McGraw is an inspirational treasure for thousands of golfers

The below story ran in the Aug.-Sept. issue of Golf Oklahoma. You can pick up a copy in your local pro shop or read all the stories online at this website. 

By Steven Steele
with Ken MacLeod

When Mike McGraw joins twin sister Patty Coatney as the second siblings behind David and Danny Edwards to be inducted into the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame, it will be a celebration as much for  their differences as their similarities.

Patty’s mantra through nine state championships: Brief warmup, see ball, hit fairway or not, make great recovery, make putt, win match. 

Mike, meanwhile, would be beating balls endlessly on the range, self-analyzing his swing, scouring the bookshelves for instruction, pouring over statistical and history books well into the night.

“We were polar opposites,” Patty said. “He was like Rain Man. If he wasn’t working at the golf course, he was writing down statistics. You can’t stump him on anything. That was his jam. If he ever retires, he should become a radio sports talk host because he knows everything.

“Mike was a hard worker and a good player, but he realized soon that he wanted to go a different direction and really help kids. And he’s changed so many lives. When my kids were growing up I said if they could be half the man that Mike is we would be so blessed. He’s just a good human and a good guy.”

Mike and Patty were the youngest of seven children of longtime Ponca City Country Club head professional Gervis McGraw and his wife Pat. Older brother Tim was probably the best golfer in the family and later kept Gervis’ club repair business in Oklahoma City going for some 40 years before shutting it down this summer.

Like the Cozbys of Bartlesville, they are one of the first families of Oklahoma golf, and perhaps no one has had a greater impact on young golfers in this state than Mike McGraw. And though his journey has included many years as a Division I coach at Oklahoma State, Alabama and Baylor, it was in Edmond where he began to weave his way into the hearts of so many Oklahoma golf hopefuls.

The same brain that could remember the weather conditions for the third round of the 1908 U.S. Open could memorize the names of 200 young golfers on the range in the new E.C. Hafer Junior program that head pro Art Proctor was starting at KickingBird. And the brain that analyzed the thoughts and processes of the world’s top instructors could quickly help a bewildering array of swing flaws and mental approaches, finding a way forward for each suited to their skills and temperament.

McGraw arrived in Edmond in 1979 after a year at Odessa Junior College and played three years at Central Oklahoma, earning All-America honors after placing 16th at the 1981 NAIA National Championship. He graduated in 1982 with a degree in broadcast communication and went off to try the mini-tours for most of two years, but kept returning to help Proctor with the junior program and earned his teaching certificate so he could coach and teach in Edmond public schools.

Until he was invited to Stillwater in 1997 to be Mike Holder’s assistant coach at OSU, McGraw compiled an incredible record of junior golf impact as a coach and teacher in Edmond. From 1987-93 as an “assistant” coach at Edmond Memorial his teams won six state titles in seven seasons. From 1994-97, he took the new Edmond North program to three state titles and tournament victories in 36 of 46 events.

Tosh Hays, now the director of junior instruction at Oak Tree Golf Club, an instructor to PGA Tour players such as Robert Streb and highly successful high school coach at Oklahoma Christian School in Edmond, is the new embodiment of what McGraw was and his mentor is fully responsible, Hays said.

“He was just so magnetic and never had a moment to himself,” Hays recalled of the summer of 1989 when he first met McGraw on the range as an 11-year-old. “He always had a legion of kids following him. But you could soon tell it was because of how kind of a man he was. He took a genuine interest in you and how you were doing, not just as a golfer but at school.

“And once I realized what he knew as far as the game of golf, I didn’t know what the word genius meant but it was easy to understand he had something special as far as the way he could communicate with the kids and pass along what he thought was important. Karate Kid was popular at the time and I always thought of Mike McGraw as Mr. Miyagi, because he could explain things that were really technical and complicated in a way where it made sense and I could understand it and apply it.”

McGraw was leading a Spartan life, rising before dawn in a unfurnished (literally) one-bedroom apartment to work on his game, work with the kids, work on his teaching certificate and return home after dark.

He finally gave up the playing dream in 1986 with his final event being the Oklahoma Open. 

“I was a good short-game artist but I didn’t hit it very far and didn’t have enough self belief,” McGraw said of one thing he has tried hard to impart to his students and players. “If I had to do it over again, I would work hard on my mind. That’s what I’ve been able to with my players over the years.”

Rob Land, current director of golf at Oak Tree National, was one of the thousands of juniors in the E.C. Hafer program influenced positively by McGraw. 

“Mike McGraw was just a great role model for us kids in Oklahoma and Edmond,” said Land, who previously worked at Karsten Creek, partly thanks to McGraw. “You could always ask yourself. ‘What would McGraw do?’ If you follow the path that he made you will do some good things. He’s just a good all-around person.” 

His incredible record as a high school coach and his mentorship skills caught the eye of OSU coach Mike Holder, who brought him to Stillwater as a lowly-paid assistant but one who was allowed to supplement his salary by continuing to teach. McGraw was Holder’s assistant from 1997-2004, including the 2000 national championship. He coached the OSU women in 2004-05, leading the Cowboys to the Big 12 title, and then took over the men’s program upon Holder’s ascension to Athletic Director in June 2005.

Even during his year as women’s coach, McGraw bonded with a struggling freshman named Jonathan Moore whom he helped recruit.

“We would meet once a week at Aspen Coffee,” Moore said. “I was going through a really challenging redshirt year, Karsten Creek was getting the better of me and maybe the expectations of playing for Mike Holder.

“He really invested the time in me and he’s a man of faith and we share those same values. He honored the commitment to be part of my life even though he wasn’t my coach and I’m very grateful for that.”

Moore more than paid off that investment the next year, winning the NCAA Championship individually and helped the team do the same.

“It was nothing short of magical, that turnaround, really for both of us,” said Moore, now an assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma. “The hug we shared on the side of the18th green at Crosswater Club, just chills for both of us. There is no one else I would rather have shared that moment with than Coach McGraw just because of the man that he’s been in my life.”

For the next few years McGraw coached talent-laden OSU teams that included Rickie Fowler, Kevin Tway, Peter Uihlein, Morgan Hoffman and Talor Gooch, but did not manage to climb to the top. Putting more and more pressure on himself, OSU failed to advance to the NCAA Championship for the first time in 65 years in 2012 and did not advance to the match-play portion of the championship in 2013. Holder fired him that year.

McGraw was not unemployed for long. Friend Jay Seawell, coach of the defending national champion Alabama Tide, quickly brought him on board as an assistant. McGraw played an instrumental role as Alabama won the 2014 title at Prairie Dunes, beating his beloved Cowboys 4-1 in the final at Prairie Dunes, creating the all-time bittersweet moment for both McGraw and his thousands of backers at OSU and throughout the state.

“Mike brought an energy and enthusiasm and really a want-to after being let go that really helped energize and motivate our guys,” Seawell said. “We don’t win that year without him. I think it’s one of the most magical years in college golf history.”

Seawell was also amazed by the following McGraw had making sure he was okay following his release by OSU and letting him know that they still loved him.

“I was floored,” Seawell said. “There must be 5,000 people who used to play for Edmond North. They were coming to check on him, have dinner with him. That’s what makes Mike special. He remembers people, their stories, and makes a life-long investment in them.”

McGraw was hired by Baylor in July 2014 and is still there today, having led the Bears to five NCAA Championship berths and several program firsts, including its first No. 1 national ranking, first NCAA Regional title and first NCAA Championship match-play appearance.

In 2017 he wrote a popular book, “Better Than I Found It,” in which he frankly detailed his struggles at OSU and the lessons learned. He began a hugely popular podcast making great use of his near photographic memory of tournaments, events, history and people. He has been a font of knowledge and a member of the selection committee for the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame since its inception and had to recuse himself when his nomination was considered.

Many hope when he retires from coaching that he and wife Pam, whom he married in 1996, will find a way to return to Edmond. How many cities have a Junior Golf Hall of Fame, as Edmond does, filled with McGraw admirers. Or find a role in Stillwater, where he and OSU coach Alan Bratton remain close friends.

“When I started teaching, I would always say that if I could do it 10 percent as good as Mike McGraw, I would consider myself a success,” Hays said. “When he was teaching me the game of golf and how to play, I had no idea he was ultimately teaching me my livelihood. I owe Mike so much. And I’m so grateful and happy for him going into the Hall of Fame.”

With all his success as a collegiate coach, McGraw looks back on Edmond North’s victory in the 1996 high school championship over a favored Jenks team at Cushing Country Club as his favorite moment.

“What made it a highlight and emotional was all five on that team had started off in the EC Hafer Junior Golf program at KickingBird,” McGraw said. “Tyler Willey, Tosh Hays, Derrick Taylor, Greg Larson and Matt Larson.  Tyler, Tosh and Derrick were still working at KickingBird.  It was very emotional in the van after the tournament was over, it was very moving, I had spent a lot of time with those young men.”  

As he has with so many. And now his home state is saying thank you.