Marty Fleckman
Born: April 23, 1944 in Port Arthur, Texas
Marty Fleckman spent 13 years on the PGA Tour in the 1960s and 1970s and is also remembered for his brilliant amateur career.
He played on three NCAA championship teams at the University of Houston and won the individual title in 1965 with a record-setting two-day total of 135. He was named All-American in 1965, won medalist honors at the 1966 Western Amateur, and played on the Walker Cup team in 1967.
While still an amateur, Fleckman played in the U.S. Open in 1967. He led after the first and third rounds but shot 80 on Sunday amid a surge by eventual champion Jack Nicklaus. The last amateur to lead the U.S. Open at 54 holes was Johnny Goodman, 34 years earlier.
Fleckman won the 1967 Cajun Classic Open Invitational in Lafayette, his first start as a member of the PGA Tour. He is only one of four other players in Tour history to win his first tour event and the first to do it. This was to be his only tour title. His highest finish in a Major was a tie for fourth at the PGA Championship in 1981.
He is currently the Director of Golf Instruction at Blackhorse Teaching Center in Cypress, Texas. One of Marty's most influential instructors was Byron Nelson. Marty Fleckman was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame in 1986 and into the University of Houston Hall of Honor in 2006. He is also a member of the Museum of the Gulf Coast, Sports Hall of Fame.