HISTORY OF BEAVERHEAD GOLF CLUB
1962-2013
Visions by Dillon business people and golfers were the catalyst for a new golf course. These
dreams began in 1962. Dom Ori, Clay Smith, Leonard Schulz, Walt Brundage, Paul Puyear,
Dan Carpita and Ivan Remely were affectionately known as the “Rat Pack.” These men were the
driving force to see that a new clubhouse and golf course become a reality. Many others gave
hours of their time to the project, including Keith Taylor, Henry Stish, Howard Puyear, Don
Puyear, Roscoe Cornell, John Burwell, Harry Jensen, Dick Later, Frog Hull, Bill Cottom, Jim
Corr, Max Nield, Walt Stephan, Ted McFadden, George Gosman, Ted Hazelbaker, Phil Brown,
Norm Stubbs, Don Elliot, Dick Kennedy, Roy Smith, Ned Newton, Dick Newton, Don Crosser,
Warren Monger, Bill Mular, Chuck Nicholas, Gordon Nicholas, Jack Roberts, Ray Lynch,
Roscoe Cornell, Don Elliot, Lloyd Dougherty, Bun Lodge, Neil Strozzie, Gile Mitchell, Mariner
Ballard and Hobart Sneed. Many other members of the club and Dillon community contributed
in some way to make the dream a reality.
These visionaries wanted to move the golf course from what is now the Dillon Gun Club to a
new location. The search began by Dom Ori approaching Jim Womack for a suitable location.
Jim told Dom to contact the county commissioners. A deal was struck for 110 acres on what was
once called the Poor Farm. Of the 110 acres, 20 acres were given back and used for Ray Lynch
Memorial Park. The first lease agreement was signed on May 31, 1962 between Beaverhead
Country Club President Jack Roberts and Beaverhead County Commissioner Chairman Harry
Helming for not less than $850.00 and for the profit the club made above that amount to be paid
to the county.
Dom Ori, Clay Smith and Nate Young were the key men in the design and layout of the course.
Nate Young was a surveyor for the Bureau of Land Management. Dom and Clay designed the
course by going on the property with a yellow legal pad, lawn mower, golf clubs, balls and a tape
measure. Dom would tee off, go to where he hit, mow a patch of grass, take measurements, hit
again, and design from hole to hole for nine holes. With Nate’s surveying skills and knowledge
of landscaping, etc. the course took shape.
Construction of the course was completely done by membership labor. Area ranchers and
farmers brought in their equipment to construct the course and greens. Ivan Remely and Clay
Smith spearheaded this effort. Clay Smith and Max Nield spent many hours working on the
fairways and Ivan Remely built the greens. The fairways were seeded in the spring of 1963.
Harry Jensen provided the fuel for the equipment.
One hundred and forty members transferred to the new location. The sale of the old golf course
at $25,000 was used for the construction of the new club house. Dan Ibey of Ibey Construction
won the bid for the construction of the facility. Dick Newton and Carl Stewart did the finishing
work on the inside of the club house. Dan Carpita did the electrical work in the clubhouse. John
Burwell laid the floor. Most of the work on the facility was done by men and women members
of the golf course.
Initially, irrigation of the golf course was done by flooding the course. The first sprinkler system
was the iron-metal screw-in kind. This system was mostly constructed by Ivan Remely. Ned
Newton was the first greens keeper at the new course. Phil Taylor was hired by Ned to change
the sprinklers during the night. Phil slept each night in a small shed at the course and would set
his alarm clock for every two hours. He would get up, go out and change the sprinklers every
two hours. In 1964 six hundred debentures of $25.00 each were sold to raise money to put in the
first sprinkler system. In 1970 one hundred people put up $500 each to secure a loan with State
Bank for the construction of a new sprinkler system. In 1992 the current sprinkler system was
put in place.
In the early years of the golf club it was not just a club for golfing. It was also a social club and
the third Saturday of each month they would host a dinner and dance. Committees of three to
four couples would host each month. Often times Frog Hull, John Wilkerson and Dick Sietsema
would provide music for dancing. Dennis Hatfield also provided entertainment at the facility. In
the early years the club did not have a liquor license. They had a “bottle club” where members
brought their own alcoholic beverages to the club, wrote their names on the bottles, and stored
them in a cupboard for the provision of their own liquor. This ended abruptly when they were
turned in to the state and the liquor was confiscated. A beer and wine license was purchased
after this event.
Women invested much time and energy in the process of establishing the new club. Many were
involved with the construction of the inside of the clubhouse. Early members working to see the
success of the club were Chris Brundage, Pat Burwell, Phyliss Burwell, Mugs Carpita, Elsie
Cornell, Peggy Corr, Marge Elliot, Clara Hazelbaker, Yvonne Hull, Elsie Later, Lois Lynch,
Sally Malesich, Ann Mitchell, Gerta Mular, Barb Nield, Pat Ori, Gracie Puyear, Dorothy
Remely, Flori Roberts, Mary Schulz, Lutie Smith, Susie Stubbs, and Rhea Taylor. Women were
the heart and soul of the social activities for the golf course. They did the planning, cooking and
entertaining for many of the social activities. Their Women’s Association Invitationals for other
southwestern Montana golf clubs were notorious for hosting up to eighty five women for these
events. The by-laws of the Beaverhead Country Club stated that a woman from the Women’s
Association was to be appointed to the Executive Board. Donna Brown was the first woman
appointed to this board position. Numerous women served on the Executive Board in the early
years. Among them, Elsie Cornell, Lutie Smith, Rose Marie Puyear, Sally Malesich, Mugs
Carpita, Rhea Taylor, Bernie Frank and Carol Dickinson. Some years passed without a woman
on the Executive Board. In 2009 Salle Banning was appointed to the board and in 2011 she
became the first female president of the Executive Board. Linda Ward, in 2011, was the first
female elected board member to be elected by the club membership.
FIRSTS
First Lease Agreement with Beaverhead County – May 31, 1962
First Golf Cart-Old Rambler owned by Dom Ori, Walt Brundage, Paul Puyear & Leonard Schulz
First Executive Board President-1962-Jack Roberts
First Greens Keeper-1962-Ned Newton
First Club House Managers-Stu & Pat Burwell
First Women’s Golf Association President-1964/1965 Phyliss Burwell and Virginia Straugh
First Appointed Woman Board Member-1964-Donna Brown
First High School Golf Team-1963/1964-Phil Taylor, Bill Burwell and Pete Burwell were
coached by Bun Lodge. The three had a playoff to see which two went to the State Tournament
played at the Missoula Country Club. Phil and Bill were chosen to attend the tournament. Jim
Corr was the first coach to take a team to a State Tournament.
First Woman Executive Board President-2011-Salle Banning
First Woman Elected to Executive Board by Membership-2011-Linda Ward
ORDER OF MANAGERS/PROS
Stu & Pat Burwell
Pat Stish & Carol Dickinson
Pat Stish
Jeff Freebury
Jack & Raylene Eason
John & Helen Lansing
Greg Morstein-Manager/Pro
Tim Strozzie
Mike Crosser-Manager/Pro
Brad Dally-Manager/Pro
Kasey Briggs
GOLF SUPERINTENDANTS
Ned Newton was the first greens keeper at the Beaverhead Golf Course. He came from the old
golf course to the new one and was there for a number of years. In the early years the greens
were a problem and had to be reseeded several times. Nearly all of the greens were lost in 1976
due to a cold, dry windy winter. For several years after this the greens were covered with straw
and plastic. Jim Plutt has been a mainstay at the Beaverhead for 18 years, with a three year
break in the middle of those years to serve as the golf superintendant at the Ennis Golf Course.
Ponds, improved greens, fountains and the planting of many trees are just a few of the things Jim
has done to improve the golf course. The hours Jim has invested on the course over the years are
truly amazing and we can all be proud of the course.
FEES/ SALARIES OVER THE YEARS
1967 Single Membership $30.00 Family Membership $100.00
1968 Stu & Pat Burwell’s salary was $6000. This included living in the club house living
quarters with utilities paid. They were entitled to income from the driving range, balls and other
equipment fees.
1977 Weekday Green Fee $4.50 Weekend Green Fee $5.00
Single Membership $110.00 Family $165
2013 Single Membership $450.00 Family of 3 or more $790
1962 Lease Agreement with Beaverhead County $850
1996 Lease Agreement with the Beaverhead County $2000
2012 Lease Agreement with Beaverhead County $5.00
2013 Green Fees 9 Holes $17 18 Holes $25 Cart 9 Holes $15 18 Holes $20
2013 Single Membership $450 Two Family Member $672 Family of Three or More $790
HIGHLIGHTS & IMPORTANT EVENTS OVER 50 YEARS
1966 Membership-212 Members
1971 Sept. 17th PGA Golf Champions Johnny Miller and Jerry Heard were guests of the
Beaverhead Country Club. Harry Jensen was president of the golf course at this time. Johnny
and Jerry played in a tournament against Dom Ori. Dom shot a 71 and Johnny and Jerry each
shot 72. The two guests found the crowned greens very difficult.
1982 Paul Puyear Memorial Hole in One Contest at the First Annual Senior Men’s Tournament.
The new $10,000 Chevrolet car, donated by Paul’s Chevrolet, was won by Bill Clawson from
Deer Lodge. This tournament was started by Harry Jensen and Ted Hazelbaker and brought
players from across Montana and out of state.
2003 The Montana Department of Transportation made the decision to realign Highway 41. It
was evident that a portion of the golf course, mainly the club house and three cart barns were
going to become the site of the new roadway. Mike Crosser, the Board of Directors and the
Department of Transportation agreed on the amount of $190,000 for the property of the golf
course to be used by the state for the new highway. A decision by the Board of Directors,
President Clay Edwards, Dennis Hatfield, Jim Huber, Susan McRae, Ted Ori, Ken Peters, Frank
Russell and Ted Stanisich was made to build a new clubhouse. The $190,000 was used to pay
off an existing loan of $85,000 for a sprinkler system that had been put in earlier. The remaining
$105,000 was put towards the building of the new club house. Mike Crosser met with Curt
Lemhouse and Ken Smith to form a plan of action for construction. Once again, the spirit of
volunteerism from Beaverhead Golf Club members and community members was quickly put
into place. Skilled labor from the club membership was called upon. On any given weekend day
up to fifty members could be found working on the construction site. Curt Lemhouse and Ken
Smith gave hours of their summer to the project. Randy Newman of R & R Electric donated a
gas fireplace and installed it. Ernie Harvey did the tile work and wood work around the
fireplace. Not to be outdone, Tony and Chris Blume and Curt Lemhouse built the magnificent
bar. Tim Corrigan did most of the electrical work and Dan Cypher did the plumbing. Kelley
Rowe did the excavating. As holes were dug for the building and a new pond on the number one
tee box, Jim Plutt used the dirt for building mounds around the golf course. Lonnie Rand, John
Schuler, Frank Russell, Mike Tyler, Rich Meine, Phil Willett, Dick Newton and Mike Crosser
were responsible for building the new cart barns. On April 7, 2003 a ribbon cutting ceremony
opened the new clubhouse at Beaverhead Golf Club.
2012 Full Beverage Liquor License Purchase
2012 17,096 Rounds of Golf Played at the Golf Course
2012 Membership-287 Members
CHAMPIONS
Dom Ori-Men’s Club Champion for 22 years
Elsie Cornell-Women’s Club Champion for 41 years
1972-Ted Ori-Boys High School State Champion
1981 Women’s Club Champion Carol Dickenson Also ’82, ‘84, ‘85, ‘86, ‘87, ‘88, ‘93
Eddie Kavran Men’s Club Champion- Also ’93. ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, ’98, ’99, 2000
1998-Eddie Kavran-Men’s State Amateur Champion
2002 Boys State Championship Team
Jeff Allen, John Thomas, Kasey Duschanek, Kyle Bebbe & Tim Briggs
Coach Ted Stanisich
2002 Girls State Championship Team
Ashley Meine, Robin Russell, Casey Tash, Nicole Taylor & Torrey Campbell
Coach Ted Stanisich
2012 Men’s Club Champion Steve DiGiovanna
2012 Women’s Club Champion Ashley Meine Willett-Also 2002, ‘03, ‘04, ‘05 ,’06, ‘07, ‘08,
‘09, ‘10, ‘11
COURSE RECORDS
MEN
Eddie Kavran-62
WOMEN
Jackie Hethon & Hillary Folkvord-75
Many people have worked tirelessly over the years to see that Beaverhead Golf Course continues
to grow and become one of the best, if not the best, 9 hole golf course in Montana. Our
membership over the years has been a constant. The hours spent working on a project bear the
fruit that everyone, members, community and visitors can enjoy and benefit from. This has
definitely been the case at the Beaverhead. Thanks to all, and there are many of you, for that
gift.