Dick Knight

Although he left for California at age 27, Dick Knight’s Nebraska portion of an illustrious golfing career was memorable. State high school champion, Nebraska Amateur champion, youngest pro at the state’s oldest golf course.

John Richard Knight graduated from Omaha Central in 1946 after winning the boys golf state championship. His interest in golf developed, in part, from watching the play of the 1933 U.S. Open champion Johnny Goodman.

Dick enrolled at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State), where he lettered as a teammate of Bo Wininger and Don January, before entering the U.S. Navy. In 1949, he won the All-Navy championship and the next year added the Nebraska Amateur and Open titles before turning professional. He defeated Del Ryder 5&4 for the Nebraska Amateur title at Kearney Country Club.

Dick was a part-time player on the PGA Tour in 1953, then served as head pro at the Navy-Marine course on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu before the Field Club of Omaha hired the 23-year-old as its pro following the death of Stanley Davies. He was at Field Club for the 11954 and 1955 seasons, then became a partner with Leon Pounders in a west Omaha driving range.

California then beckoned the eventual father of four. He left Omaha in 1957 to be head pro at California Country Club in Whittier and won the 1958 California Open before rejoining the PGA Tour for the 1959 and 1960 seasons. He was 10th in the 1959 U.S. Open, which earned him an invitation to the 1960 Masters. Knight returned to Omaha in the 1970’s for business reasons. He passed away in 1991 in California.