Billy Martindale (born September 10, 1938) is 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 has also had career interests as a

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

breeder,

golf course designer A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". T ...

, and

oil & gas A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geologica ...

entrepreneur.

Early life

Martindale was born in

Jacksonville, Texas Jacksonville is a city located in Cherokee County, Texas, United States. The population was 13,997 at the 2020 U.S. census. It is the principal city of the Jacksonville micropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Cherokee County. Ja ...

, the son of Margaret ( Pruitt) and William Everett Martindale. He is the older brother of

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

-winning stage, television, and film actress

Margo Martindale Margo Martindale (born July 18, 1951) is an American character actress who has appeared on television, film, and stage. In 2011, she won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Critics' Choice Television Award for her recurring role as Mags Bennett on '' ...

. He graduated from Jacksonville High School in 1957, where he was an All-State

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and All-State golfer.

Amateur career

Prior to his professional golf career, Martindale was an accomplished amateur player. After transferring from

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

in the middle of his freshman year, he went on to captain the golf team and become an NCAA All-American his junior and senior years, graduating in 1961. After graduation, he served in the Army from 1962 to 1963.

Professional career

After playing a partial season in 1963, Martindale played full-time on the PGA Tour from 1964 to 1968, and was recognized as the PGA's "Sophomore of the Year" in 1965. Late that season, he finished runner-up at the Almaden Open Invitational to South Africa's Bobby Verwey. In his five years on tour, he had three 2nd-place finishes, five 3rd-place finishes, and 35 top-25 finishes. 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 tie for 15th at the

1966 PGA Championship The 1966 PGA Championship was the 48th PGA Championship, played July 21–24 at the South Course of Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Al Geiberger won his only major championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Dudley Wysong. Sam Snea ...

Firestone Country Club Firestone Country Club is a private golf club in the United States, located in Akron, Ohio. It was a regular stop on the PGA Tour and has hosted the PGA Championship three times. It is the current home of the Bridgestone Senior Players Championsh ...

. After the 1968 season, Martindale left the PGA Tour to partner with

Don January Donald Ray January (November 20, 1929 – May 7, 2023) was an American professional golfer, best known for winning the 1967 PGA Championship. Early life Born in Plainview, Texas, January graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas. He was a ...

to form JanMart Enterprises, a golf course development and design company. Their business partnership would last until 1979, when January left to join the

Senior PGA Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, f ...

upon reaching age 50. Concurrently, Martindale also served as the head coach of the

golf team from 1970-73. In their 10 years together, Martindale and January developed some 23 courses together, mostly around their home state of Texas. Their most notable course development is Royal Oaks Country Club in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martindale, Billy American male golfers Texas A&M Aggies men's golfers PGA Tour golfers College golf coaches in the United States American golf course architects Golfers from Texas Southern Methodist University alumni Sportspeople from Jacksonville, Texas 1938 births Living people 20th-century American sportsmen