William Frank Garrett (September 6, 1940 – February 25, 2010) was an American

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 ...

who played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

in the 1960s and 1970s.

Early life

Garrett was born in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County, Texas, Potter County, though most of the southern half of the city extends into Randall County, Texas, Randall County ...

. At

North Texas State University The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public university, public research university located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Its main campus is in Denton, Texas, Denton, with a satellite campus in Frisco, Texas, Frisco. It serves as the ...

Denton, Texas Denton is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Denton County, Texas, Denton County. With a population of 139,869 as of 2020, it is the List of cities in Texas by population, 20th-most populous city in Texas, the List of Un ...

, he was captain of the golf team and went to the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

semi-finals his senior year. He graduated from North Texas in 1962. He turned professional in 1964.

Professional career

After teaching and coaching high school golf, Garrett was a member of the PGA Tour from 1964 to 1979. Garrett won the 1970 Coral Springs Open Invitational at Coral Springs Country Club,

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, with a $25,000 first prize, by one stroke over

Bob Murphy Robert, Rob, Bob or Bobby Murphy may refer to: Sports Baseball *Bob Murphy (pitcher) (1866–1904), American baseball pitcher * Bob Murphy (sportscaster) (1924–2004), American sports announcer * Rob Murphy (born 1960), American retired baseball ...

, in a field that included

Lee Trevino Lee Buck Trevino (born December 1, 1939) is an American retired professional golfer who is regarded as one of the greatest players in golf history. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. Trevino won six major championships and ...

Julius Boros Julius Nicolas Boros (March 3, 1920 – May 28, 1994) was an American professional golfer noted for his effortless-looking swing and strong record on difficult golf courses, particularly at the U.S. Open. Early life and amateur career Born in ...

and

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

among the top-10 finishers. However, in that time, a PGA Tour winner did not automatically earned an invitation to the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

, why Garrett 's eight major championship starts did not include a start at the Masters. Garrett played a few times in Europe. His best finish in a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

was a tied 47th at the 1975 Open Championship at

Carnoustie Golf Links Carnoustie Golf Links is in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. Carnoustie has four courses – the historic Championship Course, the Burnside Course, the Buddon Links Course and a free-to-play short, five-hole course called The Nestie. Carnoustie G ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He came back the following year to the 1976 Open, at

Royal Birkdale Royal Birkdale Golf Club is a golf course in the United Kingdom in North West England, located in Southport, Merseyside. It is one of the clubs in the rotation for both the Open Championship and Women's British Open and has hosted the Open Cham ...

Southport, England Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of Liverpool and southwest of Preston. At the ...

, and made the cut again, finishing tied 48th. The week after, he played at the

Scandinavian Enterprise Open The Scandinavian Enterprise Open was a golf tournament on the European Tour that was played in Sweden until 1990, when it had a prize fund of £400,000, which was mid-range for the tour at that time. In 1991, the tournament was merged with fell ...

on the

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, where he shot a new 8-under-par course record 64 at Drottningholm G.C. in the third round. The record round advanced Garrett from tied 49th to tied third. He finished tied 4th after the final round, despite being bothered by a back injury. As a senior golfer, Garrett played in the PGA Senior Club Professional Championship several times, finishing third in 1993, second in 1994 and tied third in 1995.

Private life

Garrett earned a living as a senior club professional after his days as a touring professional were over. He worked for Ping Golf Club Manufacturing for 30 years and was selected Salesman of the Year in 1995. He also received a Distinguished Service Award from the North Texas PGA in 2003. He was a deacon at Lakeside Baptist Church. He lived in

Grapevine, Texas Grapevine is a city located in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, United States, with minor portions extending into Dallas County, Texas, Dallas and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. Its population was 50,631 in the 2020 United States Census, ...

in 1995 and

Granbury, Texas Granbury is a city in and the county seat of Hood County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 10,958, and it is the principal city of the Granbury micropolitan statistical area. Granbury is named after Con ...

at the time of his death in 2010. He was survived by his wife Judy Schwan Garrett, who he met at college and was married with for 48 years.

Professional wins (3)

PGA Tour wins (1)

Other wins (2)

*1975

Arizona Open The Arizona Open Championship is the annual open state championship of golf in Arizona. The competition is 54-holes of stroke play (3 rounds on an 18-hole course), with the winner being the player with the lowest total number of strokes. Following ...

*1985

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Bill American male golfers North Texas Mean Green men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Golfers from Amarillo, Texas Sportspeople from Grapevine, Texas People from Granbury, Texas 1940 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen