Forrest Fezler

Early years

Fezler was born in Hayward, California. He first showed an interest in the game of golf as a 7-year-old boy growing up in San Jose, California by drawing golf holes. As a youth, he would sneak onto the course at the San Jose Country Club to practice. He attended James Lick High School and was a member of the golf team; and a teammate of future fellow PGA Tour player Roger Maltbie. Fezler attended San Jose City College from 1968–1969, and still holds most of the college's golf records. Fezler won the California State Amateur, Santa Clara County Championship and the California State Community College Championship in 1969. He later attended Stanford University.

PGA Tour

Fezler played on the PGA Tour from 1972–1983, and won one event. He had 30 top-10 finishes including eight runner-up finishes. He won the PGA Rookie of the Year award in 1973. His career year was 1974 when he won the Southern Open and finished in 2nd place to Hale Irwin at the U.S. Open. This was his best finish in a major championship. In 1976, Fezler tore the tendons in his left wrist and was forced to make major adjustments in his game – both in the number of tournaments he played and in his swing. He would limit his full-time professional play in 1983, and in 1984 took the head club pro job at Blackhawk Country Club in the East Bay region of California. During his career, he earned a respectable $527,000, which was above-average for that era.

Dress code protest

Fezler had been unhappy for some time with the PGA Tour dress code which required players to wear slacks and forbade short pants. At the 1983 U.S. Open, which is run by the USGA, Fezler was goaded by a reporter to wear shorts in protest the next day during the tournament. He waited until the last hole of the last round and, in Superman fashion, stepped into a portable toilet, changed into shorts and played the last hole, then hurriedly left the course to avoid possible admonishment by the USGA.

Golf course design

In 1994, Fezler changed careers and got into the golf course design and construction business as a partner with South Carolina-based Mike Strantz, an award-winning former associate of Tom Fazio. He developed his own golf course, which he called Golden Eagle, in Tallahassee, Florida. Fezler now runs his Tallahassee-based business with the help of other partners and associates.

Amateur wins (3)

PGA Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.