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My Shot After 26 years as a women's golf coach, I'm proud to say: We've come a long way, baby
Posted: Tuesday May 30, 2000 11:37 AM By Dale McNamara
We took baby steps, at first, to upgrade our program. At our first tournament I noticed that all the men's teams had matching uniforms and golf bags, but none of the women's teams did. I couldn't stand that, so I started lobbying for uniforms and bags for the girls. We were the first team in the country to have them, and I'm sure I made a lot of athletic directors hate me. I'll never forget my first recruiting class. I decided to go after a little girl from Roswell, N.Mex. I flew to New Mexico on a private plane provided by a friend and spent a couple of hours with Nancy Lopez and her family. We had instant rapport, and Nancy decided to come to Tulsa. The next year the AIAW ruled that coaches could not use private planes for recruiting trips. That was fine by me -- I had already landed the best woman golfer of the last 25 years. I wish I could turn back the clock 20 years and keep charging, but I feel our school needs a younger person to maintain our high standards. After 26 years it's time for me to relax and maybe even play a game of golf once in a while. Dale McNamara, 64, has won four national championships.
Issue date: June 5, 2000
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