to flyto a tournament." golf programs? Furman trailed four teams after the first round, moved into a King contacted Moffett Kendrick, third-place tie the ne?>t day, andwas in second place behind Florida Furman's vice president for development after round three. But by the time the teams reached the back nine at the time, and verified that it was some­ of the last round, everybody had faded with the exception of Furman thing the university would be interested in and Tulsa. pursuing. She then went to Beth Daniel, It all came down to Daniel, who was playing in the last group another Furman graduate playing on tour, and was standing on the tee of the par-3 18th hole when she was to see if she would participate and help informed that she needed to make par fo r Furman to win. secure a few fellow pros to play. "I was fine until somebody told me that," Darnel says, laughing. "I thought it was a good idea and I "I knew it was close, but I illdn'tthink it was that close. I remember wanted to be a part of it," Daniel says. "I Doc saying, 'What in the world did you tell her that fo r?' And thought it was something that could work. then I missed the green to the right with my tee shot." I always get credit for helping put the Pro­ But, befitting a two-time U.S. Amateur champion and future Am together, but Betsy really did most of LPGA Hall of Famer, Daniel chipped the ball within three feet and the work that first year." made the putt. "I can remember standing by the green and watching That first year was 1982, and 17 women Beth get up and down," King says. "It was all pretty exciting." professionals and 51 amateurs showed up Twenty-five years later, King, Daniel and Turner arestill to raise a total of $9,500. There were about making a living on the LPGA tour. King and Daniel have received as many spectators as participants. so many accolades that it's impossible to list them all. But King It might not have been the grandest has won 34 times (including the Shop-Rite Classic July 1) and beginning, but it was a beginning. Daniel 32, and it is not surprising that they have chased each other Things were still a little lean the next into the professional record books. few years -the playing spots didn't always "They were completely different personalities and were very sell, and members of the Furman golf teams competitive," says Meredith, now retired and living in Bay Minette, were usually recruited to play - but the Ala. "But they were competitive in a friendly way, a good way. Furman Pro-Am eventually began to catch They pushed each other." on. More pros and amateurs began to Turnerhas also enjoyed an outstanding career on the LPGA commit to play, and major sponsors like tour, winnjng three times and being named Player of the Ye ar in Slazenger, Belk, Bi-Lo, Pepsi and the Hyatt 1988. Ferro, who no longer plays the tour full time, has been a Regency signed up to support the tourna­ teachjng pro at the famed Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey since ment. An annual breakfast at the home of 1989. Bill and Connie Timmons also became a tradition. "That national championship season was a great experience," "The Pro-Am was getting progressively Ferro says. "We had our differences, like any team, but that better those first few years, and then it really was actually good. I have a lot of great memories from that began to take off in the late 1980s," says time. It's just hard to believe it's been 25 years." 16 Marshall Bettendorf, Furman's director of athletic events, who began overseeing the tournament in 1996. Some of the most popular names in women's golf started to play in the Pro-Am - Nancy Lopez, Dinah Shore, Jan Stephenson, JoAnne Carner, Kathy Whitworth, LPGA commissioner Charlie Mechem. It also helped when Furman graduate Dottie Pepper joined the tour in 1987, which meant that, with King and Daniel, three of the best players on tour were guaranteed to be at the tournament almost every year. When the Furman LPGA Pro-Am celebrated its 20th anniversary on May 14, 2001 , it featured 32 pros, 128 amateurs and a waiting list of people who hope to play next year. It has become one of the most talked about pro-am events in the country, and everybody who can still remember the lean times in women's golf considers it to be a spectacular success story. The Pro-Am has raised a total of $1.7 million to endow golf scholarships and support both the women's and men's golf programs at Furman. Its impact can be seen everywhere you look, from the six full scholarships that the Lady Paladin program provides its players today to the REK Center The Pro-Am is always a relaxing and enjoyable time for the participants, as Joan Delk and for Intercollegiate Golf, with its perfectly her nattily dressed partner, Ron Resmini, demonstrate. Fans often turnout in their finest maintained practice facilities. It has also purple-trimmed paraphernalia and set up shop at their favorite hole to watch as the pros, played a part in helping the 13 Furman like Dottie Pepper, show them how it's done. graduates who are currently playing the LPGA tour or one of its satellites. she says with a laugh. "Now the players Twenty years is a long time, and nobody "It makes you feel good to think don't get to do that anymore." knows how much longer the Pro-Am can about what this Pro-Am has been able to King and Daniel admit that while they continue to roll along. But there is no accomplish," says Cindy Ferro '76, who had high hopes for the Furman LPGA Pro­ indication that it's going to end anytime was among the first Furman graduates to Am, they never dreamed that it could have soon. play on the LPGA tour. ''The whole purpose turned out as well as it did. "It's amazing the turnout they get every was to provide these players with things "We thought the tournament could year," Ferro says. "You usually see a pro­ we didn't have." make money for the school and help out a am like this slowing down after a certain "It's a great annual event," says Caroline little bit, but we didn't see it having this kind amount of time, but people work really hard Peek Blaylock '95, who returns to campus of impact," Daniel says.