Golf historian Mike Riste joins the podcast to explore the history of public golf in Washington and the influence of PNGA Hall-of-Famer Albert “Scotty” Campbell, a golfer from Seattle in the 1930s and 40s. Despite having no formal golf lessons, Campbell was a talented golfer, setting an amateur record for the 1936 Masters tournament and being selected for the 1936 Walker Cup team. The podcast also discusses the role of Jefferson Park Golf Course in promoting public golfers and fostering the development of successful golfers, including Bill Wright, the first black golfer to win the US Public Links in 1959. The hosts also delve into the history of the USGA Pub Links tournament and how Campbell’s success helped raise its profile.
Read the full transcript from Mike Riste’s Pod for the Course interview.
Mike Riste serves as the historian for the BC Golf Museum, and is the official historian for the PNGA. He assembled the initial research for “Washington Golf: 100 Years of Growing the Game,” the centennial history book of Washington Golf, published in 2022.
Mike may claim he is not a writer, but his body of work is substantial. He co-authored the monumental “Championships & Friendships,” the centennial history book of the Pacific Northwest Golf Association (PNGA); and wrote “Just Call Me Mac,” the biography of noted Northwest course architect, A. Vernon Macan.
He first became involved in golf in the spring of 1960 when Capilano Golf and Country Club (in West Vancouver, B.C.) advertised for caddies for their opening day tournament. Mike would later become the very first Evans Caddie Scholarship recipient from the Northwest.
In 1986, when the University Golf Course clubhouse (in Vancouver, B.C.) came vacant, MIke assembled a group of volunteers to renovate the structure into a golf museum. Today, BC Golf House is in a building that is the oldest structure still used for golf in B.C., and the BC Golf Museum is the only provincial or state standalone golf museum in North America.
In 2013, Mike received the Distinguished Service Award from the Northwest Golf Media Association.
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