Billy Martindale, former PGA Tour player and golf course designer, dies at 88
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Billy Martindale, former PGA Tour player from 1964-68 and golf course designer, has died at age 88. He finished runner-up three times in his Tour career. (Courtesy PGA Tour Archives)
Billy Martindale sat in the clubhouse at Lakewood Country Club on Sunday afternoon at the 1964 Greater New Orleans Open, watching the action unfold. He had just shot a final-round 68, capping a 10-under weekend, and the Texan was the clubhouse leader. Martindale, in his second year on Tour, knew how much it would help his career if both Bruce Devlin and Dick Mayer could find ways to par the closing hole. That would get him into a sudden-death playoff.
Things didn’t work out as Martindale hoped. Mayer made his last stroke of the day count as the veteran chipped in for birdie from 30 feet to dramatically win the title over Martindale and Devlin.
As it turned out, that week in New Orleans was one of several close calls for Martindale during his brief PGA Tour career.
The native of Jacksonville, Texas, died Nov. 4 at age 88 from complications of a lung-related disease. Martindale claimed two other second-place finishes on Tour, always while wearing his trademark horn-rimmed glasses. At the 1965 Sahara Invitational in Las Vegas, Martindale shot the best closing-round score by any player that season, a 63, on the strength of birdies on eight of his final 11 holes, only to finish behind Billy Casper. His other runner-up performance of 1965 came at the Almaden Open, where he fell two strokes shy of winner Bobby Verwey. A year later, Martindale tied for third at the 1966 Thunderbird Invitation Classic after holding the 54-hole lead.
Explaining his distinct eyewear, he told Golf Digest in 1965, “I wore contact lenses until I got caught in a little sand storm (in Oklahoma) in 1964. Sand got in my eyes, and it was irritating. I’ve used regular glasses since.”
Born Sept. 10, 1938, Martindale first made a name for himself by shooting a gun. In 1947, he finished second at the National Junior Skeet Championship. A year later, he won top honors, and he was a national champion again in 1950. At the 1948 nationals in Houston, Martindale set a sub-juniors world record by hitting 96 of 100 targets.
While excelling at shooting, Martindale also began playing golf at Jacksonville Country Club. He eventually put down his 20-gauge shotgun to focus on golf, taking lessons in nearby Tyler, Texas. In 1956, he led his Jacksonville High School team to the state golf championship, won the Texas State Junior Amateur and finished fourth at the Jaycee Junior Golf Tournament in Fargo, North Dakota.
Martindale originally signed to play collegiate golf at Southern Methodist University, but he transferred from the Dallas school during the middle of his freshman year to play for Texas A&M coach Henry Ransom, a former PGA Tour player. Martindale helped lead the Aggies to a sixth-place team finish in the 1960 national championship and a fifth-place showing during his final season. In September 1961, he joined the U.S. Army as a commissioned second lieutenant based at Fort Benning in Georgia. While in the service, Martindale won the Columbus (Georgia) City Golf Championship and finished second at the 1963 Army Golf Championship. Upon discharge, he joined the PGA Tour as a rookie for the 1964 season.
In 1968, during his final full Tour season, Martindale and fellow pro Don January began discussing building a golf course together, which led to his retirement from the Tour and a pivot in career plans. The duo purchased land in Dallas, and construction began almost immediately. Along with course architect J. Press Maxwell, the threesome created Royal Oaks Country Club, which the Texas Golf Hall of Fame inducted into its Historic Register of Courses. Royal Oaks is the longtime home course of Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer.
Following his touring days, Martindale served as SMU’s head golf coach for five seasons, from 1970-74. He led the Mustangs to top-10 NCAA finishes in both 1972 (eighth) and 1973 (10th). Throughout the remainder of his life, Martindale continued his business career, building, designing or redesigning more than 20 golf courses and working in oil and gas exploration, real estate and ranching.
Martindale is survived by his wife, Sharon; daughter Molly Barns (John), son Mart (Corey) and his sister, three-time Primetime Emmy Award-winning actress Margo (Bill). He also leaves four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
