Consider this….
Lost to us this past week is Frank Morey, PGA Section Past President and Ernie Vossler, PGA Life Member. I am taken by these two men, the history they represent and the very different paths their lives had taken in the game and business of golf. Mr. Vossler was a Professional Golfer from Fort Worth Texas. Born in 1928 he was a four time PGA Tour winner and then a club professional at Southern Hills Country Club and later Quail Creek Golf and Country Club. Elected as the PGA of America’s Golf Professional of the Year in 1967 and inducted to the PGA Golf Hall of Fame in 2005 Mr. Vossler was an inspiration. In the early 1970′s he and partner Joe Walser founded the Oak Tree Golf Club host of 1988 PGA Championship and host of the 2014 United States Senior Open Championship. Later as Chairman of Landmark Golf Company Mr. Vossler touched the lives of hundreds of PGA Members and Apprentices who had the opportunity to work under the venerable and iconic Oak Tree symbol which was the identity for so many facilities, including mine.
In the early 1970′s as a young Golf Professional I would have occasion to call Frank Morey at the Wilshire Country Club as we enjoyed a reciprocal agreement for our members to enjoy one another’s clubs. What a class act and inspiration to a young professional he was and remained. Born in 1928 and elected to PGA Membership in 1956, Mr. Morey served as the first Golf Professional at the De Anza Desert Country Club and would travel back to Beechmont Country Club in Cleveland, Ohio during the summer months and did so until assuming the position of Head Golf Professional at Wilshire Country Club in 1963. A 57 year Member of our Section and a servant to the game of golf, Mr. Morey served as our Section President from 1975 to 1977 and served with such distinction. Mr. Morey was our Golf Professional of the Year in 1972 and inducted in our Hall of Fame in 1997. May you both rest with our thanks for the lives you’ve lived and especially those you’ve touched….
Jeff Johnson, PGA
