Enjoying 50 years of friendship, golf

By Joe Kavanaugh, Journal correspondent | Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

RAPID CITY — When Steve Beardsley and Doug Murphy won the 2008 South Dakota Golf Association Seniors Two-Man Championship on Sept. 19 and 20 at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, the two Rapid City men had more going for themselves than simply outstanding golf games.

The collective game of the two long-time friends also benefited from the trust, ease, and familiarity of a friendship that spans over 50 years.

“Doug and I grew up in the same neighborhood in Watertown and have known each other since we were about five years old,” says Beardsley, a local attorney. “It seems like we have known each other for our whole lives. We began playing together competitively on our sixth grade football team. Ironically, I was the quarterback on the team, or trying to be anyway, and that happened to be the last time I beat Doug out at quarterback.”

The two friends went on to star at Watertown in football — with Murphy at quarterback and Beardsley at linebacker — and played together on the basketball team as well. And while Beardsley did not play prep golf, Murphy went on to win the 1971 individual golf title as well as leading his team to the state championship.

“I started playing when I was about 7 years old,” says Murphy. “My grandfather on my dad’s side had an old set of wooden shafted clubs hanging in his garage and I asked him once if I could play with them. He got one down and asked me if I would use it if he gave me one and when I said ‘absolutely.’ He got one down along with three balls and gave me some valuable advice, telling me that I had better figure out how to hit it right because those three balls had to last me a long time. And that’s how I got started, hitting those three balls around in the park all by myself.”

Beardsley laughs when he talks about his early golf experiences.

“I learned the game early from my older brother and a couple of his friends at the Watertown Country Club and even worked at the public course in Watertown. But when I got to high school, I quit playing for a few years. I took the game too seriously for awhile, I thought I was going to be Arnold Palmer or Jack Nicklaus and didn’t take the game back up until I realized I wasn’t going to be, and then the game was a lot more fun.”

After high school, the two pretty much went their separate ways. Murphy went on to Black Hills State and played football and golf for the Yellow Jackets, while Beardsley went to SDSU and then on to the University of South Dakota Law School, settling in Rapid City after graduation.

Murphy meanwhile accepted an administrative position with K-Mart and followed the corporate trail to Denver and Ogden, Utah. For a long time their paths seldom crossed, until 1995, when Murphy and his family moved back to Rapid City.

“My wife and I wanted to bring our children back to South Dakota and let them experience growing up here and be closer to our families, too,” Murphy said.

Murphy and Beardsley began to play golf together and enjoy Friday nights watching their sons, Mike and Matt, play football at Rapid City Stevens, where the two played on the 2001 Raider squad that many consider one of the best in school history.

One thing led to another and in 2006 the duo captured the SDGA Pre-Seniors Two-Man championship, a year in which Murphy also won the Individual Pre-Seniors Championship.

“Obviously, winning the individual title was nice,” Murphy said. “But winning that first team championship with Steve was one of the best experiences I have ever had on a golf course.”

Winning the 2008 championship at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls with an extremely large field of South Dakota’s best players in attendance was special, too.

“We feel good about winning this year’s championship,” Beardsley said. “Since the event was being held in Sioux Falls there were a large number of East River golfers on hand and to win against that level of competition and to bring the championship back to Rapid City is nice indeed.”

The secret to Beardsley’s and Murphy’s success is perhaps best exemplified in how they played the last hole after finding out on the final hole that they were leading the championship.

“We decided to play for a par and let what happens, happen. Both of us hit drive right down the middle and both of us hit our approach shots on to the green with mine being a little closer.”

Murphy added, “I hit the first putt and hit it a little harder than I wanted and ran it about four feet past the hole and left Steve with a tough little slider coming back. We both looked at each other and laughed. And Steve drained the putt right in the middle. That’s just the way Steve has always been. He is the kind of guy who is always fun to be around.”

Beardsley agrees that the personal chemistry that comes from 50 years of friendship has much to do with their success.

“We give each other confidence and also are comfortable enough with each other to pass on a little grief when the other hits a bad shot. We can kid about it and not let the it bother us. We know that regardless of how we play, we will still think the world of each other. And that isn’t going to change.”