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2BJOPLIN NEWS HERALD Wednesday, May 13. 1970\ ■ *• .XM* *• v fvSlats Latimer's idea . . .SBS.V S.•:».■!’: v W? v #;■:■:.v:% W* \v ■*:* ..* A •., .Schifferdecker in 1922Schifferdecker Municipal GoU Course is shown in the three accompanying photographs, all taken on June 29, 1922 when the first nine-hole course was officially dedicated. One picture shows the first foursome to play the course. They are left to right, Mayor F. Taylor Snapp, M. W. (Slats) Latimer, who dreamed up the municipal plan, Ted Longworth, first professional at the muny course, and Dewey Long-worth, a brother of Ted and professional at Oak Hill Golf Course, now Twin Hills Golf and Country Club. The first driving tees at the Schlfferdecker course were concrete boxes with sand in the middle, since replaced by dirt teesat the local course. The box at right in the picture showing the No. 2 tee is where sand and water was kept for the golfer to prepare the small tee on which to place his golf ball. He would grab a handful of sand, dip it in the water, then form a cone-shaped tee on which to place the ball. The third picture shows a view of the No. 9 fairway, which is a long way from the beautiful green fairways of today. Few frees were present then, but Latimer instigated a tree-planting program and many of the trees4he planted 40 years ago grace the 18-hole course at Schlfferdecker today.Oklahoma State golf tea m favoredto capture 12th conference tourneySchifferdecker course1dedicatediyearsBy HARRY HOFFMAN Staff WriterIt was 41 years ago that M. W. (Slats) Latimer, manager of the then Independent Powder Company here, and other local dignitaries officially dedicated the Sdhifferdecker Municipal Golf Course, an idea proposed' byLatimer.Latimer drew up the original 9-hole course, which was differr ent from today’s front nine of the 18-hole course. He was a top flight golfer and was the only person to win the Oak Hill (now Twin Hills Golf and Country Club) Invitational Tournament three years in a row. The last time he won was in September, 1927, and he received a largetrophy which his widow, now Mrs. Mildred Latimer Morrow, 331W. 31st St., still has.Slats, as he was known by everyone in Joplin, was the first president of the Joplin Municipal Golf Association. He served on the City Park Board for 12 years.He delivered the dedication address on June 29,1922, when the municipal course was officially opened. He predicted then, and it has since been proven, that the municipal course would be one of the top entertainment attractions in the Four-State Area.The idea of a municipal golf course was hatched by Latimer when he was playing a round of golf with then Mayor F. Taylor Snapp at Oak Hill. The mayor thought it was a good idea, too, and together they discussed it at various civic club meetings. Slats drew up what he termed a diagram for a good 9-hole course. Charles Schifferdecker had donated the land for which is now Schifferdecker Park and ‘he approved the golf course idea.After two years of study and drawing of plans, the problem of raising the money appeared for a time to delay the project. But Slats was not one to let a little thing like money stand in the way and proceeded to solicit donations, aided by businessmen, city 'officials and the general public.It wasn’t long before they had 1,372.50, which was sufficient to finance the project. However, a lot of the material and labor was donated by the various firms in the area.Each of the nine holes was named after a prominent citizen of the community. No. 1 was named after Mayor Snapp and No. 2 was named after Slats. There was no fee to play on the course.Most of the large trees, which dot the 18-hole course today, were planted by Slats and some of his employes at the Independent Powder Company, which was later sold to Hercules Powder Company.Mrs. Morrow said Slats, whodied Feb. 23, 1949, often remarked of how many people would like to play golf but could not afford to belong to the private country dub.“It was liis concern over this situation that result® in his promotion of the Schifferdecker Municipal Golf Course,” she said.It was on Thursday, June 29, 1922 that the golf course was dedicated and Mayor Snapp issued a proclamation declaring it a loliday betweeii 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. that day and for all business to permit employes to attend the ceremonies. Thousandsof persons were on hand as Mayor Snapp, Slats Latimer, Ted Longworth and Dewey Long-worth drove off as the first official play began. Ted Longworth was appointed the first professional at the course. His brother, Dewey Longworth was pro at the time at Oak Hill.The driving tees were made of concrete with sand packed in the center. A sandbox was nearby along with a bucket of water. The golfer would grab a handful of sand, dip it in water, thenbuild his cone-shaped tee onif ball.which to place his go!Victor Rakowsky was chairman of the program, assisted by Joseph Garm and Mercer Arnold. Some of the speakers were Mayor Snapp; William Bobb, president of the park board; Ross E. Burns, president of the Ozark Playgrounds Association, and Latimer.During the next few years Schifferdecker Municipal Golf Course was a main attraction for Joplin and the OPA advertised it throughout the nation. Itwas in December, 1923, that the City Council approved expanding the course to 18 holes and some of the original 9 holes were relocated.The first clubhouse, which was small, burned, but the dote of the fire was unavailable. However, on Aug. 3, 1926, the City Park Board voted to appropriate $10,000 to build a new clubhouse, and the main part remains in use today.Golf was becoming a popular attraction in Joplin in the late 1920s and several Joplin residents constructed a golf course at Kedings Mill. They already had a casino operating, the Red-ings Mill Swimming pool had been constructed, and the mill operating on Shoal Creek was amajor industry in the area. However, the casino burned, then the. mill burned and the number of players on the golf course dropped to an average of eight, so it was closed. The fairways, which were cut through the trees, still «*e visible today south of the hill at Redings Mill.Foyt has compiledfantastic race recordBy DALE BURGESS Associated Press Sports WriterINDIANAPOLIS, Ind. CAP) -A. J. Foyt Jr. needs one more trophy to wrap up the greatest all-around career in American auto racing history — an un-equaled fourth victory in the annual 500-mile Memorial Day race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.The muscular Houston, Tex.,driver has brought a half-million dollars’ worth of equipment to the 61-year-old Speedway, along with legendary determination, the strength of a yearling bull and the know-how from a record 174 starts in U.S. championship races.He set a piston engine record of 170.568 m.p.h. in last year’s 10-mile trials for the 500 to win the No. 1 starting position. He led the race 165 miles but a broken manifold weld put him in the pits for 22 minutes. He finished eighth in spite of it.This year Foyt is relaxed and confident that the Coyote-Fords built in Ms own Houston factory are as good as anything in the field.“They’re drastically changed,” Foyt said, “with lower centers of gravity and some things a little complicated to explain to the general public.”“I’d like to win the pole position for the third time, but I’m a lot more interested in winning the race for the fourth time,” Foyt said. “Everything is looking good.”Nobody knows. Ms way around the 2^-mile Speedway better than Foyt whose string of 12 straight, starts in the 500as unequaled by anybody else inthe field. He won in 1961, 3964 and 1967. He also has won an unprecedented five U.S. . AutoGlaring mistakeLOS ANGELES (AP) -There is a gallery of color photographs on a wall of the corridor leading into the Forum, home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Kings.There are handsome framed pictures of the Laker basketball and King hockey stars and Forum executives.There was one glaring blank space in the pictoral display.Someone, it was disclosed Tuesday, swiped the portrait of Jack Kent Cooke, the founder, owner and boss of the whole operation.Tuesday's starsBy THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPITCHING - Jim Merritt, Reds, became the first seven-game winner in the majors by subduing Pittsburgh 5-3 with a four-hitter.BATTING - Sal Bando, A’s. drove in two runs with a first inning single and two more with an llth inning homer that beat Washington 5-3.But the most popular golfcourse in the area in the 1920swas the new municipal course inJoplin. Latimer was honored by the city and many civic organizations for his promotion of the municipal course.Latimer, Vic Rakowsky and Horton Smith brought one of the. world’s greatest golfers to Joplin around 1920 for several exhibition matches at Oak Hill Golf Course. Walter Hagen, one of the game’s greatest, was accompanied by Joe Kirkwood, another outstanding professional.Club national championships in1960, 1961, 1963, 1964 and 1967.At the age of 35, Foyt has •raced in 491 USAC events and finished among the top three in 224. His 42 victories in championship races is a record since the national circuit opened in1902.Foyt has made millions from his driving and business ventures. He took over the building of Ford’s overhead camshaft racing engines this year and has put 24 of them together. They sell for $28,875 apiece.You could eat off the floor of Foyt’s immaculate garage in the Speedway’s Gasoline alley. A sign on the back wall says: “Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.”I310 MAIN ST.JOPLIN, MO. MA 4-4107WORLD'S LARORS1FREE PARKING IMILLER’SHIGHLIFE BEERTONIGHTCOC• MAI TJkl - VODKA I GIN SOUR• SCOTCH SOUR • BOURBON SOUR• MARGARITA • BOURBON SOUR• MARGARITA • WHISKEY SOUR• GIMLET-COLLINSMakes Every NileBOOKLIMIT 7MATCHES5THQUARTr$461CUTTYmn
Newspaper Details
Joplin News Herald
Joplin, Missouri, US
Wed, May 13, 1970
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Joplin P.
MO, USA 09 May 2023
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