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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-04-10 Golf course to mark 75th year with tourney (Palm Beach Post)36 Nei��ibo rem $dsi 9 V i SPORTS & RECREATION The Palm Beath Pdstu4 wedheadaf, Apri1=ti0, 2002 r h P Golf course to mark 75th year with tourney Seth Raynor was a civil engineer from Princeton, N.J., when he was hired by avid golfer and course designer Charles Blair Macdonald to do the engi- neering work on a new golf course in South Hampton, N.Y. The year was 1907. Today, the National Golf Links of America is one of 150 courses designed by the prolific Raynor, who was about to start work on the final of the three Florida courses he designed when he died at the age of 51 in 1926. That course, the Palm Beach Winter Club, was completed by Macdonald and opened in 1927. More than seven decades and one re- design later, it's still growing strong. Now known as the North Palm Beach Country Club, the 18-hole course is set to cele- brate its landmark 75th anniversary with a golf tournament on Saturday. Coinciding with North Palm's annual Heritage Day festivities, the tournament will use a low -gross, low -net format and is open to men and women. No metal woods will be allowed, and participants are en- couraged to dress in clothing from the 1920s and '30s. "They're bringing back the old ideas," said John Scott, the head golf pro at North Palm Beach Country Club. "We're going to have a prize for the best outfit that might be appropriate for the '20s or '30s." The Palm Beach Winter Club was considered one of the top golf courses back then. And today? "It's still a beautiful club," said Scott, who has been head pro for eight years. I love it here. It really is an honor to be at this club." For information or to reserve a tee time for Saturday, call the pro shop at 691-3433. IN Man lends lifetime of experience to FAU athletics: It should come as little sur- prise that Bob Vanatta was destined for a Jodie Wagner career in athletics. A native of Columbia, Mo., the Florida Atlantic University associate athletic di- rector spent much of his childhood ac- companying his dad to University of Mis- souri basketball, football and baseball games. "My father was a great Missouri booster," said Vanatta, who moved to Ju- piter 17 years ago. "He started taking me to games when I was five or six years old. I've always had a great interest in athlet- ics. I always wanted to coach." So that's what he did. A talented athlete who played base- ball, basketball, football and ran track and field at Central Methodist College in Fay- ette, Mo., Vanatta, now 83, took his first coaching position at a Springfield, Mo., high school in 1942. A year later, he moved up to the col- lege ranks and took the job as head bas- ketball coach at his alma mater, Central Methodist. In his first season with the Eagles, Vanatta took the team to the national championship title game. Later, after leaving the school and then returning, he made a few more trips to the national tournament, adding a third -place finish to his collection of post - season honors. But it wasn't until Vanatta moved on to Southwest Missouri State University a few years later that he finally finished a season at No. 1. Vanatta, who spent three years at the Springfield, Mo., school, won his first Na- tional Association of Intercollegiate Ath- Special to Neighborhood Post The Palm Beach Winter Club, shown here is the early 1930s, opened in 1927. Now known as the North Palm Beach Country Club, it will celebrate its 75th anniversary with a golf tournament during Heritage Day festivities on April 13. letics basketball championship in 1952, overcoming the loss of two top scorers during the season and an injury to his starting center going into the tournament. A year later, Vanatta's Bears repeated that feat. This time, however, the accom- plishment — and Vanatta's role in it — garnered a whole lot of attention. "Over a three-year period, we won the two national championships," said Vanat- ta, who flew to Kansas City in February to participate in a 50th anniversary reunion of the two championship teams. "And then of course when you do that, you be- gin to have people think, `Well, hey, we need to take a look at this young coach. So a lot of job (offers) came along." Vanatta sifted through those offers be- fore accepting a position at the U.S. Mili- tary Academy, where he coached Army's basketball, football and baseball pro- grams. Vanatta later left Army and coached at three more Division I schools — Bradley, Memphis and hometown Missouri — be- fore giving up coaching for good in 1968. Today, he serves as associate athletic director at FAU, where he's helped guide the Owls from Division II to Division I athletic competition and worked to devel- op the school's football program. Jodie Wagner is a sports writer for Neighbor- hood Post. She can be reached at 820-4537 orjodie_wagner@pbpost.com. Faxes can be sent to 837-8320.