Richard Yates of Corpus Christi chips up the 12th green in the 36-hole finals match of the 1964 Texas State Amateur held at Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler. Marty Fleckman won the championship.

When Marty Fleckman came to Tyler for the Texas State Amateur in early June of 1964, he was one of the best amateurs in the country.

The Port Arthur native had already won the Odessa Pro-Am and the Briarwood Invitational the previous year and was red hot in his first college season, leading his University of Houston team to a ridiculous 57-shot win in the Border Olympics in late February.

Fleckman was strong and aggressive, using a power game to subdue both the courses and his opponents.

“There were two amateurs who carried their pro partners to wins here,” said an old-time member of Odessa Country Club. “One was Grier Jones of Oklahoma and the other Marty Fleckman.”

When Fleckman won that Odessa event, it was a top tier event that featured many well known touring pros of that era like Don January and Doug Sanders. Fleckman partnered with his home course club pro Ned Johnson of Port Arthur Country Club.

Contrasting Fleckman’s style and demeanor in the finals was the happy-go-lucky Richard Yates of Corpus Christi and Texas Tech University. Yates was known for his superb short game and a silky putting stroke that helped him win the state amateur two years earlier at his home course, the Corpus Christi Country Club. Yates did not lack confidence when he arrived in Tyler that summer of 1964.

The state amateur was still match play in 1964 but converted to 72-holes medal play the following year at Midland Country Club. During its match play era, a qualifying round determined the seeding and with a medalist award for the low qualifier. That honor in 1964 went to David “Spec” Goldman of Dallas, a two-time winner of the tournament in 1955 at River Oaks in Houston and in 1956 at Dallas Country Club. At age 55, Goldman toured WIllow Brook in only 67 strokes.

Goldman’s strong game was remembered by former Tyler golfer and Willow Brook member T.C. Hamilton of Dallas.

“I played with Spec the year before during qualifying at the state amateur at Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas and had a funny incident,” Hamilton said. “We both hit good drives early in the round and one ball was about 20 yards in front of the other. I was just waiting around for him to hit when he informed me the short one was my ball. I was a little shocked because I was only about 22 at the time and this old guy had blown it past me.”

Reaching the finals of match play in 1964 was arduous. It meant winning five matches over four days to reach the 36-hole finals. The winner and runner-up might play as many as 144 holes or more to prevail by Sunday evening.

The semifinals on Saturday featured two good matches with Yates taking on Mineola’s Benny Castloo, a former University of North Texas golfer who won the Armed Services Championship while stationed in Japan during the late 1950s. Castloo was a superb ball striker but Yates’ short game won the day. Yates even complimented Willow Brook for its manicured greens.

Meanwhile, Fleckman birdied three consecutive holes to turn a one down deficit to a two up win over Don Wilson of Mineral Wells in a third round match, really his only close call. Fleckman faced an excellent player, Randy Geiselman of Austin, in the semifinals but won comfortably 4&3 to reach the Sunday 36-hole finale against Yates.

Accentuating the contrast in styles of Fleckman and Yates were their stature with Fleckman short and stocky and Yates lean and lanky. Also Fleckman was already a bit of a health freak with his diet and exercise while Yates was known to have a good time.

Large galleries came out to watch the tournament that year and Sunday was no exception. The large gallery was entertained by some fine shot making and impressive scrambling by both players.

Fleckman came out smoking during Sunday’s morning round with a three-under-par 68 and commanded a five-up lead at the lunch break. But Yates stormed back in the afternoon to narrow the lead to only two holes with three to play. Surprisingly, it was Yates’ putter that betrayed him when he failed to make a birdie putt on the 16th. They halved the 16th and the match was over.

“I don’t remember a lot but that I liked the course and it suited my game,” Fleckman said. “In those days, I would hit a 1-iron off the tee when I needed more accuracy and I used that some at Willow Brook.”

Both players were gracious in the aftermath with Fleckman saying that though he did not play as well in the afternoon as he did in the morning, his lead was protected with key shots down the stretch. For his part, Yates said he never thought he would not win until the 35th hole when the best he could do was a halve with Fleckman. The former champion had shown much grit in his attempt to win a second state title.

Tyler and East Texas were well represented in the 1964 state amateur with Willow Brook members Jack Wilkerson, seven times a state left-handed champion, leading a group of qualifiers from the club that included Hamilton, Jack Skeen Jr., Jimmy Wynne and Shirley Simons. Representing Briarwood of Tyler that year were Marsh Pengra and Tommy Hamilton while East Texas legends Leroy Rocquemore of Palestine, Raleigh Selby of Overton and Castloo also competed strongly.

Fleckman has stayed fit into his late 70s and still teaches golf at Black Horse Golf Club in the Houston area. Yates now lives in Gonzales, has had some difficult health issues but still has a putting stroke to envy.