Forrest Fezler
Encyclopedia
Forrest Oliver Fezler is an American
golf course design consultant and former PGA Tour
professional golfer
.
. He first showed an interest in the game of golf
as a 7-year-old boy growing up in San Jose, California
by drawing golf holes. As a youth, he would sneak onto the course at the San Jose Country Club to practice. He attended James Lick High School
and was a member of the golf team; and a teammate of future fellow PGA Tour player Roger Maltbie
. Fezler attended San Jose City College
from 1968–1969, and still holds most of the college's golf records. Fezler won the California State Community College Championship and the California State Amateur Golf Championship in 1969. He later attended Stanford University
.
at the U.S. Open
. This was his best finish in a major championship
. In 1976, Fezler tore the tendons in his left wrist and was forced to make major adjustments in his game – both in the number of tournaments he played and in his swing. He would limit his full-time professional play in 1983, and in 1984 took the head club pro job at Blackhawk Country Club in the East Bay region of California. During his career, he earned a respectable $527,000, which was above-average for that era.
dress code which required players to wear slacks and forbade short pants. At the 1983 U.S. Open
, which is run by the USGA, Fezler was goaded by a reporter to wear shorts in protest the next day during the tournament. He waited until the last hole of the last round and, in Superman
fashion, stepped into a portable toilet, changed into shorts and played the last hole, then hurriedly left the course to avoid possible admonishment by the USGA.
. He developed his own golf course, which he called Golden Eagle, in Tallahassee, Florida
. Fezler now runs his Tallahassee-based business with the help of other partners and associates. He has three grown children, Jennifer, Brooke & Jordan.
PGA Tour playoff record (0-1)
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
golf course design consultant and former PGA Tour
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
professional golfer
Professional golfer
In golf the distinction between amateurs and professionals is rigorously maintained. An amateur who breaches the rules of amateur status may lose his or her amateur status. A golfer who has lost his or her amateur status may not play in amateur competitions until amateur status has been reinstated;...
.
Early years
Fezler was born in Hayward, CaliforniaHayward, California
Hayward is a city located in the East Bay in Alameda County, California. With a population of 144,186, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda County. Hayward was ranked as the 37th most populous municipality in California. It is included in...
. He first showed an interest in the game of golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
as a 7-year-old boy growing up in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
by drawing golf holes. As a youth, he would sneak onto the course at the San Jose Country Club to practice. He attended James Lick High School
James Lick High School
James Lick High School is a high school in the East Side Union High School District located in San Jose.-History:Lick High School was built in 1950 and is the oldest of the eleven high schools in the ESUHSD...
and was a member of the golf team; and a teammate of future fellow PGA Tour player Roger Maltbie
Roger Maltbie
Roger Lin Maltbie is an American professional golfer and on-course analyst for NBC Sports and ESPN.Maltbie was born in Modesto, California and grew up in San Jose. He attended James Lick High School where he was a teammate of former PGA Tour player Forrest Fezler...
. Fezler attended San Jose City College
San Jose City College
San Jose City College, founded in 1921, is a community college located in the city of San Jose, Santa Clara County, California.San Jose City College was originally called San Jose Junior College and operated in downtown San Jose, California...
from 1968–1969, and still holds most of the college's golf records. Fezler won the California State Community College Championship and the California State Amateur Golf Championship in 1969. He later attended Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
PGA Tour
Fezler played on the PGA Tour from 1972–1983, and won one event. He had 30 top-10 finishes including eight runner-up finishes. He won the PGA Rookie of the Year award in 1973. His career year was 1974 when he won the Southern Open and finished in 2nd place to Hale IrwinHale Irwin
Hale S. Irwin is an American professional golfer. He is one of the few players in history to have won three U.S. Opens and was one of the world's leading golfers for much of the 1970s and 1980s. He has also developed a career as a golf course architect.Irwin was born in Joplin, Missouri, but was...
at the U.S. Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
. This was his best finish in a major championship
Men's major golf championships
The men's major golf championships, commonly known as the Major Championships, and often referred to simply as the majors, are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf...
. In 1976, Fezler tore the tendons in his left wrist and was forced to make major adjustments in his game – both in the number of tournaments he played and in his swing. He would limit his full-time professional play in 1983, and in 1984 took the head club pro job at Blackhawk Country Club in the East Bay region of California. During his career, he earned a respectable $527,000, which was above-average for that era.
Dress code protest
Fezler had been unhappy for some time with the PGA TourPGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
dress code which required players to wear slacks and forbade short pants. At the 1983 U.S. Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
, which is run by the USGA, Fezler was goaded by a reporter to wear shorts in protest the next day during the tournament. He waited until the last hole of the last round and, in Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
fashion, stepped into a portable toilet, changed into shorts and played the last hole, then hurriedly left the course to avoid possible admonishment by the USGA.
Golf course design
In 1994, Fezler changed careers and got into the golf course design and construction business as a partner with South Carolina-based Mike Strantz, an award-winning former associate of Tom FazioTom Fazio
Thomas Fazio, ASGCA is a golf course architect.Fazio graduated in 1962 from Lansdale Catholic High School and was inducted into its "Hall of Fame" in 2007. He began his career in golf course design with his family's firm in suburban Philadelphia, which he left in the 1960s; he established his own...
. He developed his own golf course, which he called Golden Eagle, in Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
. Fezler now runs his Tallahassee-based business with the help of other partners and associates. He has three grown children, Jennifer, Brooke & Jordan.
PGA Tour wins (1)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Winning Score | Margin of Victory |
Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 8, 1974 1974 PGA Tour The 1974 PGA Tour season was played from January 3 to November 3. The season consisted of 44 official money events. Johnny Miller won the most tournaments, eight, including the first three events. There were 10 first-time winners. The tournament results and award winners are listed... |
Southern Open | 1 stroke |  Bruce CramptonBruce Crampton Bruce Crampton is an Australian professional golfer.Crampton was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and attended Kogarah High School from 1948-1950. He turned professional in 1953.... ,  J. C. Snead |
PGA Tour playoff record (0-1)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1974 1974 PGA Tour The 1974 PGA Tour season was played from January 3 to November 3. The season consisted of 44 official money events. Johnny Miller won the most tournaments, eight, including the first three events. There were 10 first-time winners. The tournament results and award winners are listed... |
American Golf Classic American Golf Classic The American Golf Classic was a tournament on the PGA Tour from 1961 to 1976. It was the third event to be played at the storied Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio after the Rubber City Open Invitational and the 1960 PGA Championship.-Winners:... |
Gay Brewer Gay Brewer Gay Robert Brewer, Jr. was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and won the 1967 Masters Tournament.... , Jim ColbertJim Colbert James Joseph Colbert is an American professional golfer.Colbert was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He attended Kansas State University, where he finished second in the NCAA golf championships in 1964, before graduating and turning professional in 1965.Colbert won eight times on the PGA Tour,... , Raymond FloydRaymond Floyd Raymond Loran "Ray" Floyd is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour.... |
Colbert won with par on second extra hole Brewer and Fezler eliminated with par on first extra hole |
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T30 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour... |
CUT | DNP | CUT | T45 | 2 | T24 | DNP | CUT | DNP | T47 |
| The Open Championship The Open Championship The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico... |
DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | WD | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship PGA Championship The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship... |
DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT | T32 | T50 | T65 | DNP | CUT | DNP |
| Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf) The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour... |
DNP | T37 | DNP | T50 |
| The Open Championship The Open Championship The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico... |
DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship PGA Championship The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship... |
DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.