Robert B. Dickson (born January 25, 1944) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

and the

Champions Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many years ...

Amateur career

Dickson was born in

McAlester, Oklahoma McAlester is the county seat of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. The population was 18,363 at the time of the 2010 census, a 3.4 percent increase from 17,783 at the 2000 census,Shuller, Thurman"McAlester" profile ''Encyclop ...

. He was introduced to

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

at the age of five by his father, Ben, a club pro/manager at the McAlester Country Club, and later club pro at the Muskogee Country Club (1958–1978). He attended high school in Muskogee, and was the state 2A golf champion for three years. Dickson attended

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Stillwater, Oklahoma Stillwater ( iow, Ñápinⁿje, ''meaning: "Water quiet"'') is a city in, and the county seat of, Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177 and State Highway 51. As of th ...

, where he was a two-time All-American as a member of the golf team from 1964–1966. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in General Business in 1967. That year he became the first amateur golfer since 1935 to win both the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

and

British Amateur The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

Professional career

On January 25, 1968, Dickson turned 24 years old. At his birthday party, it was announced he would turn professional. It was also announced he would enter the

PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament The annual PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, also known as Qualifying School or Q-School, was historically the main method by which golfers earned PGA Tour playing privileges, commonly known as a Tour card. Beginning in 2013, Q-School grants privileg ...

that April for the Spring 1968 PGA Tour Qualifying School. The

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

stated that "the pros rank the U.S.-British Amateur champ as a sure-pop star and the best to enter their ranks since

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

." Dickson played on the PGA Tour for ten years and won two official events. During his rookie season in 1968, he won the Haig Open Invitational and the

Bob Jones Award The Bob Jones Award is the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. It is named in honor of Bobby Jones. Winners *1955 Francis Ouimet *1956 William C. Campbell *1957 Babe Za ...

for distinguished sportsmanship in golf. His best year as a professional was 1973 when he won the

Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational The Farmers Insurance Open is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played in the San Diego, California, area in the early part of the season known as the "West Coast Swing". The tournament was noted for having singer-actor Andy Willia ...

, earned $89,182, and finished in the top-30 on the money list. His best finish in a major championship was a T-17 at

The Masters The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

in 1973. Dickson was hired by the PGA as the Director of Marketing for the Tournament Players Club in 1979 and was also a Rules Official on the

Senior PGA Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many years ...

(now known as the Champions Tour) from 1986–89. He was appointed as the Tournament Director for the Nike Tour (now known as the

Web.com Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. Th ...

) in 1989 and was instrumental in its initial development. After reaching the age of 50 in January 1994, Dickson began to play on the Senior PGA Tour. His sole victory in this venue came at the 1998

Cadillac NFL Golf Classic The NFL Golf Classic was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour from 1993 to 2002. It was played in May or June at the Upper Montclair Country Club in Clifton, New Jersey. It was a joint production with the NFL and attracted top NFL talent to pla ...

in a playoff with

Jim Colbert James Joseph Colbert (born March 9, 1941) is an American professional golfer. Colbert was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He attended Kansas State University, where he finished second in the NCAA golf championships in 1964, before graduating and ...

and

Larry Nelson Larry Gene Nelson (born September 10, 1947) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level. Nelson was born in Fort Payne, Alabama and grew up in Acworth, Georgia, northwest of A ...

. He last played in a Champions Tour event in 2004. On August 21, 2006, Dickson was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.Industry News from pga.com
He lives in

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Ponte Vedra Beach is a wealthy unincorporated seaside community and suburb of Jacksonville, Florida in St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located southeast of downtown Jacksonville and north of St. Augustine, it is part of the Jackso ...

Amateur wins (4)

*1965 Oklahoma State Amateur *1966 Oklahoma State Amateur *1967

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (2)

Other wins (2)

*1966

Oklahoma Open The Oklahoma Open is the Oklahoma state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is organized by the Oklahoma Golf Association. It has been played every year since 1910 at a variety of courses around the state. It was ...

(as an amateur) *1971

Senior PGA Tour wins (1)

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

(winners) *

Americas Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sailing (sport), sport of sailing. It is the oldest International sport, international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match racing, match ...

: 1967 (winners)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickson, Bob American male golfers Oklahoma State Cowboys golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Golfers from Oklahoma Golfers from Florida People from McAlester, Oklahoma People from Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 1944 births Living people