David William Ragan, Jr. (August 7, 1935 – March 13, 2018) 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 in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

and the

Senior PGA Tour PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many year ...

. Ragan was born in Daytona Beach, Florida. He attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for the

Florida Gators men's golf The Florida Gators men's golf team represents the University of Florida in the sport of golf. The Gators compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They play their home ...

team in

National Collegiate Athletics Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

(NCAA) competition from 1954 to 1956. During his time as a Gator golfer, he was a member of the Gators team that finished sixth in the NCAA national tournament in 1955, and won the first two

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) championships in team history in 1955 and 1956. As a senior in 1956, he won the SEC individual championship, and was recognized as an All-American. Ragan was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great." Ragan turned professional in 1956 and played on the PGA Tour in the late 1950s and 1960s, winning three times. He finished second to

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tou ...

in the

1963 PGA Championship The 1963 PGA Championship was the 45th PGA Championship, played July 18–21 at the Blue Course of Dallas Athletic Club in Dallas, Texas. Jack Nicklaus won the first of his five PGA Championship titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Dave Ragan ...

. He was a member of the 1963

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

team. In the early 1980s, he was the coach for the Tennessee Temple Crusaders golf team of

Tennessee Temple University Tennessee Temple University was a private Christian university in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Temple Baptist Seminary was the university's graduate school of Christian theology, also operating in Chattanooga. The university merged with Piedmont I ...

in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was also the coach of the

Ragin' Cajuns The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns are the athletic teams of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The college has been competing athletically since 1901. The Ragin' Cajuns compete in NCAA Division I, fielding 16 varsity teams. Nickname The un ...

golf team at

University of Southwestern Louisiana The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

in Lafayette, Louisiana. From 1984 to 1986, he worked in partnership with Jack Wall and Bobby Greenwood at the Master's School of Golf. He played sparingly on the Senior PGA Tour starting in 1987. ''

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's compet ...

'' magazine recognized Ragan as one of the top golf instructors in the state of Alabama in 2007. He worked for many years as a teaching pro at Inverness Country Club in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. He taught at Pine Tree Country Club in Irondale, AL (near Birmingham) from 1995 to 1998. His son, Dave III, is a teaching pro in Miami. Another one of his sons,

Chuck Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to: People Arts and entertainment * Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet * Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer * ...

is a singer/songwriter, as well as the frontman for the punk rock group

Hot Water Music Hot Water Music is an American punk rock band formed in October 1994 and based in Gainesville, Florida. Since their formation, the group has consisted of Chuck Ragan and Chris Wollard on shared lead vocals and guitars, bass guitarist Jason Bl ...

. Ragan died on March 13, 2018, aged 82 years.

Professional wins (9)

PGA Tour (3)

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

Other (6)

''This list is possibly incomplete'' *1956

Florida Open The Florida Open is the Florida state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is now organized by the Florida State Golf Association (FSGA). It has been played annually since 1942 at a variety of courses around the ...

(as an amateur) *1957 Waterloo Open Golf Classic (tie with J. C. Goosie) *1961 Haig & Haig Scotch Foursome (with

Mickey Wright Mary Kathryn "Mickey" Wright (February 14, 1935 – February 17, 2020) was an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. She became a member of the tour in 1955 and won 82 LPGA Tour career events including 13 major champions ...

) *1962 Florida PGA Championship *1963 Haig & Haig Scotch Foursome (with

Senior Service Tournament The Senior Service Tournament was a professional golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot a ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ragan, Dave American male golfers Florida Gators men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Ryder Cup competitors for the United States College golf coaches in the United States Golfers from Florida Golfers from Alabama Tennessee Temple University Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns coaches Sportspeople from Daytona Beach, Florida 1935 births 2018 deaths

Professional wins (9)

PGA Tour (3)

Other (6)

See also

References

External links