Matt Zadalis

Matt Zadalis was the Nebraska state champion in 1938, but gained even greater recognition in the game of golf when he followed his amateur days with a long and impressive career as a teaching professional.

Matt was born in Omaha and three years after his graduation from Omaha South High School he was won the first Omaha Publinks Championship, a tournament he later won on four additional occasions.

Zadalis was the medalist at the Western Amateur in 1936 and two years later won the Nebraska State Amateur Championship, a tournament in which he finished as the runner-up three other times. He currently holds or at one time held the course record at 10 different Omaha area courses. But it’s unlikely that anything attests to Matt’s playing ability more than the fact that he shot a 63 at the Omaha Field Club at the age of 74.

Zadalis managed to combine his love for the game of golf into both his work and play in 1933 when he became the course superintendent at the Spring Lake Park course. He later took the same job at Benson park in 1939.

In 1947 Matt became a member of the PGA and was the first golf professional hired by the City of Omaha. He served as the pro at the Miller Park and Spring Lake Park courses from that time until 1975.

In 1962, he became the first public or municipal professional to be elected PGA Professional of the Year. Matt influenced the lives of many young golfers. He organized the first Omaha public junior golf program, conducting free junior clinics. His clinics were nationally recognized as one of the oldest and largest programs of its kind.

Matt and his wife Anna Home Zadalis, who is deceased, were the parents of four children, Delores, Robert, James, and Daniel.