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Buford McCarty & Fred Stephens
Buford McCarty & Fred Stephens of the Alabama Golf Association
By Ian Thompson
The Alabama Golf Association has been in existence since 1915, but it was not until December 1985 that its first, and only to this date, paid executive director was hired. That was Buford McCarty and 16 years later he's still leading this association that governs amateur golf in Alabama.
He is ably assisted by Fred Stephens, tournament director & course rating director, and I thought it high time that I sat down with these two gentleman to learn a little more about them and the AGA.
Much of the following background information is taken from the AGA's Golden Anniversary Program commemorating 50 years of the State Amateur Championship and was penned by the late Bob Phillips, executive sports editor of the Birmingham Post-Herald and volunteer secretary-treasurer of the AGA at that time.
Phillips writes: Alabama Golf Association, which is the governing body of male amateur golf in the State of Alabama, was organized at Montgomery on September 8, 1915. Golf leaders were there to hold a formal State men's amateur championship and it was played Sept. 8-11 over the Beauvoir Country Club course which is now better known as Montgomery Country Club.
Jack Allison of Birmingham, a young man in his early twenties captured the qualifying prize with a score of 81, a figure not to be sneezed at in that era.
Allison proceeded to win the tournament, successfully combating what nowadays is referred to as the medalist jinx.' He breezed to a 13-12 victory in the 36-hole final match. (The championship was conducted at match play until becoming stroke play in 1955. In 2001 the AGA revived match play with the advent of the State Match Play Championship, played in addition to the existing State Amateur Championship.)
No tournament was held in 1917 and 1918 because of World War I which accounts for the fact that the Golden Anniversary is being observed in 1966.
First officers of Alabama Golf Association were George Stuart, Montgomery, president; W.W. (Webb) Crawford, Birmingham, vice-president; and John M. Inglis, Montgomery, secretary-treasurer.
Phillips continues to chronicle all 50 championships to that point in time, together with priceless interjections about certain golfing characters and golf clubs of that era.
He continues: Its membership numbered fewer than a dozen (clubs) in the early years and it was not until the late 1930's that the Association gained financial stability.
Upwards of 50 clubs have a record of unbroken membership for several years and for 1965 the roster listed 65 dues-paying members.
The AGA inaugurated a State Junior Championship for boys under 18 in 1946. At that time too they co-sponsored the Alabama Open with the Alabama Professional Golfers Association.
The late Sam Perry captured the title four times, over a span of of 14 years from 1929 through 1942. (A total matched many years later by Sam Farlow). The Sam Perry trophy, on which has been engraved the name of every Alabama Golf Association men's amateur champion since 1945, is a memorial to Captain Perry.
He lost his life in World War II. He won for the last time in 1942 just prior to going on military duty. He was 34 years old at the time.
There was a discussion of a permanent trophy as a memorial at the 1944 meeting of the AGA. William McWane of Birmingham was chairman of a committee to procure the Sam Perry Trophy. It was designed and manufactured by an Eastern silversmith and cost $1500. The massive sterling silver bowl has a circumference of 58 inches and a diameter of 18 1/2 inches. The bowl weighs 10 pounds, and if used as a punch bowl, it would hold about six gallons. Include the base and it weighs 35 pounds. The Sam Perry Trophy is thought to be the largest golf trophy anywhere.
So concluded Phillips' fascinating look back at the first 50 years of the AGA. The AGA is now in its 86th year and is still going strong. They have added six championships since then, namely the State Four Ball; State Mid-Amateur; State Net; State Senior Amateur; State Senior Four Ball; and State Match Play.
There are five full-time employees comprising McCarty; Stephens; Donna Stephens (no kin to Fred), director of GHIN services & office manager; Jennifer Leigh, secretary; and Lori Wasden, media director & tournament coordinator; as well as one intern, who is paid by a grant from the USGA, Hunter Nichols.
Add these employees to their many volunteers, known as committeemen, and the scope of the AGA is ever-growing. McCarty expressed his thanks to all the committeemen for their ongoing help in conducting championships, singling out current president of the AGA, Derell Curry.
Derell, who just happens to be our current president, has long been a friend to the AGA. He is at every one of our championships, as well as being a USGA rules official. He and Fred (also a USGA rules official) tend to look at the rules a little differently which can lead to some healthy discussions.
Since he became involved in 1993 as an Associate Director he has spent an inordinate amount of time helping us. He has progressed very quickly to his current role as president and we are very much indebted to him.
The AGA now numbers between 150 and 160 member clubs, with close to 30,000 individual members.
This year, and this will continue as an annual occurrence, we plan to send every member a bag tag (which will house their handicap card), a decal and a brochure about member services offered by the AGA, McCarty said.
Services offered by the AGA include the rating of golf courses, a resource for rules questions, statewide computing of the GHIN handicapping system, seminars in regards to their tournament pairings program and rules of the game, etc.
Their most visible service is conducting the previously mentioned state golf championships. This falls squarely under the jurisdiction of both McCarty and Stephens. Stephens handles site selection, visiting potential sites, course preparation, rules, speed of play and many other duties. McCarty is typically more in the background inputting scores and making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. As such they are a team with the help of the other AGA employees and numerous committeemen.
All the events they are involved in see them on the road about half the weekends of the year, but they accept that this is part of the job. After all, that's when most people can play golf.
Stephens also put together the AGA's Player Points List whereby players receive points in a yearly list for finishes in AGA championships, USGA qualifiers and championships and selected invitationals. From this list teams are chosen to represent the state in various matches be they the Challenge Cup against Dixie Section of the PGA professionals, the Southeastern Challenge Matches against fellow amateurs from Georgia and Florida, and other representative teams.
Their largest revenue source and a major chunk of the AGA's time is spent ensuring that the GHIN system is operating smoothly. Around 120 of their member clubs operate this handicapping system via a computer system and it is the AGA's job to install and ensure correct operation. To this end, McCarty, Donna Stephens and Wasden will visit all 120 sites this year to check on operation, install a new operating system and label writer. No small undertaking, for sure.
McCarty's affiliation with the AGA goes back to 1980. He was appointed as an associate director that year, at the urging of Jim Spader, AGA president at the time. The venerable Joe King was the executive director of the AGA, which he did on a volunteer basis.
I was a member at Riverchase Country Club at the time and was appointed as a liaison between the club and the AGA for the State Amateur we were hosting. Richard Anthony was president of the AGA and he approached me about a full-time position with the AGA. My circumstances were such that I wanted to do it and could do it. It was a case of being in the right place at the right time.
Things have changed a lot since then. We were providing a handicapping service with both the BGA and the Dixie Section; the BGA did course rating and we only had three championships (State Amateur, Junior and Four Ball).
While Stephens has only been an AGA employee for a couple of years, his affiliation goes back much further.
In 1970 I was the BGA representative for Chace Lake. A rules question came up at a club tournament and I didn't agree with the answer our club pro gave. I was talking to Joe King and he told me to buy the Decisions book. I read that and it interested me, so I attended a USGA rules workshop in Far Hills, N.J. I made some pretty good numbers in the rules test. (He is being modest as he has aced this most demanding test on more than one occasion).
In 1987 Joe King encouraged me to become an associate member of the AGA and I began helping Ben Dowdey with tournaments. After a while I was invited onto the USGA Sectional Affairs Committee (you have to be on this to work USGA events). My first championship was the 1989 U.S. Senior Open. The next year I was invited to officiate at the U.S. Open and I have gone every year since. Typically I work the U.S. Amateur every year too.
Stephens' AGA involvement continued to increase and when Joe King gave up his involvement in the Southern Golf Association, McCarty invited Stephens to take an office within the AGA's office in Vestavia.
I enjoy working at USGA championships because it's a lot of fun. You can participate in the game on a championship level when you can't play to that level.
Now when you see McCarty or Stephens you should have a little better idea of what goes on behind the scenes of the AGA. This golf association is in good hands and has experienced unprecedented growth in the last 15 years.
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