In the fall of 1969, UA freshman Don Pooley was one of 108 golfers to enter a mass tryout for the Wildcat golf team. He shot a 77 and was awarded a walk-on spot on the UA’s team. By his senior year, 1973, Pooley led the Wildcats by averaging 73 strokes per round.
It took him six years to earn playing privileges on the PGA Tour. But by 1985, Pooley, who attended high school in Riverside, Calif., won the Vardon Trophy, symbolic of the PGA Tour’s lowest average score. Two years later, he won Jack Nicklaus’ famed Memorial Tournament. Pooley capped his career in 2002 by beating the great Tom Watson in an epic overtime match at the U.S. Senior Open.
On Oct. 21 at the Biltmore Golf Club in Phoenix, Pooley will be inducted into the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame, one of just 12 Tucson-based members of the golf industry so honored dating to 1968. He will join Tucson’s most respected golf names, from Ed Updegraff and Dell Urich to Judy McDermott and Dot Straw.
Pooley, who played in 544 PGA Tour events and 236 PGA Tour Champions events, is being inducted for far more than his golf skills. Since retiring about 15 years ago, he has volunteered for First Tee of Tucson, Tucson Parks and Recreation’s Kidco, after-school youth programs, and was a volunteer coach at his alma mater.
Don Pooley, right, offers some help to Paul Hoffman Jr. as Hoffman makes a putt at the 16th hole during the Tucson Conquistadores Classic Pro Am at the Omni Tucson National Golf Resort, 2727 W. Club Drive, March 17, 2016.
Ever-modest, Pooley once told me: “I was never a great junior player. I was never a great college player, but I had a lot of success on the Tour. I’ve been very blessed.”
“Don helps with our PGA Jr. League teams and anything we ask of him,” said McDermott, executive director of First Tee of Tucson. “He is very generous. ‘’
Five of those who have received help from Pooley, among others, have qualified to play in this week’s PGA Tour Champions event at Pebble Beach. They are Hunter and Jake Chen, twins, from Mica Mountain High School; Kason Shotwell of Cienega High School, Kallum De Guia of Catalina Foothills, and Marana’s Riley Stidham, who is homeschooled.
