[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 171 (Saturday, November 22, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2414-E2415]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO CHARLES LEWIS, III

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DENNIS MOORE

                               of kansas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 21, 2003

  Mr. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
commend a remarkable man who lives in Leawood, Kansas, in the Third 
Congressional District. Charles Lewis, III, has served as the golf pro 
at Mission Hills Country Club for more than 25 years, in addition to 
his many other services to the Kansas City community. Unfortunately, 
for the people of Kansas City, Charles recently announced his plans to 
retire.
  On September 14, 1960, Charles Lewis, who was competing in his first 
U.S. Amateur tournament, beat Jack Nicklaus at the St. Louis Country 
Club, a feat which some experts have called the greatest match-play 
upset of the 20th century.
  Since he was a child, Charles Lewis has devoted much of his time and 
energy to golf. In addition to perfecting his own skill through 
practice, Charles has spent many years at the Mission Hills Country 
Club helping others do the same. He also serves on the advisory board 
of the Junior Golf Foundation of Greater Kansas City, an organization 
that has introduced more than 3,000 children to the game.
  I commend Charles Lewis, III on this 20th day of November 2003 for 
his incredible skill and dedication to sharing his passion for this 
exciting game, and place into the Record an article from the Kansas 
City Star detailing his achievements.

               [From the Kansas City Star, June 4, 2000]

                      Local Pro Once Beat Nicklaus

                          (By Howard Richman)

       On a wall in his Mission Hills Country Club pro-shop 
     office, Charles Lewis III displays one of his most prized 
     possessions, a portrait of Jack Nicklaus.
       Forty years ago this summer, Lewis stunned the golf 
     universe when he owned

[[Page E2415]]

     Nicklaus, the man who has been called the greatest golfer in 
     history. Nicklaus will be in town Tuesday to play in the 
     Children's Mercy Hospital Golf Classic at Blue Hills Country 
     Club.
       But one sultry, unforgettable afternoon, Lewis knocked off 
     Nicklaus in what some experts have called the greatest match-
     play upset of the 20th century.
       It was Sept. 14, 1960. The site: St. Louis Country Club. In 
     anticipation of large galleries, ropes kept the spectators on 
     the outside looking in, which was a good thing because this 
     U.S. Amateur tournament had taken on the feel of a major 
     professional championship.
       Lewis, who was born in Miami, Okla., and raised in Little 
     Rock, Ark., was participating in his first U.S. Amateur. A 
     19-year-old unknown, Lewis seemed to handle his first major 
     event as if it were a scramble with some friends back home at 
     The Country Club of Little Rock.
       Lewis won his first three match-play matches, rarely in 
     jeopardy through any of them. Although he had no real big-
     time-event background, Lewis knew he was prepared for this 
     moment.
       ``As a kid, I'd go play on my dad's course (his father was 
     the head pro at the country club),'' Lewis said. ``Sometimes 
     there wouldn't be anybody out there. I'd play a variety of 
     shots. I'd go around trees. Under them. Over them. I had 
     no fear of hitting shots.''
       Lewis had to face his fear, if he had any, in the fourth 
     round at St. Louis Country Club. Lewis was about to go head 
     to head with Nicklaus, the defending Amateur champion and 
     runner-up to Arnold Palmer in the U.S. Open just a few months 
     earlier. In the morning's third round, Nicklaus shot a 31 on 
     the front side on the way to a 6 and 5 drubbing of Phil 
     Rodgers. In his early match, Lewis beat Connecticut amateur 
     champion Dick Sideowf 6 and 4.
       Then it was time for Lewis to match his game against 
     Nicklaus, who was receiving accolades in the same fashion 
     that Tiger Woods would receive them more than 30 years later.
       ``He (Nicklaus) was the fair-haired boy,'' Lewis said. 
     ``People talked about how he did things different than 
     anybody else, how he could hit it straighter and farther, 
     like the way they talk about Tiger.
       ``Me? I was the country boy. But I was never really scared. 
     I had played a lot of golf.''
       It was estimated that more than 5,000 spectators tailed 
     Lewis and Nicklaus in their match, an impressive crowd for a 
     non-title match. It turned out to be a match that Lewis 
     dominated, due in part to Nicklaus' awful putting.
       Lewis birdied the par-4 No. 1 and went 1-up. Nicklaus 
     bogeyed the second hole, which Lewis won. When Lewis birdied 
     the par-5 fifth, he went 3-up. Nicklaus 3-putted No. 6. And 
     No. 7. By the time they made the turn, Lewis was a cozy 6-up. 
     The upset was all but sealed.
       ``Jack and I didn't really talk during the match,'' Lewis 
     recalled, ``but I do remember his dad say something to me as 
     I was walking along. He said, `You're thumping my little 
     boy.' I'd met Jack's dad before. He was a class act. Like 
     Jack.''
       Nicklaus finally won his first hole at No. 10 but not 
     because of anything spectacular on his part. Lewis 3-putted. 
     Lewis, though, didn't swerve out of control. In fact, The New 
     York Times reported that Lewis, ``under the pressure of a 
     huge gallery, and meeting his first big test, was cool and 
     poised.''
       The match came to an early conclusion when Lewis hit his 4-
     wood approach at the par-5 15th onto the green. Nicklaus' 
     second shot found the rough. Lewis birdied and closed the 
     deal. His 5 and 3 win over Nicklaus shocked golf circles. 
     Just last year, Golf World magazine ranked Lewis' win the 
     greatest match-play upset of the 20th century.
       Nicklaus, who won the Amateur in 1961, has the fourth-best 
     winning percentage in U.S. Amateurs of players with at least 
     20 wins (24-5 record). Lewis, though, prevented him from 
     possibly winning three in a row. The only one who has done 
     that was Woods during 1994-96.
       In his book, My Story, Nicklaus said this about his loss to 
     Lewis: ``I 3-putted six times, once from near gimme range, 
     and never had a hope against Charlie Lewis, a good golfer 
     from Arkansas. I learned some more about controlling the 
     psyche and about self-pacing from that experience.''
       Lewis still remembers what Nicklaus said following their 
     match.
       ``He said, `Good luck. . . . I hope you win it all.' I 
     think he meant it,'' Lewis said.
       But Lewis couldn't win it all. He went on and won his next 
     two matches. The sixth one was important because it earned 
     him an invitation to the Masters. In the scheduled 36-hole 
     semifinals, Lewis' streak was halted. He fell to Bob Gardner 
     2 and 1.
       Lewis played in two more U.S. Amateurs. But none of them 
     matched his achievement in 1960. After serving in Vietnam 
     with the Marines, Lewis came back, won the 1967 Arkansas 
     Amateur, then gave the PGA Tour a shot. He thinks his best 
     finish was 14th place, which was worth $2,200. After two 
     years, Lewis relinquished the idea of trying to make it out 
     there.
       ``His personality wasn't made for the tour,'' said Lewis' 
     wife, Marilyn, who plays more golf than her husband. She's on 
     the golf course five times a week.
       ``He could play the game,'' Marilyn said. ``But he hated 
     going from town to town. He wanted to be somewhere where he 
     could put his feet up and relax.''
       Lewis returned to Little Rock, where a friend told him 
     about an assistant club-pro job in Kansas City. Lewis phoned 
     Duke Gibson, the pro at Blue Hills Country Club, and Gibson 
     hired Lewis over the phone. Twenty-eight years ago, Lewis 
     moved on to Mission Hills.
       On Tuesday, Lewis hopes to rekindle memories with Nicklaus.
       ``It's been years since I talked to Jack,'' Lewis said. 
     ``We played a practice round together when I played in the 
     Masters. I hope I get a chance to talk to him. As I said, 
     he's a class act. But I'm sure he would have preferred to 
     beat me.
       ``But that was a day I accomplished something. I saw more 
     media than I had ever seen. I got telegrams from people I 
     didn't even know. Next to my marriage, that (beating 
     Nicklaus) is the greatest thrill of my life.''

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