Sat, May 17 2008
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Published May 04, 2008 12:29 am - Missouri seniors tournament owes plenty to Thomas Jimmy Thomas was instrumental in the birth and development of Missouri’s Seniors Championship.
The concept of a tournament for players age 50 and over was born during a conversation that Thomas had with Ken Lanning of Rolla and Bill Ludwig back in 1988 about the need for a seniors statewide tournament. There wasn’t much enthusiasm on the Missouri Golf Association board for the project, Thomas recalls, but he and his friends wouldn’t give up. “The board didn’t show much interest and wasn’t certain that we could get enough players,” Thomas said. “I think we drew about 60 golfers at the first tournament in St. Joseph.” But Thomas knew that Missouri had plenty of senior golfers who would love to compete with their peers around the state in a 50-and-over championship. Indeed, the second MGA Seniors Championship attracted a field of more than 100 contestants and the subsequent growth continued so quickly that players soon discovered they had to get their entries turned in within days or weeks, or miss out. Waiting lists became the norm. To launch the seniors tournament, the MGA board named Thomas as tournament director and authorized him to name his own committee members. The biggest challenge was to find a championship site, recruit players and, of course, deal with the dozens of small and large details involved with putting on a major golf tournament. “I’m sure there were some sleepless nights,” said Thomas, a 15-year member of the MGA board. “We had to recruit and hustle to find applicants. I called up players around the state that I had known for years and asked them to submit the names of seniors who would like to play.” The work of Thomas, Lanning and Ludwig and members of Thomas’ committee paid off. After that halting start, the classic has evolved into a popular championship contested over some of the state’s top courses, including Lake St. Louis, Jefferson City Country Club, Highland Springs in Springfield, Blue Hills in Kansas City and Twin Hills Golf and Country Club in Joplin, and attracting classy fields. Jimmy has always been a “go-to guy” for running tournaments. He served as a director of the Twin Hills Invitational and started, along with buddy Bill Parker, then head pro at Twin Hills, the Art Wadkins Memorial Pro-Am. The Wadkins event was named for Parker’s predecessor at Twin Hills and raised tens of thousands of dollars for golf scholarships at the University of Missouri and Missouri Southern. Thomas also directed the Hickey Huckle, a fund-raising tournament founded by Larry and Virginia Hickey to benefit the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition. Still, his most lasting legacy undoubtedly will be the MGA Seniors Championship, whose existence was assured by Jimmy’s vision, determination and commitment. On a mission Ron Oney is a man on a mission. He wants to see more golf courses allow players with bad knees and legs or serious medical conditions to park golf carts closer to greens. I’ve seen several resort courses that permit golfers to drive within five or 10 feet of greens to shorten the walk for a player. Tall antennae with flags are attached to the back of the carts so that other players and course marshals can identify them. 
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