Trailblazer Magee put OU golf on the map

By Jay C. Upchurch

Oklahoma by way of Dallas, London and Paris, France.

Andrew Magee may not have been born or raised in the Sooner State but once he arrived in Norman, the University of Oklahoma men’s golf program has never been the same.

Historians can point to great players like Walter Emery, Charlie Coe and Jimmy Vickers and the success they experienced as individuals at OU and beyond. And there were a handful of teams sprinkled across the first 50 years of the program that left their respective marks. 

But when asked to pinpoint the exact moment that changed the Sooners’ trajectory from seasonal underdogs to perennial national contenders, anybody who has kept tabs on OU over the past half century will almost certainly point to the moment Magee arrived on campus in the fall of 1980.

During his four-year career with the Sooners, Magee was a model of excellence — at one point between his sophomore and senior seasons reeling off 22 straight top-10 finishes. He won a program-record five individual tournament titles, including the 1983 Big Eight Conference crown, and became OU’s first three-time All-American.

More importantly, Magee helped lead the Sooners to four consecutive NCAA Championships, where they posted an eighth-place finish in 1983 and a third-place finish in 1984, just four shots behind team champion Houston.

It marked the start of a run that saw OU teams earn 16 straight NCAA Tourney berths and eight consecutive top-10 finishes. Prior to that, Oklahoma had only qualified for the NCAAs a total of nine times and had not posted a top-10 finish since 1963.

“Andrew’s arrival put OU golf on a whole different map and gave us instant credibility,” said Lynn Blevins, who played at OU and then coached the men’s team for two seasons (1980-81). “His presence helped bring in other good players and everything just kind of grew from there.”

As an encore to his college success, Magee went on to earn his PGA Tour card in 1985 and enjoy a 20-year career at the professional level, winning four PGA Tour titles while rising to as high as No. 35 in the Official World Golf Rankings at one point.

Prior to retiring in 2006, he played in 606 PGA Tour events, recorded 64 top-10 finishes and collected more than $8.5 million in official earnings.

Magee remains the only player to record a hole-in-one on a par-4 in PGA Tour history.

“Looking back at his success at both the college level and on the PGA Tour, it’s pretty obvious that Andrew had a lot of talent and worked really hard to make the most of it,” said Willie Wood, an eight-time winner at the collegiate level while playing for Oklahoma State (1980-83). “As far as his impact on OU golf — to build a great program, you have to start with great players. A player of Andrew’s caliber basically helped them attract other talented players.”

Later this year, Magee will be recognized for his overall contributions to the game when he is inducted into the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame. The 63-year-old Magee will be joined in the 2025 class by Wood, his longtime friend and OSU rival, former OSU head coach Mike McGraw, course developer Duffy Martin and 1962 U.S. Amateur medalist Labron Harris Jr.

“It’s incredibly exciting to receive an honor like this from a place that is so close to my heart, and to get the chance to go in with Willie, one of my best pals, makes it even that much more special,” said Magee, who resides these days in Scottsdale, Ariz. “Even after I left OU, turned pro and moved away, I always felt a close connection to Oklahoma and the golf program there.”

Magee’s life story began in 1962 in Paris where his father worked for Mobil Oil. His family would eventually live in places like Libya, Tripoli, Africa and England before ultimately settling down in Dallas when he was 11.

Prior to that, Magee had never picked up a golf club. 

But he found himself living in a neighborhood surrounded by Brookhaven Country Club, located in a Dallas suburb, Farmers Branch. And when his older brother Jonathan picked up the game, young Magee was quick to follow.

“Growing up like I did in different places outside the (United States), I never learned to play any American sports,” said Magee. “My dad was not a good golfer and I didn’t really have any interest in it until my brother started playing. So I basically tagged along with my brother and his friends around the course, and it just kind of grew from there.”

Magee won his first junior tournament title when he was 14 and that served as inspiration to take his game to the next level. He went on to capture more prestigious junior titles like the 1979 Doug Sanders International Junior while also enjoying a successful prep career at nearby R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton.

A lot of top college coaches took notice of Magee’s game during that time, but it was Blevins who managed to convince the highly touted recruit that Oklahoma was the perfect landing spot.

“On my visit to Norman, Lynn introduced me to Barry Switzer and a lot of other really nice OU people. We talked about building the golf program and beating OSU, and it just felt very homey to me,” said Magee. “Before I drove back to Dallas that next day, I remember sitting on the curb at the OU golf course and thinking about my decision. In that moment, I licked my pinky finger and touched it to the Oklahoma red dirt — and then tasted it. It just felt like I was making a good choice.

“That night, I told my mom and dad that I had decided to go to OU.”

The colorful Magee also noted that two tickets he received to attend the 1979 OU-Texas football game potentially factored into his decision as well.

Once at OU, his impact was immediate.

Magee became the foundation that the Sooners would build around and that spring, he earned medalist honors at the 1981 John Burns Intercollegiate — the first of his five collegiate wins.

A few weeks later, however, Florida offered Blevins its head coaching job, and suddenly everything they had talked about creating together was uncertain.

“Lynn asked me to go with him to Florida and I thought about it — but I felt committed to OU. I was at home in Norman, and when OU hired David Yates away from Stanford to be the new coach, I knew we had the right guy to continue what we had started,” said Magee.

During the next three years, Yates brought in a talented supporting cast of players that included Greg Turner, Jim Begwin, Cliff Pierce, Todd Hamilton and Grant Waite, each of whom would eventually earn All-America status.

With Magee as the centerpiece of the lineup, the Sooners were gaining national attention every time they hit the course. OU defeated OSU for the first time in almost a decade, and by Magee’s senior season in 1983-84, Yates’ crew had risen to No. 2 in the national polls.

“I took the OU job because I knew Andrew was someone you could build something very special around. He is the main reason OU golf had such a resurgence,” said Yates. “To hear that he is going to be honored with a hall of fame induction is so well deserved.”

Once Magee departed for the professional ranks, he never lost track of the Sooners or the OU golf program. Most recently, he’s been one of current OU coach Ryan Hybl’s biggest supporters.

“When I got here in 2009, our goal was to recapture the momentum that those phenomenal 1980s Oklahoma teams had created. Everything Andrew did as a player here had helped create that,” said Hybl, whose 2017 Sooners won the program’s second-ever national title. “I have been able to lean on Andrew and his support during my time here and witness first-hand the passion he has for OU and this golf program.”

Almost 45 years later, Magee remains a positive influence where the Sooners are concerned. And his golfing success story is about to be added to the Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame.

“The whole Hall of Fame deal is super exciting. It’s a great honor and a validation of something that I am really proud of,” said Magee, whose post-playing career job with BBC Radio has seen him cover the past 25 Masters tournaments and nine straight Ryder Cups.

“All in all, not too bad for that kid who tasted red dirt all those years ago, and decided to make Oklahoma his home away from home.”