About Us

Gil Morgan played in his first Masters round in April of 1977. Up to this point, he was a non-winner on the professional tour, but had won $42,035 in official earnings for that season. The previous season he had won $60,000.00 in earnings and was well on his way to passing that amount. His goal was to make $100,000.00 in the 1977 season. Morgan played in Augusta with fellow Oklahomans, Mark Hayes and Danny Edwards. He had a frustrating time at the tournament and came home to Wewoka for a couple of weeks and practiced his game with Richard Norman at the Wewoka Public Course.     

Morgan started getting help around this time from veteran golfer Ernie Vossler of Oklahoma City, owner of the newly constructed Oak Tree Course near Edmond. His putting game was weak during the Masters round and Vossler was assisting him with his putts. At this time, Gil was focusing on qualifying for the U.S Open which was to be played at the Southern Hill Country Club in Tulsa. He had seven tournaments scheduled on the southern swing which would take him to Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Charlotte and Memphis, where he had played previously and did quite well. Morgan was exempt in qualifying in a local round for the U.S. Open but had to qualify in the regional round in Charlotte.      

Morgan then won the B.C. Open in Endicott, New York by shooting 14-under par and that pushed his earnings past the $100,000.00 mark, as his first-place finish brought him a $40,000.00 check. Morgan beat Arnold Palmer and Lee Elder, passing them in the second round. Mark Hayes finished 15 strokes behind Morgan and collected $1,244.00. The win was Morgan's first in his three years on the professional tour. The Wewoka city commissioners declared Friday, September 16th, 1977, as the "Gil Morgan Day" and made him an honorary mayor for the day. Mayor Ed Turk wrote and signed the proclamation. His trophy was on display at Norman's Men's Wear in downtown Wewoka.      

The following year, Morgan won the Glen Campbell Los Angeles Open at the Riviera Country Club. The victory earned Morgan $40,000.00. He was tied with Jack Nicklaus through the 14th hole, but the Golden Bear fell back on the 15th carding a double bogey six on the par four hole. Nicklaus then bogeyed the par three 16th to give Morgan some breathing room. The viewers didn't miss a shot as the coverage allowed Morgan and his wife Jeanine to make their television debut. Gil gave his father credit for his interest in golf stating, "My dad has always been interested in golf. I made up my mind to try a golfing career about the time I finished optometry school."      

Morgan won the World Series of Golf and made a substantial donation to the Wewoka Municipal Golf Course. On Sunday, May 28th, 1978, the Wewoka Municipal Golf Course changed its name to the Dr. Gil Morgan Municipal Golf Course. At this point, Morgan had career tour earnings near the $300,000.00 mark. The city had just added a new water tower and Morgan wondered if the additional supply would help the golf course with its plans of adding a sprinkler system. He was very pleased and flattered that the course was named after him. The honor was presented to Morgan at a ceremony that launched the Fred Dancy Memorial Golf Tournament.      

Morgan got started playing golf on the Wewoka course. His father, Gilmer Morgan, told of when Gil first became interested in golf in an interview with Bob Hurt. "He was a junior in high school and he came home one day and asked me to help him find his golf clubs," recalled the father. "He hadn't played much golf then. He was too busy with other sports, but he had heard the high school team was going to the state tournament the next weekend and he had decided to go." Gil had one week to move from number 11 on the team to number 5 and he accomplished that goal. "That was the only tournament I was in during high school, and I shot something like an 85," said Gil. He has many memories from that course but most of his early playing and grooming in the game came while he was attending East Central State in Ada. He was too short to play basketball, and too small to play football on the collegiate level, being 5' 10" and 165 pounds. Gil was encouraged to try the pro tour after becoming an NAIA All-American at East Central State. Morgan went on to attend the Southern School of Optometry in Memphis and won around 11 golf tournaments in the summers. He tied for third in the Southern Amateur and reached the finals of the Western Amateur. Then, on one occasion, Morgan beat Ben Crenshaw which boosted his confidence with a 5 and 3 victory.      

Morgan was playing a lot of tournaments in the deep south, and met Bob Carpenter, a real estate man and banker from Bastrop, Louisiana. Carpenter, a former state senator, first saw Gil playing in the Cotton States Open and was impressed with the amateur's ability to hit the ball straight and pure. Carpenter stated, "That got my attention. Then, I got to know Gil. He stayed in my house, played with me in a pro-am. I love him like a son. He's such a fine boy. Don't smoke, drink. Wouldn't lie to you. Wouldn't do anything wrong." Carpenter then formed a syndicate of 10 men to sponsor Gil on the tour, with each supplying $27,500.00 per year for three years and they took 30% of the winnings above the expense money. It was a generous sponsorship and a worthwhile investment for those in the syndicate. Morgan was on his own in the 1976 season, making $61,372.00, and he made $104,817.00 on his own in 1977. In 1978, Morgan won fifth place at the PGA tournament at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburg. He shot five under par in the final round to score a 67. He took home $13,000.00 in prize money. It boosted his yearly total to an all-time best of $134,005.00 with one-fourth of the year remaining. He made a hole-in-one on the 245-yard par 2 eight hole. He hit a one iron into the protected green, and his shot flew into the hole for the ace. The finish pushed Morgan into the number nine spot on the PGA Money Winners List. Later that year, Mogan won the World Series of Golf in Akron, Ohio at the tune of $100,000.00. Then in October, he won the Pacific Club masters Golf Tournament by three strokes held in Gotemba, Japan, winning $300,000.00. Morgan has had a very successful run in professional golf. He is currently a Pro at Oak Tree in Edmond, where he and his wife, Jeanine currently reside. Morgan's generous support through the years has helped our course to grow and enable local golfers to enjoy the game they love.