They Called Him "Par Sam"
By Stu Pospisil (Omaha World-Herald and Golf Historian)
They called him “Par Sam.”
Here’s the reason: Because in 1922, during one of his seven Nebraska state championships, Sam Reynolds of Omaha played 99 holes in 14 under par.
He’d get called by a different name years later – “Senator Sam Reynolds” – but I’m rushing the story.
Reynolds (1890-1988), who was a charter inductee into the Nebraska Golf Hall of Fame in 1991, won his seven titles between 1912 and 1926 and was in the finals four other times, the last in 1930 at age 39.
At the time of his seventh title, no other man in any state claimed more titles.
All of Par Sam’s state competition was match play. It’s safe to consider his records, in 21 tournaments between 1906 and 1932, safe for all time:
Match record: 72-14 – 83.7%
Quarterfinals: 18.
Semifinals: 17.
Consecutive finals: Five (1912-1916).
Reynolds played in the second state tournament, in 1906, as a 15-year-old, losing in the first round, and didn’t enter again until 1911.
He was at Army aviation schools during World War I in 1918. The previous year, the state tournament was canceled because of the war and replaced by a patriotic tournament – akin to the 1942 Hale America Open that some maintain should be counted as Ben Hogan’s fifth U.S. Open win.
He was 35 when he won for the last time. He eliminated one, two, three, the “Boxcar Trio” of former Field Club caddies Frank Siedlik, Johnny Goodman and Jack Pollard.
Reynolds was Trans-Mississippi champion in 1917. For that, Field Club made him its first life member.
Reynolds grew up near the Field Club, of which his father was a co-founder. By caddying for his father, a Burlington railroad passenger agent, at Field Club, he took to the sport immediately. He never considered turning professional because “there wasn’t any money in it in those days.”
The coal executive shot his age, 69, in 1959 and did it every year until he was 87.
“If you think I get a kick out of shooting 87, you’re nuts,’’ he said in 1977.
As the city’s civil defense director, he led the fight in 1952 to save Omaha from the historic Missouri River flood.
In 1954, he was appointed to the U.S. Senate to complete the last six months of an unexpired term. His time in Washington included several golf games with President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
“It was kind of tough to play golf with him because all these security guys were always walking around at the edge of the woods,’’ he said. “They carried golf bags, but you know there were rifles inside.”
At 71, Reynolds played in the 1962 Nebraska Amateur at Highland Country Club. He drove from his home behind the No. 6 green at Omaha Country Club to Highland in his screaming red, 18-horsepower golf cart.
He couldn’t ride it during the tournament – walking-only rules were in place. The cart was for his caddie, Dr. Gene Slattery, who was freckle-faced in 1912 when he toted the bag in Reynolds’ first championship year.
With rounds of 83 and 79, Reynolds missed the cut by just three strokes.
Upon Reynolds’ death in March 1988, then-NGA executive director Del Ryder wrote,“If anyone in Nebraska golf circles ever exemplified what amateur golf is all about, it was Sam Reynolds.’’
About NebGolf
The Nebraska Golf Association (NebGolf), founded in 1966, is comprised of all members of public and private clubs and/or municipal or regional golf associations which utilize an approved handicap service recognized by the USGA and provided by NebGolf. Our mission is to uphold and promote the game of golf and its values to all golfers in Nebraska. Among the duties of the Association include governance of member clubs and service as their handicapping and course rating authority, conduct of state golf championships, local USGA qualifying & other notable competitions, promotion of junior golf, presentation of worthwhile educational programs and support of allied golf organizations in Nebraska. The Nebraska Golf Association is an Allied Golf Association of the USGA and carries out core services including Handicap Administration and Oversight, Course Rating, Rules of Golf and Rules of Amateur Status, Tournaments and USGA Championship Qualifiers and USGA Initiatives and Community Programs.
