Something in your golf career went right when playing in The Masters wasn’t your career highlight.
It’s not that Mike Gove didn’t thoroughly enjoy the experience of competing at Augusta in 1980, but representing his country as a member of the 1979 Walker Cup team meant more to the former Weber State star, who ranks 32st on the list of the Big Sky Conference’s “50 Greatest Male Athletes.’’
“The Masters probably has a bigger impact at the clubs I’ve worked at and amongst golfers,’’ said Gove, who is the head pro at the Inglewood Golf Club in Kenmore, Wash. But when you look at the opportunity to represent your country and hear your national anthem, well you hear Olympic athletes, and even some great NBA stars that played in the Olympics talk about that being something that sticks. It’s hard for me to say which one was bigger, but I’d probably say the Walker Cup.
Gove, who grew up in the Seattle area, was a big-time recruit for legendary Weber State men’s golf coach Mac Madsen, who led the Wildcats to seven straight Big Sky championships from 1977-1984. It might’ve been more, but the Big Sky didn’t sponsor men’s golf in 1975, 1976 and 1977.
Gove said he sent roughly 80 letters to college coaches across the country. Madsen was one of a handful who expressed interest.
“Some of the coaches sent back some derogatory letters that basically said I couldn’t possibly make their teams,’’ Gove said. “Some of those coaches were asking me about transferring schools after I’d been at Weber State for a year. Mac showed interest in me. I went and visited Ogden and I liked the campus and the coach. He liked me. I thought I could make the team.’’
At the time, Weber State wasn’t just a dominant Big Sky club, but a squad that could compete with the elite teams in the nation. As a freshman in his first collegiate tournament, he led after the first round of the prestigious Patio Spring Invitational, leading some big-time Brigham Young players. Gove finished fourth.
Three tournaments later, Gove claimed medalist honors at Utah State’s Beehive Invitational, he claimed his first collegiate tournament win by a staggering eight shots. He earned honorable mention All-America honors that year.
Big Sky golf returned in 1977, and Gove claimed medalist honors at the Big Sky Championship, shooting a 54-hole total of 212. Weber State golfers claimed spots one through five, something they accomplished again in 1978 and in 1979. Gove was the Big Sky runner-up in 1978 and 1979.
“I don’t have a lot of memories of the events, as I do the fact we were such a powerhouse in the Big Sky since we were nationally-ranked,’’ Gove said. “We were competitive in the other major events. We always talked about finishing one through five in the Big Sky.’’
In the fall of 1977, Gove enjoyed an amazing stretch where he won four of five fall tournaments. He defended his Beehive Invitational Title, won a prestigious tournament called the Tucker Invitational, and then won the Sun Bowl Collegiate All-Star Tournament that featured the top 24 American collegiate golfers.
At the 1978 NCAA Championship in Eugene, Ore., Gove placed fourth to earn First Team All-America honors and helped the Wildcat to a 15th-place team finish. Later that year, he won the Pacific Coast Amateur Championship with an amazing nine-under par 279 at the Sahalee Country Club.
An invitation to the Walker Cup was close behind. The Walker Cup features the top amateurs from the United States going head-to-head against the top amateurs from Ireland and Great Britain. In 1979, the event was held at famed Muirfield in Scotland. It was also held close to the NCAA Championship, Gove had to chose between the Walker Cup or the NCAA Championship.
“I remember sitting in Mac’s office and talking about that,’’ Gove said. “We actually could have played in both. We asked if the USGA if they could charter some of us over there, and we would have gotten to Muirfield a day or two before the event. But they said the Walker Cup experience was meeting in New York, the press conferences, and then visiting castles in Ireland and playing the practice round.’’
Gove won two singles matches, helped the United States to a resounding win
“The Walker Cup has always been a huge event over there,’’ Gove said. “I was surprised by the Scottish fans, and the TV and newspaper coverage than went on over there. It was a huge thing as an amateur golfer to be chosen for that team.’’
The Walker Cup members, at the time, were also invited to compete in The Masters the following April – as long as they were still amateurs.
“I didn’t turn professional until the day after the Masters in 1980,’’ Gove said.
Gove played his first round with former Masters champion Billy Casper, and the second round with Raymond Floyd.
“In the latter part of the second day, Ray Floyd was making a huge run, and there were not a lot of other contenders on the course,’’ Gove recalled. “On the back nine, there was a lot of support for Ray, and there was this young amateur from Seattle tagging along. That was the year Seve (Ballesteros) won his first masters. He was one the course, five or six holes in front of us. Floyd was a local guy, and he was on a role. There were lost of people following us. Unfortunately, I got to watch on Saturday and Sunday because I didn’t make the cut.’’
Gove earned his PGA Tour card by finishing second in qualifying school, and he was off to a promising start on tour before suffering an injury at Pinehurst.
“I hurt my hand hitting a shot,’’ he said. “I finished the round, but it kept getting worse. They found a stress fracture at the top of my finger bone and I needed a bone graft. I didn’t start to play until June or July of the next year, and I had some good finishes. I kept my card. But the purses were still as such in the mid-‘80s that it was hard to hang on. I was on my own financially. I just didn’t play with nearly as much confidence after I hurt my hand as I did when I first got out there out of college.’’
Gove was elected to the Weber State Hall of Fame in 1991. He was the head pro at Oregon’s Astoria Golf and Country Club. Since 2002, he has served in that capacity at Inglewood. Madsen died of a heart attack in 2002
“He did everything he could to get us in the best events to set us up the best he knew how,’’ Gove said of Madsen. “Golf wise, Mac wasn’t someone that helped in terms of a physical swing. He would analyze. He helped me a lot from a mental standpoint. He had a lot to do with the finishes I had my junior and senior years, and then how to cope with getting on tour and qualifying. From a mental standpoint, Mac was a huge impact.’’
