BOULDER — Dale Douglass, the University of Colorado’s first golfer to play on the PGA Tour, passed away in Scottsdale, Ariz., after a long illness Wednesday morning; he was 86.
At CU, he was a three-time, first-team all-conference performer, in the Big Seven in 1956 and the Big Eight in 1958 and 1959. He finished eighth, seventh and fifth, respectively in the league championships those years and remains one of just five Buffaloes to finish in the top 10 three times in a conference championship. He was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010, the second golfer after Hale Irwin to be so honored.
“Dale was so very proud of being from Fort Morgan and the University of Colorado,” Irwin said Wednesday evening from Akron, where he is set to compete in a pro-Am. “He wore the school colors proudly. Personally, I’ve lost a close friend I’ve had for some 57 years. More importantly, golf has lost a real gentleman and a man who really championed golf throughout the country. He did so much for a lot of people, particularly in Colorado. There was never a bad word you heard from anyone about Dale Douglass.”
“Dale was like my big brother and I was like his bratty little brother,” he mused. “We throw the word mentor around a lot, but in Dale’s case, I can elevate the word mentor to friend. I’ll miss him.”
“Back in the day before we had sponsors and all the courtesies we now have, you were pretty much on your own,” Irwin recalled. “You had to drive yourself to most events, find your own hotel and arrange for a caddy on-site. It was a lot for a young guy to have to figure out, but Dale was the one who helped me navigate the tour. That in of itself was difficult for anyone – it was night and day compared to now.”
Irwin was in Charlotte at the 1969 Kemper Open and watched him finish when he won by four strokes over Charles Coody, his second tour win at the time. In 1974, when Irwin won his first of three U.S. Opens at Winged Foot (Mamaroneck, N.Y.), both Irwin, Douglass (who tied for 18th) and their wives (Sally and Joyce, respectively) celebrated that evening with hotel room service, one of countless dinners the couples had together.
Douglass won three times on the PGA Tour (with three playoff losses) and was one of the early players to have great success on the Senior Tour (since renamed the…
At CU, he was a three-time, first-team all-conference performer, in the Big Seven in 1956 and the Big Eight in 1958 and 1959. He finished eighth, seventh and fifth, respectively in the league championships those years and remains one of just five Buffaloes to finish in the top 10 three times in a conference championship. He was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2010, the second golfer after Hale Irwin to be so honored.
“Dale was so very proud of being from Fort Morgan and the University of Colorado,” Irwin said Wednesday evening from Akron, where he is set to compete in a pro-Am. “He wore the school colors proudly. Personally, I’ve lost a close friend I’ve had for some 57 years. More importantly, golf has lost a real gentleman and a man who really championed golf throughout the country. He did so much for a lot of people, particularly in Colorado. There was never a bad word you heard from anyone about Dale Douglass.”
“Dale was like my big brother and I was like his bratty little brother,” he mused. “We throw the word mentor around a lot, but in Dale’s case, I can elevate the word mentor to friend. I’ll miss him.”
“Back in the day before we had sponsors and all the courtesies we now have, you were pretty much on your own,” Irwin recalled. “You had to drive yourself to most events, find your own hotel and arrange for a caddy on-site. It was a lot for a young guy to have to figure out, but Dale was the one who helped me navigate the tour. That in of itself was difficult for anyone – it was night and day compared to now.”
Irwin was in Charlotte at the 1969 Kemper Open and watched him finish when he won by four strokes over Charles Coody, his second tour win at the time. In 1974, when Irwin won his first of three U.S. Opens at Winged Foot (Mamaroneck, N.Y.), both Irwin, Douglass (who tied for 18th) and their wives (Sally and Joyce, respectively) celebrated that evening with hotel room service, one of countless dinners the couples had together.
Douglass won three times on the PGA Tour (with three playoff losses) and was one of the early players to have great success on the Senior Tour (since renamed the…
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