HISTORY OF THE CENTRAL NEBRASKA SENIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION:
G.G.
“Jerry” Treadway was a charter board member of the Nebraska Senior Golf
Association which was formed in 1965 at Fremont. Jerry later served as president of the NSGA
in 1982. During that time Jerry
encouraged the NSGA to hold tournaments farther west in Nebraska with little success. Serious discussions on starting our
organization began during the summer of 1984.
On August 13, 1984 a group of senior golfers met at the Kearney Country Club,
electing Jerry Treadway as acting President, Ted Richardson as acting
Sec-Treas; and Dale Brownfield, Dean Candea, Wally Hopp, Al “Pug” Horn, and
Lyle Teel as directors. Treadway &
Richardson then sent a recruiting letter to interested senior golfers, suggesting
an initial tournament that fall, and 1-2 events per month the following
year. Interested golfers were to send $5
membership dues with the first 100 to be considered “charter members”, and a
hope to get about 80 signed up. A follow
up letter stated “we have 181 paid members biting at the bit and ready to go”,
so this group were considered as the “charter members”. Charter members still on the 2008 membership
roster include: Charles Bourg, Dale
Brownfield, Clint Hohnstein, Bob Lowry, Merlin Rathman, Gordon Reeves, Bob
Sahling, Vernon Swanson and Norris Rusmisell.
The first tournament was held at Kearney Country Club October 2, 1984, with an entry fee of $25.00. I could not find a list of tournaments for 1985, but charter members believe they had 6-8 one day tournaments. There was also a 3 day tournament at Kearney CC on September 17-18-19, 1985. The 1986 schedule shows 8 one day tournaments (Heritage Hills CC, McCook; Minden CC; Valley View CC, Central City; Deer Park, Valentine; Southern Hills, Hastings; Ogallala CC; Cozad CC; and Holdrege CC, plus a 2 day “state” tournament at Kearney CC. Our current tournament schedule has grown to over 35 events in recent years. Our
group originated as the Western Nebraska State Senior Golf Association in 1984. However it was soon learned that a Panhandle
or Western NE Senior Golf Association was being organized at about the same
time, so in 1985 the name was officially changed to the present Central
Nebraska Senior Golf Association. At the
board meeting April
27, 1987 the annual two day “state” tournament was officially
renamed the “Jerry Treadway Memorial Tournament”, and continues as annual
individual event. Following the sudden
loss of Don Treadway, a special board meeting held on April 22, 2010 renamed it
the "Treadway Memorial Tournament" to honor both Jerry and Don
Treadway. In just over 2 years, the organization had grown to 458 members when Treadway and Richardson resigned due to health reasons. Norris Rusmisell took over as president on August 25, 1986 with a treasury balance of $3,075.98. Membership appears to have peaked at 653 in 1994, but suffered serious declines in the 1990's. With the peaks and valleys came some financial short falls. Long time board member Stretch Welch often related a story of calling other board members for donations; as he did not have enough money for stamps to even send out the dues billings. Fortunately we have rebuilt our membership numbers and ended 2011 with 594 paid members. Along with the increase in membership and tournaments our finances have improved. The association has a current budget of over $10,000 per year, and we maintain about one year's operating costs as a reserve |
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