11-time OGA champion golfer James Reid passes away
James Reid of Edmond, an 11-time Oklahoma Golf Association champion and significant figure in the Oklahoma Golf community, passed away Monday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Reid was a long-time member of the Oklahoma City Golf Commission and also ran Golf Inc. in Oklahoma City, which raised money for scholarships for young golfers through a series of amateur events.
A lawyer who competed in top amateur events throughout the country, Reid was known for having a mastery of chipping and putting and accurate driving and iron play.
He won the OGA Four-Ball Championship with Mike Hughett in 2000, 2004 and 2006 and the two remained friends through the years, with Hughett visiting Reid recently.
“He was 100 percent convinced he had the cancer beat, but took a turn for the worse last fall,” Hughett said. “I was excited for him, but unfortunately with cancer it can be gone one day and then come back relentlessly the next. He was helpful to me in my son’s battle with brain cancer. “
Former Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett, who appointed Reid to the golf commission, said he appreciated his work on behalf of the courses and the golfers in OKC.
“James was also a really good player and you could see when you watched him play why he could take his game to any course in the country,” Cornett said. “His ball went perfectly straight and had a really good short game. He was not a long hitter and had and one of the slower club head speeds of any of the top players in the state, but he could hit it straight.”
Reid won the OGA Mid-Amateur twice, the OGA Senior Four-Ball three times with Dr. Jon Valuck of Oklahoma City and once with Mark Donaldson, and won the OGA Senior Stroke Play Championship in 2013 at Dornick Hills CC in Ardmore and 2014 at The Trails Golf Club in Norman.
“When you think about James, you think about his incredible short game,” said OGA Executive Director Mark Felder. “He was just a great chipper and putter. He could save more shots around the green than just about anyone I’ve seen.”
Reid was 63. Here is a link to where his official obituary and services information will be posted. A Celebration of Life will be at 1 p.m. Monday at the Acts 2 United Methodist Church in Edmond and a reception at 3:30 p.m. at Lincoln Park Golf Course in Oklahoma City.
– Ken MacLeod