 (Source - Saber 1960)
I was fortunate to have been associated with the KMI golf teams of 1968-1971. My first year as a teacher and coach, Clay Morris was the head coach, and I was his unpaid, unofficial assistant (meaning, essentially, a second chauffeur). After Captain Morris left KMI, Dr. Simpson asked me if I wanted to take over. Of course, I said “yes.” A couple of interesting events occurred during my stint as head coach. First was during Chip Powell’s senior year when we were in Florida. We were moving to the new Mission Valley course just north of Venice, and it was still rather rugged. Snakes, alligators, and other wildlife were abundant, and we were all cautioned to avoid the rough as much as possible. Well, anyone who knew Chip understands that that was not always possible. One day he sprayed a shot to the right, landing in some pretty rough stuff. Shortly after entering the forbidden territory, we heard a yell and turned to see Chip high-tailing it out of the rough. When asked what was wrong, he breathlessly exclaimed, “I almost backed up into a ‘gator.” The rest of us in the foursome nearly lost it, as we looked at Chip and his golf bag, a simulated alligator-skin bag! He had startled himself with his own golf bag! Rest assured, he carried that memory, with a lot of reminding, with him for a long time. The other event was one I did not find out about until three months after the fact. I had accepted a teaching and coaching job in my hometown of Delta, Ohio in the spring of 1971. In May of that year, I loaded up my top four players, Johnny Richmond, Brent Rice, Steve Fox, and Mark Jahnke, and headed 275 miles north to my hometown and future position to play the Delta High School golf team in a Saturday match. The players stayed with my parents, and you should have seen those young men eat! On Saturday, KMI handily defeated my future team, and we returned to Kentucky the following morning. It had been quite an experience for us all, including crossing the Maumee River near Delta on a bridge that was condemned and closed the very next week. About three months later, when I was beginning the school year, a couple of the Delta golfers approached me and commented about the match in May. They were impressed with my players’ abilities, personalities, and courage. They also were amazed at the amount of “illegal beverages” (not Mountain Dew) that had been squirreled away and apparently consumed from the KMI players’ golf bags. Of course, there was not evidence of that actually happening, although one of the players acknowledged some years later that it “might have happened.” Finally, two of the greatest thrills I had while coaching was taking Johnny Richmond (sophomore year) and Brent Rice (senior year) to the state tournament at Fort Knox. In fact, I have water colors of them both on my den wall, painted by a Delta student from snapshots I had taken at the tournaments. Tim M. Churchill
1/25/2011 I suppose my one claim to fame at KMI was when I finished 3rd in the state golf tournament in 1951. The winner was Gay Brewer, later on the tour and a two time winner of the Masters and many other tour tournaments. The fellow I played with the last day and who finished fourth was Bobby Nichols, who later won the PGA Championship and several other tour tournaments. When still in college (TexasA&M), he beat my brother Richard (KMI x58) for the Texas amateur championship. We really had a great team in 1951. The captain was John Y. Brown, later Ky Fried Chicken mogul and governor of Ky. Joe Scales, a sophomore and one of KMI's great athletes (five varsity sports). Happy Hall, a junior and myself... a four year letterman... made up the first foursome. Golf enabled me to be friends with other schoolmates who were not in my class such as Alex Hodgin '49, Hank Aronberg '49, and Weldon Schaeffer '48. In my class, I played a lot with Bill Buckner and Richard Scott both of who were on the second team. Capt. Scott, who was attached to the ROTC department, would sometimes sneak me off campus after drill to play a quick nine holes at Owl Creek CC and other courses. I also remember paying with Col. Hodgin and Sgt. Ghee several times. Those were good times! George Canon, KMI '51
850 Gaylord
1/27/2011 Reading past experiences from former golf teams, I feel obligated to recall my short (one year) participation in K.M.I.. golf team 1958, after qualifying for the state tournament (individually finish third) we went on to Paducah, after graduation with Capt Hodgin to play , was really fun , apart from the tournament, they had organize social events dances (very nice local talents) and we did very well in all events, except the tournament . Alberto Paz Rodriguez (1958) drooppy@cableonda.net |
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