Forrest Oliver Fezler (September 23, 1949 – December 21, 2018) was an American

golf course design A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

consultant and

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 ...

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 ...

. His most prosperous year as a professional came in 1974, when he won the Southern Open and finished in second place to

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. Op ...

at the U.S. Open, his best finish at a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Early years

Fezler was born in

Hayward, California Hayward () is a city located in Alameda County, California in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda Coun ...

. He first showed an interest in the game of golf as a 7-year-old boy growing up in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

by drawing golf holes. As a youth, he would sneak onto the course at the San Jose Country Club to practice. He attended

James Lick High School James Lick High School is a public high school in San Jose, California, US, located in the Alum Rock district of East San Jose. The school is part of the East Side Union High School District. History James Lick High School opened in 1950 at ...

and was a member of the golf team; and a teammate of future fellow PGA Tour player

Roger Maltbie Roger Lin Maltbie (born June 30, 1951) is an American professional golfer and on-course analyst for NBC Sports. Career Maltbie was born in Modesto, California and grew up in San Jose. He attended James Lick High School where he was a teammate of ...

. Fezler attended

San Jose City College San José City College (SJCC) is a public community college in San Jose, California. Founded in 1921, SJCC is located in the West San Jose neighborhood of Fruitdale. History The college was founded in 1921, opening its doors to students in Sep ...

from 1968–1969. Fezler won the

California State Amateur The California Amateur Championship or California Amateur is a golf championship held in California for the state's top amateur golfers. The tournament is run by the California Golf Association. The first event was held in 1912 at the Del Monte Golf ...

, Santa Clara County Championship and the California State Community College Championship in 1969.

PGA Tour

Fezler played on the PGA Tour from 1972 to 1983, and won one event. He had 30 top-10 finishes including eight runner-up finishes. He won the PGA ''Rookie of the Year'' award in 1973. His career year was 1974 when he won the Southern Open and finished in 2nd place to

at the U.S. Open. This was his best finish in a major championship. In 1976, Fezler tore the tendons in his left wrist and was forced to make major adjustments in his game – both in the number of tournaments he played and in his swing. He would limit his full-time professional play in 1983, and in 1984 took the head club pro job at Blackhawk Country Club in the East Bay region of California. He earned $527,000 in career winnings.

Dress code protest

Fezler was unhappy with the

's dress code that required players to wear slacks. At the 1983 U.S. Open, which is run by the

USGA The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

, Fezler was goaded by a reporter to wear shorts in protest the next day during the tournament. Before playing the last hole of the last round, he stepped into a portable toilet and changed into shorts, then left the course to avoid possible admonishment by the USGA.

Golf course design

In 1994, Fezler changed careers and got into the golf course design and construction business as a partner with South Carolina-based Mike Strantz, an award-winning former associate of

Tom Fazio Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

. He developed his own golf course, which he called ''Golden Eagle'', in

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In ...

Death

Fezler died on December 21, 2018 at age 69. According to his son, Jordan, he had been battling

brain cancer A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...

Amateur wins (3)

*1969 Santa Clara County Championship,

, California Community College Championship

Professional wins (2)

PGA Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Other wins (1)

*1975 Confidence Open

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fezler, Forrest American male golfers PGA Tour golfers Golf course architects Golfers from California Golfers from Tallahassee, Florida Sportspeople from San Jose, California Sportspeople from Hayward, California Deaths from brain cancer in the United States 1949 births 2018 deaths