Friday night, at its annual banquet, the Alabama Golf Association will recognize Bee McWane Reid, Sadie Roberts and Buford McCarty with the Joe H. King Award.
King, who died in 2008, was a key person within the USGA, Southern Golf Association and AGA. In 1993, the AGA created an award in King’s name to be given periodically to amateur golfers in Alabama for their contributions to golf.
To date, there have been 12 recipients: King, Ann Upchurch, Elbert Jemison, Charley Boswell, Buddy Walker, Sam Farlow, Frank Campbell, Bob Lowry, Jackie Cummings, Art Gleason and Fred Stephens.
Here’s a look at the latest recipients:
Bee McWane Reid
McWane Reid comes from a storied golfing family. Her father, William McWane, was inducted into the Birmingham Golf Association Hall of Fame in its inaugural year of 1965, with her mother, Louise, following three years later. Bee was inducted in 1998.
She dominated golf in the state in the late 1940s and early to mid 1950s, winning the State Amateur championship six times in eight years (1948, ’49, ’50, ’52, ’53 and ’55).
In 2007 she endowed a fund that allowed the employment of the first full-time executive director of the Women’s Alabama Golf Association.
After living for many years in Naples, Fla., she now resides in Birmingham.
Sadie Roberts
It is not too strong of a statement to say that Roberts was responsible for the start of organized women’s golf in the state.
As the president of the Women’s Southern Golf Association in 1928, she wanted women golfers in Alabama to have their own organization and state amateur championship.
The very next year her desire became reality as the first women’s state amateur was held at the Country Club of Birmingham. Subsequently she served as president of the WAGA for a remarkable 22 years.
She was inducted into the BGA Hall of Fame in 1967.
She died in 1988, two months shy of her 100th birthday. Her grandson, David Roberts IV, will accept the award.
Buford McCarty
Upon finding out he had been chosen to be one of this year’s three recipients, AGA executive director McCarty was moved to tears.
“Joe was my mentor and I would not have been doing what I’ve been doing for the past 25 years without him.”
McCarty has been at the helm of the AGA through an extended period of unprecedented growth. Indeed, the AGA has come a long way from King himself running the association out of a “shoe box” in his home.
McCarty is rightly proud that the USGA asked him to come to its headquarters in Far Hills, N.J., for a number of years to teach a class entitled “How to Conduct a Championship.”
It’s quite the commendation when golf’s governing body asks you to educate USGA interns and staff members on the best practices to run championships.
