OU Golf Club Hosts Korn Ferry Tour, Recognizing Club’s Elite Status
Since being named head coach of the University of Oklahoma men’s golf program in 2009, Ryan Hybl has restored the program to national prominence: His golf squads have captured three Big 12 titles, won the 2017 national championship, and he has coached 13 Sooners to 26 All-America honors. His teams are mainstays within the powers of men’s golf.
As a result, the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club has played host to several NCAA Regional tournaments which have bolstered the course’s status among the nation’s elite. In 2023, it was ranked the #6 collegiate golf course in the country by Golfweek.
Now, Jimmie Austin can add hosting the Korn Ferry Golf Tournament to its list of accomplishments. The tournament recently wrapped up play on Sunday, June 25, with Florida-native Jimmy Stanger emerging victorious.
The Korn Ferry tournament is the top developmental tour of the PGA Tour. The future of professional golf participated in the tour and OU was more than represented in this year’s edition. Eight Sooners showcased their talents, with seven of those players being Hybl alumni.
“We can’t wait to welcome all of these guys back to Norman this week,” OU head coach Ryan Hybl said before the tournament began. “The opportunity for our home golf course and the city of Norman to host a professional golf tournament is extraordinary and for our guys to play at a course they know is an exciting opportunity.”
Hosting Korn Ferry is indicative of the tremendous growth the Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club has experienced throughout the years.
The history of Jimmie Austin’s course can be traced back to World War II. The U.S. Navy had several training and operational areas set aside in Norman – the most famous being Max Westheimer Airport, which was known as the Naval Air Station. The facility where Jimmie Austin is today was an annex of that facility – known as the Navy Air Technical Training Center, or “South Base.”
Following the war, the Navy and OU partnered together to develop a golf course where South Base was located. In 1949, then-OU President George Lynn Cross commissioned famed golf course architect and native Oklahoma Perry Maxwell to create an elite course. In 1951, the course was opened.
As with everything related to the university, the golf course strove for improvements. Over the years, donations from generous OU alumni led to renovated facilities. In 1996, a large donation from OU alumnus Jimmie Austin led to extensive renovations across the board.
Once again, OU commissioned a world-renowned architect, this time Robert Cupp, to oversee the new process of renovations. Cupp’s task was not only to improve the course, but to remain faithful to Maxwell’s original work. Cupp did just that.
The club’s namesake made his way as an oil and gas contractor and independent producer from Seminole, Oklahoma. The Austin family loved the university and saw their lead gift as an extension of that love. Since then, the Austin family has held close ties to the university with former students and even a Regent – Jimmie’s son Paul D. Austin from 2000 to 2007. Jimmie passed away at the age of 90 in 2007, but the love for golf and the course still holds strong.
In 2017, architect Tripp Davis – an OU men’s golf alum who was a part of the 1989 National Championship team – helped complete new renovations to infrastructure and facilities. As recently as 2022, OU alumnus Jerry Ransom donated $5 million toward a new OU indoor golf performance center and renovation of the Charlie Coe Golf Learning Center. This recent donation was a part of the university’s “Lead On” $2 billion fundraising campaign.
Jimmie Austin’s status of being one of the nation’s premier courses is continuing its legacy to be even better.
In the club’s logo, the stylized casual script of Jimmie Austin’s name hovers over a leaf from a bur oak tree. These bur oaks are known to have lived for hundreds of years and can be found throughout the course.
A particular specimen found on the right side of the 7th fairway, 75 yards short of the green, is believed to be hundreds of years old. It is known as the Champion Bur Oak for the entire state of Oklahoma. The tree is symbolic for what Jimmie Austin Golf Course strives to be, a course of champions. That’s what it has become.
By Brady Trantham
