by Kurt Kragthorpe
Kurt Kragthorpe is a sports writer for the Salt Lake Tribune and a frequent contributor to Fairways

Winter - February - 07
Reid, Betley, Thayne - Join the Utah Golf Hall of Fame

Marcia Thayne might have won many more than six Women’s State Amateur titles, except she turned pro when she was 25. By that age, Bob Betley was not even a golfer yet. And when he was twice that age, Mike Reid finally won his major championship.

They came from different directions, but this threesome have arrived together in the Utah Golf Hall of Fame.

Thayne, Betley and Reid will become the newest inductees April 9, increasing the Utah Golf Hall of Fame’s membership to 30 since its founding in 1991.

It’s quite obvious that the selection committee is not running out of qualified honorees, judging by this group.

Thayne’s honor will serve as an extension of last summer’s celebration of the 100th Women’s Am, an event that recognized the achievements of many of the great female golfers in Utah’s history.

The first 75 years of the tournament, in particular, were distinguished by some dominant players, but nobody else did what Thayne did.

Beginning in 1969, when she was 20, she won six consecutive Women’s Am titles. There’s a tendency to devalue some of the accomplishments of the multiple winners by suggesting that there was a lack of competition, but that’s just not true. In Thayne’s case, the record of the late Bev Nelson, a Utah Golf Hall of member, validates her streak.

Consider that Nelson won five of her eight titles before Thayne’s streak and three of them after Thayne became a teaching pro, and it becomes clear that Thayne’s ability to beat Nelson was remarkable.

The Salt Lake City native was at her best under pressure, such as the time in the 1973 Women’s Am when she trailed Janet Thurgood by two strokes with two holes to play, , then scrambled for a par on the 17th hole and birdied the 18th hole at Ben Lomond Golf Course to seize a one-stroke victory.

Thayne’s glorious run started right about the time some of Betley’s friends convinced him to try golf. He was in his late 20s, working as a motorcycle policeman in Ogden, where he had formerly competed in track and field at Weber State. It was the beginning of an amazing story that would be highlighted by a victory on what is now called the Champions Tour, consisting of the world’s best golfers 50 and older.

Betley had played the PGA Tour with limited success, after having won the Utah Open and several other Intermountain events for club pros, when he gained access to the Champions Tour in 1990.

Shoulder injuries would hamper him throughout his tour career. When healthy, Betley was as good as anybody out there. It all came together in a remarkable four-week stretch in August 1993 when he posted four top-four finishes, including a victory in the Bank of Boston Senior Classic. He almost followed that up with a homecoming triumph the following week in the Franklin Quest Championship in Park City, but finished with a 72 after starting 68-68 and faded to a tie for fourth place behind runaway winner Dave Stockton.

Still, playing well in Utah that week made for a nice celebration, taking away all the “what-ifs” of the previous summer, when Betley lost an epic eight-hole playoff to Orville Moody at Jeremy Ranch.

That ‘93 season would feature seven top-10 finishes for Betley, who earned more than $400,000 — a healthy chunk of his eventual career winnings of a little more than $1 million.

Betley always valued his Utah ties. It was telling that in advance of that ‘93 tournament at Park Meadows, officials invited the defending champion to participate in a Media Day event. But the player who came to town was not Moody, but Betley.

Reid once displayed a similar attitude about a hometown event. When what is now known as the Nationwide Tour was launched in 1990, Reid was an established PGA Tour star. Yet he agreed to play in the Utah Classic at Riverside Country Club in Provo, knowing he had little to gain and a lot to lose by performing against the up-and-coming players.

He played well, tying for sixth place, and lending more credibility to the winner, a long-hitting youngster named John Daly.

Reid probably deserves Utah Golf Hall of Fame induction merely for being the kind of person he is, someone who treats everyone as if they’re more important than he is. He also would have merited induction even without having played the Champions Tour, considering he won two PGA Tour events, including the prestigious World Series of Golf in 1988.

Yet there was something about his win in the 2005 Senior PGA Championship that further validated his career, while proving there is some justice in golf. For perspective, it’s neccessary to revisit the PGA Championship in 1989, a year when Reid was one of the game’s elite players. He was contending for the Masters title with five holes to play that year, and led the PGA with three holes left.

Reid ended up losing to Payne Stewart that day, but was viewed as a winner because of the way he handled himself in defeat. So fast-forward to 2005, when Reid is three strokes behind Jerry Pate with one hole left at Laurel Valley and makes a dramatic eagle to force a playoff, then birdies the same hole to win the title.

Is it any surprise to learn that “It’s a Wonderful Life” is one of Reid’s favorite movies? He has always appreciated the opportunities that golf has provided him, including the chance to revitalize his career at age 50. He earned nearly $900,000 on the Champions Tour in 2005, which was more than $300,000 more than he had ever won in a PGA Tour season.

The best thing about regarding Reid’s induction in April is he will have to give an acceptance speech. The only drawback is that being an honoree will keep him from being the featured speaker, a role in which he excels.

That’s OK. For once, Reid deserves to be among those receiving the credit, instead of just acknowledging others. The same is true of Betley and Thayne, who seemingly took turns in extending the great legacy of Utah golf.