Steven Nicholas Melnyk (born February 26, 1947) is an American former

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 ...

and golf sportscaster best known for his success as an amateur golfer. Melnyk won both the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

and British Amateur.

Early life

Melnyk was born in

Brunswick, Georgia Brunswick ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Glynn County, Georgia, Glynn County in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As the primary urban and economic center of the lower southeast portion of Georgia, it is the second-larges ...

.Florida Sports Hall of Fame, Inductees
Steve Melnyk (2000)
Retrieved July 18, 2011. He attended

Glynn Academy Glynn Academy (GA) is an American public high school in Brunswick, Georgia, Brunswick, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, enrolling 1,900 students in grades ninth grade, 9–twelfth grade, 12. Along with Brunswick High School (Georgia), ...

in Brunswick for his high school education. Melnyk won the Georgia Open as an 18-year-old amateur golfer in 1965.Georgia Golf Hall of Fame, Members
Steve Melnyk
Retrieved July 18, 2011.

Amateur career

Melnyk attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

, where he played for coach Buster Bishop's Florida Gators men's golf team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association 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. ...

(NCAA) competition from 1967 to 1969.
Florida Men's Golf 2011 Media Supplement
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 37, 39, 40, 41, 43 (2010). Retrieved July 11, 2011. He was a two-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

at Florida, and was the number one golfer on the 1968 team that won their first NCAA Division I Golf Championship. Melnyk graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in industrial management in 1969. Melnyk won the 1969

Oakmont Country Club Oakmont Country Club is a golf course country club which, despite its name, is mostly located within the borough of Plum, Pennsylvania with only a small portion of the property actually in the small town of Oakmont. Established in 1903, the club ...

, shooting a 2-over-par 286 to beat

Vinny Giles Marvin M. "Vinny" Giles III (born January 4, 1943) is an American amateur golfer. He is best known for winning both the U.S. Amateur and the British Amateur. Giles was born in Lynchburg, Virginia. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1 ...

by five shots at stroke play. He claimed the British Amateur with a 3 & 2 victory over fellow American Jim Simons 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 ...

in 1971. Melnyk also had wins at the

Western Amateur The Western Amateur is a leading annual golf tournament in the United States for male amateur golfers. It is organized by the Western Golf Association. The Western Amateur features an international field of top-ranked amateur golfers. It was firs ...

and

Eastern Amateur The Eastern Amateur is an annual amateur golf tournament. It has been played at Elizabeth Manor Golf and Country Club in Portsmouth, Virginia since 1957; the only exceptions were in 1977 when it was played at Sleepy Hole Golf Course in Suffolk, Virg ...

and played on the 1969 and 1971

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

teams. He won the 1965 Georgia Open as an amateur. He was low amateur in the 1970 British Open (tie for 41st) and at the 1971 Masters Tournament (tie for 24th).

Professional career

In 1971, Melnyk turned professional after his British Amateur win and started playing 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 ...

. He did not find the success he had as an amateur carried over to his professional career. He never won a tournament on the PGA Tour but he did place second four times: the 1973

Phoenix Open The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States. The tournament was originally the Ariz ...

, 1974 Houston Open, 1979 First NBC New Orleans Open and 1981

Pensacola Open The Pensacola Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour. The inaugural version of the tournament was played in 1956 and its last edition in 1988. Tournament highlights * 1960: Arnold Palmer birdies the 72nd hole to win by one shot over Doug Sa ...

. 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 12th at the

1972 Masters Tournament The 1972 Masters Tournament was the 36th Masters Tournament, held April 6–9 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Jack Nicklaus opened with a 68 and led wire-to-wire to win the fourth of his six Masters titles, three strokes ahead ...

. He did win the 1972 Masters Par 3 Contest. At the 1982 Phoenix Open, Melnyk slipped and broke his right elbow. While recuperating from the injury, he became an on-course reporter for

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

. He resumed playing later that year and both played and reported through the 1984 season when he retired from playing. He stayed with CBS until 1992, when joined

ABC Sports ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial America ...

. He retired from television in 2004, after 22 years as a reporter and analyst for CBS Sports, ABC Sports and ESPN. He has also designed or co-designed several golf courses.

Reinstated amateur status

In the late 2000s, Melnyk retired from professional golf and broadcasting but has regained his amateur golfer status and continues to play.Fred Seely,
Steve Melnyk: A good pro, now an amateur
," ''Jacksonville Golf'' (June 12, 2011). Retrieved July 18, 2011. He remains actively involved as a University of Florida alumnus and serving a ten-year stint on the board of directors of the Gators athletic boosters, including a term as its president.

Personal life

He lives in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

Awards and honors

* In 1970, Melnyk was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great."F Club, Hall of Fame
Gator Greats
Retrieved December 15, 2014. * In 1992, Melnyk was inducted into the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame. * In 2000, Melnyk was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame.

Tournament wins

*1965 Georgia Open (as an amateur) *1969

*1970

*1971 British Amateur

Results in major championships

LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

(winners),

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melnyk, Steve American male golfers Florida Gators men's golfers PGA Tour golfers American golf commentators American golf course architects Golfers from Georgia (U.S. state) Golfers from Jacksonville, Florida American people of Ukrainian descent Sportspeople from Brunswick, Georgia 1947 births Living people Sigma Alpha Epsilon members 20th-century American sportsmen