Friends, family gather to remember Eugene Country Club's `Mr. Wood'.
Byline: Bob Rodman The Register-GuardThere were tears, to be sure. Saying goodbye never is easy.
"But we are here today to celebrate a life and not mourn a death," said Don Rase, one of five grandchildren and among the more than 200 friends and family who attended Monday's memorial service at the Eugene Country Club for Wendell Wood.
The golf professional for 40 years at ECC and affiliated with the club for more than eight decades, Wood died on March 8 of pneumonia. He was 94.
More than once during the service, Wood was labeled a legend in his own Eugene Country Club time. In the book "Breaking 100, Eugene Country Club's First Century, 1899-1999," Wood was called "the soul" of the club.
Born in Creswell in 1912, Wood was introduced to golf and ECC by his older brother John, now 97. Wood caddied as a kid at ECC, initially earning 25 cents for a nine-hole round. He learned to play the game and learned, too, how much he loved teaching it.
By 1930, Wood was caddie-master. By 1933, an assistant pro. And in 1936, elevated to head professional, married his late wife Agnes (she died in 1999) and took over the pro shop. A year later, their daughter Wendy was born.
In 1939, Wood became the club's bookkeeper and mothered the slot machines that helped finance a good many club projects.
Wood's son Byron, who died in 2002, was born in 1943, the same year Wood began his 20 months in the Navy.
Despite the many hats Wood wore, he retained a flair for the game, qualifying for the U.S. Open in 1955, establishing himself as low qualifier for the Bing Crosby Tournament in 1957 and, at 59, winning the Northwest Seniors PGA event.
Sadness was equally mixed with joy as those who knew him shared their treasured memories of Wood, an ECC fixture for 80 years.
Chris Gaughan, the course superintendent, talked about an automobile given to Wood by the club when ECC's grand man retired in 1976.
"The club gave him this yellow Volkswagen Rabbit, and he used it for everything," Gaughan said, alluding to Wood's green thumb and penchant for horticulture.
"One time he came in and said he put the VW in the lake," Gaughan recalled. "I asked him if he was OK. He said he was. It would happen again, and that time he went into the lake with the VW. We hauled him out.
"In all, he went in three times. We named the area behind the seventh hole tee, the Wendell Wood Expressway."
John Marineau, owner of the former Moreno's restaurant and a longtime friend of Wood and his family, said his lasting image of Wendell and Agnes Wood was the two of them sitting in his restaurant near a window in the front of the building.
"They were holding hands, and it is how I always will remember them," Marineau said.
There were other recollections.
"Wendell once asked me to get my kids out to the club to caddy," Marineau said. "He said they could meet a lot of fine people, rub elbows with important people and learn a lot about life.
"What the kids learned was how to gamble, cheat and swear, and the lessons of life from Wendell," he told the audience that reacted with laughter.
Wood easily absorbed knowledge and had a talent for dispensing it, as far back as 1927 when he caddied for Walter Hagen, one of golf's legends.
Hagen's answer to a question about playing well despite a long night and a drink or two before teeing off was "I just put my knees together and my elbows together and let if fly."
Wood learned, later telling listeners, "That was my lesson - there really isn't much more to golf than that."
Wood had a firm calmness about him, eyes that could freeze you in a heartbeat or melt your soul in a millisecond, a smile that trapped you for good and the patience of a saint.
"People called him Mr. Wood," Gaughan said. "I still call him Mr. Wood."
Character, charm, grace and wit comprised the foundation of Wood's strength.
"Know who you are, know what you stand for and act accordingly," said Troy Wood, a grandson. "If you take that from Wendell Wood and continue on for the rest of your life, we'll all be the better for it.
"When I think of him, I think of the oak tree in his backyard, a magnificent thing. He was so solid, was such a strong foundation for everything he did. That oak tree is the essence of who Wendell Wood was."
Wood taught thousands of would-be golfers, played exhibition matches with Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, was instrumental in the growth and prosperity of ECC and, Rase said, "his work was his play.
"Whether on the driving range or on his knees in the garden, he always enjoyed what he was doing.
"The final lesson that Wendell Wood gives to all of us is that life is to be enjoyed. He took nothing for granted, was generous and kind."
Wood's picture will be permanently placed in the ECC lobby, club president Mitch Hammerstad said.
"Wendell has a golf tournament named after him and a golf scholarship in his name at the University of Oregon. He has been a lot of things to everyone.
"He was a legend and we miss him."
 Printer friendly
 Cite/link
 Email
 Feedback
| |
| Title Annotation: | Sports; The longtime golf professional's dedication to the game and the club are on the minds of those who attend Monday's memorial service |
|---|---|
| Publication: | The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) |
| Date: | Mar 20, 2007 |
| Words: | 908 |
| Previous Article: | Wyoming shares Ducks' tendencies. |
| Next Article: | Hayes carries Irish. |
| Obituaries. |
| Obituaries. |
| Country Club golf legend dies at age 94. |