Duke Butler III

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Duke Butler III is the new president of the Jacksonville Amateur Golf Association. The Ponte Vedra Beach resident has decades of experience in the business side of golf and is also the first member of the PGA of America to hold the position.

Can you please briefly tell us about your background?

 

I grew up in the shadow of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, where my father Dr. O.D. Butler was head of the animal science department.

At Christmas, when I was nine, I received from him a set of Spalding All-star clubs and I insisted that we immediately go out and play even though it was 40 degrees. I’ve been hooked on golf ever since.

On April 23, 1962, it was a Monday, I was an eighth grader, and my junior high team left College Station early to go play a tournament in Houston.

I played well and shot a 79 and tied for second. We begged our coach to take us to Memorial Park where the Houston Classic was having an 18-hole playoff with a Texas A&M graduate Bobby Nichols, a Jacksonville attorney Dan Sikes and a heralded rookie named Jack Nicklaus.

That day, riding an hour and a half back to College Station, I decided it was the greatest day of my life and that I was going to dedicate my career to the business of golf, and I have never deviated.

I had a big goal of playing for coach Henry Ransom on the Texas A&M golf team and I was able to accomplish that.

Just prior to college I interviewed for a scholarship with the Houston Golf Association, and I won a half scholarship which I applied to my education at A&M and then won the other half by playing on the team.

My goal upon graduation was to become a PGA club professional at a private club and have good enough skill to be able to play in Monday qualifying at PGA Tour events when they were in the region, and I was able to accomplish that through the 1970s working at two great clubs in New Jersey, Baltusrol Golf Club and Echo Lake Country Club.

During that time, I tried to qualify 50 times, and I made it into 28 tournaments, and although I didn’t have any great accomplishments playing, on May 28, 1977, during the third round of the Atlanta Classic I found myself paired with the greatest of all time Jack Nicklaus.

I jokingly say that we shot the same numbers that day, because he had 67 and I had 76, and at that time I realized that playing professional golf was not going to be my vocation and I needed to stay on the business side.

Houston Golf Association invited me that fall to interview for their executive director job, and I got the position, which made me in charge of the Houston Open, a PGA Tour event when I was 29, which I believe is still the youngest to ever be in charge of a Tour event.

I did that successfully for 14 years, before commissioner Deane Beman invited me to join the PGS Tour staff in 1992.

What led you to get involved with the Jacksonville Amateur Golf Association?

Upon my arrival in Ponte Vedra Beach in 1992, I received a phone call from ‘Mr. Amateur Golf’ in Jacksonville Fred Seely who invited me to lunch.

We met and he explained to me the merits of JAGA and asked if I would get involved someday, and I jokingly said that I was a tad busy right now but if he’d contact me again in about 25 years, I might say yes.

We became friends and stayed in touch, and then in 2015 through my friend Jeff Adams, who was already involved, I joined as a director of JAGA.

What are your goals as JAGA president?

 

I hope to No. 1 continue to assist with the fundraising of JAGA’s scholarship program. We have about 50 kids on scholarship at any one time.

Gaining a scholarship through golf has had such a significance on my life so I always want to assist in that.

Number two, I want to help implement our tournament program, which is outstanding, and finally I want to show great respect to the leaders of JAGA.

The last three presidents of JAGA, Jeff Adams, John Milton and Cary Helton have really changed and improved the profile of JAGA, and I’d like to continue that.

Additionally, since I’m the first PGA of America member to be elected president of JAGA, I’d like to establish a little closer relationship with them because there are a lot of great professionals in this area who share our love for promoting the game.

Does being involved so much with junior golf allow you to reflect on when you first discovered your passion for the game?

 

I am living my life over again by helping some of the underserved kids in the area who play and practice at places like Brentwood, Blue Cypress or the UNF par-three course, many of whom would not otherwise have been introduced to the great game of golf.

There are times when I’m not sure if I’m helping them or if they’re helping me more.

I go to help teach the kids every Saturday and during the summer even more frequently than that. They are truly outstanding.

Last year, six kids in the Moore-Myers program won scholarships partially through golf to historically black colleges and universities.

I guided five of the six through their first golf swing, and it is extremely gratifying to see where they’ve come and reminds me why I do this.

Unfortunately, know they all outdrive me.