Dugan "Doog" Aycock (April 8, 1908 – March 23, 2001) was an American professional
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 ...
er and golf course designer. Aycock was a member of the
PGA of America
The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) is an American organization of golf professionals that was founded in 1916. Consisting of nearly 29,000 men and women members, the PGA of America's undertaking is to establish ...
for 68 years and served as the Carolinas Section President for more than 15 years and as National Vice President (now known as district director).
Aycock was born in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
. In 1938, Aycock designed the
Lexington Country Club and was its head professional there for 38 of the next 40 years.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Aycock was the special services director of his
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
unit. He smuggled golf equipment into
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
in a shipment of kitchen fixtures, helped rebuild golf courses there, and even organized an Army tournament. Among the players who participated were
Tommy Bolt
Tommy may refer to:
People
* Tommy (given name)
* Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film
* ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...
and
Bobby Locke
Arthur D'Arcy "Bobby" Locke (20 November 1917 – 9 March 1987) was a South African professional golfer. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won The Open Championship four times and 15 PGA Tour events in total ...
.
To raise money for the
March of Dimes
March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to comba ...
campaign against
polio
Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...
in 1947, Aycock came up with the idea of playing golf cross-country from
Lexington, North Carolina
Lexington is the county seat of Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 18,931. It is located in central North Carolina, south of Winston-Salem. Major highways include I-85, I-85B, U ...
to the ninth hole at
Thomasville Golf Course; a distance of about 10 miles (16 km). Donors were asked to contribute and guess how many strokes it would take Aycock to complete the "hole". He teed off from a square in downtown Lexington and was allowed to tee the ball up on every shot except those that found water or ditches. He had to take penalty shots on those. It took Aycock a total of 114 strokes to go the entire 10 miles. Prior to starting, he wrote on a piece of paper sealed in an envelope that he thought it would take him 115 strokes. The event raised more than $5,000.
In 1957, Aycock was named national PGA Golf Professional of the Year. He was inducted into the Carolinas PGA Hall of Fame in 1981, the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1982, and the
North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame
The North Carolina Museum of History is a history museum located in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. It is an affiliate through the Smithsonian Affiliations program. The museum is a part of the Division of State History Museums, Office of Archives ...
in 1969. In addition to serving several terms as the PGA's vice president, he was a member of its executive committee, served on the PGA's
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
committee, and officiated at the Matches on multiple occasions.
The
Davidson County Amateur Champion is named in his honor.
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American male golfers
Golfers from Charlotte, North Carolina
United States Army personnel of World War II
1908 births
2001 deaths