ED UPDEGRAFF: FROM STATE CHAMP TO U.S. CHAMPION
Boone Iowa has long been known as a railroad town, but in the 1930's to 1950's it was also known as a golf haven.
Numerous local golfers excelled with many local and state championships achieved.
One golfer, however, stands above all others, due to outstanding national/internatonal play as well.
Ed Updegraff, BHS-39, led his teammates to four years of undefeated play, capped off by a state championship in 1939. Updegraff was also the state medalist.
After earning his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Iowa State University, he gained his medical degree as a urologist at the State University of Iowa.
At the famous Veenker College course on the ISU campus, Ed shot a six-under-par 66. That was shortly after the course opened in 1938 and he was still a Boone High School student at the time. A definite sign of what was to come.
Prior to 1951 when he made Tucson, Arizona his permanent home, Dr. Ed had won Spencer's Northwest Amateur three times, was low amateur in the Waterloo Open and a semifinalist in the Iowa Amateur when a match play format was used and was the champion of what, eventually, evolved into the Fort Dodge Amateur.
With Arizona as his home base, his golfing resume continued to soar. He won the Tucson Amateur in 1951, took the Western Amateur title twice, 1957-59, the Sunnehanna Amateur in 1962, the Pacific Coast Amateur in 1967 and the U.S. Senior Amateur championship in 1981.
A semifinalist in the British Amateur in 1965, he tested the PGA in 1969 when he finished fourth in the Tucson Open. In the 1966 Master's tourney, he tied for 44th place. That was one of six invitations to play in the famed Master's.
In other prestigeous meets, he participated in the America's Cup, the North and South, the Southwestern Amateur and the Arizona Amateur.
Even then, two of his highest achievements were participation in Walker Cup play and being the recipient of the Bob Jones Award.
Representing the U.S. in action against the best foreign opposition at St. Andrew's, he played on three winning teams, in 1963, 65 and 69, and was the captain of the champion U.S. team in 1975.
The Bob Jones Award is the highest honor awarded by the United States Golf Association. Dr. Ed was the recipient of that award in 1998. Previous winners included Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan, Sam Sneed and Byron Nelson.
The Jones award is given in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in the game of golf. Bill Campbell, President of the USGA nominated Updegraff for the award, commenting, "Ed's personal qualities as a human being were consistently revealed. Its not so much how he played the game. It was his innate civility, his predictably relaxed manner, his pleasant demeanor and good humor in all situations. Whether winning or losing, he was the same unassuming modest and courteous person."
Dr. Ed is now 99 years of age and still enjoys the Arizona sunshine.
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BOONE HIGH FEATURED STRONG GOLF PROGRAMS
One of Boone High School's stronger athletic programs has been boys golf. However, most of the success occurred in the 1930's/40's era.
Five Toreador golfers won medalist honors at the State Golf Tournament, mostly during that time.
Ed Updegraff was the state champion in 1939 followed by his brother, Charles Updegraff Jr., in 1941, Bill Modeland in 1944 and Dick (Moose) Anderson in 1946.
The fifth champion was Brad Post, who led his 1970 Boone team to a state championship. The other members of that squad were Doug Miller, Jeff Rees and Jeff Saggau.
That is the most recent number one ranking by BHS players.
Prior to that, in 1946, the Toreadors had achieved their other state team title. Anderson was state medalist and his teammates that year were Grant (Buzz) Meyer, Pat Healy and Bob Fisher. Des Moines Roosevelt tied with Boone for that state crown.
Teamwise, several BHS units have finished second. That occurred in 1937, 44, 45 and 1956.
Individually, Bill Hall was a state medalist runnerup in 1936 and in State Coed play, the 1973 team of Becky Saggau and Gary Updegraff placed second.
In girls golf, in 1989, Shelley Finnestad finished as medalist runnerup and in 2012, Jalyn Briley was a second team all-state competitor.
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MARY MC MULLAN HAD THREE GREAT TENNIS SEASONS
Its not hard to determine the best Toreador player ever in girls tennis.
That would be Mary McMullan who was a dominent state competitor from 2006-08.
Mary started with a third-place finish in state singles in 2006 and followed up with a runnerup finish in 2007 and the state championship in 2008.
Two other notables are Marie Schutte and Davi Patterson.
Schutte was runnerup in state singles in 2002 and Patterson repeated that claim in 2016. Davi followed up with a fourth place finish in 2017.
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BOONE CONNECTED DEATHS: Steve Gus, 66, Boone. BHS-73. Married Becky Schall in 1974 and they divorced. Married Kathy Rourick in 1997. Steve worked at Boone County Tire, Moffitt's and then, 40 years at Bacon Jewelers. Survivors include his wife, Kathy, of Boone, a son, Andy, of Ogden, a daughter and three sisters, including Susan Jacobson of Boone.........Donald Lyons, 74, Boone. Born in Boone, BHS-64. Air Force vet. Married Terri Hopkins in 1966 and she is deceased. Married Sandy Hanawalt in 1977. In 1979, he took over the family farming operation from his dad and for 21 years, he farmed and also sold real estate. In 2001, he married Sondra Christain Baldwin. After retirement in 2011, he continued to do some farming. Survivors include his wife, Sondra, sons Steve and Brad of Ogden, a daughter, brother and a sister, Joyce Patterson of Boone........Charlotte Paris Bennett, 78, Boone. Born in Boone. BHS-60. Married Gerald Bennett in 1964. He is deceased. Worked at ISU in dining for 28 years prior to retirement in 2010. Survivors include a son, two daughters and six siblings, four girls and two boys.........Allan Crandell, 78, Boone. Survivors include his wife, Linda, a son, daughter, step-son, step-daughter, two brothers and two sisters.......David Disbrowe, 55, Boone. Born in Boone. Worked at PDM for over 10 years. Survivors include a daughter, Amber Van Cannon, and a brother, John Disbrowe, both of Boone.........Jim Biladeau, 79, Boone/Marshalltown. Married Lucinda Olson in 1966 and she passed away in 2017. Worked for the railroad for over 30 years, retiring in 2003. Survivors include two sons, seven sisters, including Jeannie Backous and Rose Bielfelt of Boone and Joan Anderson of Stratford. Nine brothers and three sisters-in-law also survive.........Hattie Sue Ball, 81, Boone. Married Wayne Ball and they divorced but remained good friends.Survivors include her former husband, a daughter, sister and two brothers.......Lester Boucher, 92, Boone........Kerry Hannan, 56, Ogden. Earned a CNA certificate. Moved to Iowa in the early 2000's. Was a cab driver and a counselor at Rose Center in Boone. Married Debra Faux in 2016. Survivors include his wife, Debra, of Ogden, four daughters, three brothers, three sisters, a sister-in-law and two brothers-in-law.........IIine Cleo Welch Westberg, 94, Boone. BHS-44. Married Donald Westberg in 1945. Survivors include two sons, including Roger Westberg of Boone, a daughter, and two brothers-in-law, Charles and Gerald Westberg of Boone........Phyliss Wilcox Cunningham, 87, North Liberty, IA. Married Norman Knight in 1950. Worked for ISU food service for 25 years. Retired in 1997. Married Bryce Cunningham in 1992. He died in 2020. Survivors include a son, daughter and three step-children, two boys and a girl.
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