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kickingbird golf. photo submitted.
The Kickingbird Senior Men’s Golf Association, one of Oklahoma’s largest senior golf groups, returns to its home course March 7 for its 30th season and first full season in Edmond since 2020.
KSMGA was uprooted midway in 2021 due to the massive remodeling project at Kickingbird Golf Club. The project was completed in June 2023.
According to a KSMGA spokesman, the group’s Executive Committee has worked effectively over many years to develop an excellent relationship with the Kickingbird staff and golf professionals. Volunteers from the more than 200 members and support from the Kickingbirdstaff play a key role in having successful seasons.
Play in 2023 began at Oklahoma City’s venerable Lincoln Park Golf Course, moved to John Conrad Regional Golf Course in Midwest City for a month, back to Lincoln Park for a couple of weeks before finally, after a two-plus year absence, returning home to a refurbished Kickingbird Golf Course on July 6, only to be greeted with almost 2 inches of rain and a washout until the following week.
KSMGA reinstituted a season-long Senior Cup competition in 2023, a week-to-week accumulation of points gained by participation, gross scoring against a table based on national averages by handicap, and net scoring against averages within each flight.
The idea was to encourage regular participation as well as reward improvement and foster competition. One hundred and seventy five members earned points in the competition that wasn’t decided until the very last round. Tom Heath was the 2023 Senior Cup champion by a slim two points over Benny Hughes.
The two-round Club Championship returned to the home course in August with Mike Quinn winning his 8th “White Tee” championship with a gross 76-70–146 over Charles Riddle 73-74–147. Mike Mande won the “Forward Tee” title with 72-74–146 over cart partner George Martin, 70-77–147. Prizes were awarded on both the gross and net scores in each of four flights based on tees and handicaps.
With the season of change behind them, KSMGA is looking forward to some “normalcy” in 2024. The Kickoff Meeting is scheduled for Feb. 29, with the season beginning March 7 and concluding Oct.31. They are also looking forward to spending the entire season at the home course.
The schedule features a mixture of events including individual stroke play as well as a variety of two and four-man team competitions. Closest to the pin contests on the par 3 holes are also held each week.
More information about the KSMGA can be found on its web site, Kickingbird.golfclub.net.