The 50's
A summer day camp for members’ children was instituted in 1950. The east end basement of the building, where a card room was located, was the indoor setting. Don Loeb, greens chairman, and “Red” Lambert, the greenskeeper, proposed revamping the golf course over three years, 1950-2, with an expenditure of about $15,000. It was approved, and completed in 1952. The layout had 6418 yards, and a par of 72.In 1952, Oakwood honored Bunny Torpey’s 20th anniversary with the club by holding a special tournament day in his name, and awarding him a new car. Club president Morris Schlensky called his contribution to Oakwood and to Kansas City golf “outstanding.”
Bob Benish, who had arrived in 1946 to serve as club manager, left his management position to enter private business in 1951, but returned in 1953. Albert Addington had served for a part of the intervening time, Leif Halvorsen the balance.
The first Kansas City appearance of women professionals playing in tournaments was at the Women’s Heart of America Invitational Open at Oakwood in 1955. Marilynn Smith of Wichita won it in a playoff with Alice Bauer Hagge of Sarasota, Fla. Top prize was $900.
William Diddel, a well-known golf architect, studied the course in August 1956, but his $5000 fee request was no approved. Following several incidents involving Torpey, Herman Scharlau replaced Torpey as head professional in 1957. The west portion of the clubhouse was added in 1955, designed by Clarence Kivett.
Elliott Pachter, a 15-year-old Oakwood player, won the City Junior match play championship. Earlier in the summer he had won the city medal play tournament for juniors and had been runner-up in the men’s KCGA Match play Championship. Oakwood boys won the Allen Mack Award when four of the nine individual titles went to team members. In addition to Pachter, Mike and Bill Schultz, and Bert Benjamin won flight championships, and Mickey Lerner and Andy Brown were runners-up.
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