Bill Harvey

Bill Harvey was born and raised in Greensboro, NC, where he resides today and operates a driving range near Sedgefield CC, his home club. Although he has been a golfer most of his life, he didnt start to play serious competitive golf until 1956 at age 26, when he qualified for his first USGA Amateur Championship. That year, playing at the Knollwood Club in Lake Forest, Illinois, Bill drew a bye in the first round, then lost one down after 20 holes to the internationally known Dick Chapman. The loss, however, prompted Bill to improve his game and participate in more competition. This he did and with astounding results. In the next twenty-five years, he would win over three hundred titles. Ironically, he met Chapman again in the third round of the National Amateur at St. Louis in 1960 and revenged his loss with a 4 and 3 victory.

Harvey qualified for the US Amateur 18 times and was named Golfer of the Year by the Carolinas Golf Reporters Association in 1973 after winning the Carolinas Amateur, the Lakewood Invitational in Florida, and the Amateur Tournament of Champions. He was runner-up in the North and South Amateur that year, losing on the 38th hole. In that final match on the second extra hole, Bill played what he later admitted might have been the best shot he ever hit. Having pushed his tee shot into the right woods, he found his ball lying between two trees about two feet apart. With more trees between his ball and the green, he had to manufacture a restricted, cut-shot with a four wood. It came off beautifully, to the great delight of the gallery; however, in all too often Harvey fashion, he three-putted the green to lose.

His best year was 1966 when he entered 38 tournaments and won 18. He played in 25 consecutive Porter Cups and 26 Eastern Amateurs. As much as he loved tournament play, he never tried to qualify for the US Open, thinking that if successful he would deprive some professional the opportunity to play in their championship. A tournament, he felt, belonged only to the pros.