Merle Backlund

Merle Backlund was a standout college golfer who later was the head professional at Riverside Golf Club in Grand Island from 1963 to 1970.

A 1949 graduate of Lincoln High, where he was a football and basketball player but couldn’t make the Links’ lineup in golf, Merle blossomed as a golfer at the University of Colorado. He was the medalist at the 1953 NCAA Championship and captained the Buffaloes team for three years. While an amateur, he was runner-up in the first Nebraska Amateur held in stroke play (1956) and in the 1957 Colorado Amateur and was the winner of the 1958 Wyoming Open.

After turning professional in 1959, he played in some PGA Tour events and was the head professional at courses in Casper, WY., Chilicother, IL., and Peoria, IL., before returning to his home state in 1963 to Riverside as that club was completing its expansion to an 18-hole facility. He was the Nebraska PGA section champion four times: 1966, 1968, 1969 and 1971. He played in six PGA Championships and five PGA Club Professional Championships.

Merle was an active member of Lochland Country Club in Hastings and helped with Wood River and Aurora Country Clubs before his death in 1976.