In December of 1969, Karl Tucker, the Golf Coach at Brigham Young University, walked into my life and simply forever changed it. He came to recruit me for 'his' team, I am sure, on the recommendations of several Northern California Junior players who preceded me at BYU, namely, Bob Lapic, Ray Leach and Don Hawken. Coach Tucker brought Bob with him during that Christmas break time, and we played a round of golf at Monterey Peninsula Country Club. I had just come off a pretty impressive summer and was the #1 junior player for that year. I won the San Francisco City Junior (Match Play), tied for 1st at the Alameda Jr., finished 1st at the Charley Culver Jr. here in Salinas, and won the Nor-Cal Jr (again, Match Play) Championship. I was as they say riding on a high and was being recruited by USC-Stan Wood, Stanford-Bud Finger, and Fresno State-Larry Pape. After our 'recruiting round', Coach took 'Neece' and I to a low key Mexican restaurant of our choice, Chuck's Taco Hut, on Alisal Street just off Main Street (no longer in existence). That was about it as I recall, but there was something about him that made me decide to attend BYU. Why, I have no idea. Here I was a young pimple faced kid in the middle of the 'Hippie' years going to a 'Mormon' college. Of course I had no idea what a Mormon was, but as Mom told me, It doesn't matter what you think because they are paying your way to play golf for them, so keep your mouth shut and do what you you're supposed to do." Good advice. Anyway, in mid September of 1970 Mom deposited me at the home of Bob Lapic in Burlingame and the next day we departed for Provo. I will not detail here what has transpired over the past 40 years, but suffice it to say that because of Coach Tucker, I came to the church, found my eternal companion, and raised a family in Zion. Oh yes, not to be forgotten, I was able to pursue my dream of playing professional Golf on the PGA tour, albeit unsuccessfully. It was he who ordained me to the Melchizedek Priesthood in his office in late 1974. I have tried to use that Priesthood to bless the lives of family members and others around me for most of that time span and hope to be able to continue doing so.
Early October 2003 (Cougar Day)

Karl H Tucker passed away on January 8th of this year. the linked obituaries and articles reflect the life of this great man, and I have decided that I am going to write my golf history, so I will talk of him in more detail at a later time. Why I have waited so long to post this notice is not clear. I do know that I miss him, for he was one of the few father figures in my life, steady, constant, and above all, understanding and loving. He was a man you felt tied to, a man who you would go out and perform for, and a man you could count on to tell it to you straight, yet with compassion in his heart. It was a privilege to be counted as one of his 'players' and yet he was much, much more than just a Coach. Goodbye for now, Coach, until we meet again.

After a round of Golf near Park City 2003