by Laury Livsey,
PGA TOUR: (April 28, 2021) When Bill Johnston won the Utah Open in 1960, he did so in a familiar place. In college, Johnston, a Pennsylvania native who grew up in Ogden, Utah, played many rounds at the Salt Lake Country Club while attending the University of Utah. Ten years after retiring from college, Johnston returned to Salt Lake City’s venerable private club in September for the Utah Open. On the final day, he performed nothing but virtuoso, shooting the low round of a PGA TOUR winning season – a 9-under 63 – which allowed him to overtake five players in the finals and win the tournament in two strokes.
It’s been quite a season for Johnston. Not only did he win on the PGA TOUR, but he fought all week at the French Open in Saint-Cloud against the Argentine Roberto De Vicenzo and finally decided on second place. That summer, he joined Arnold Palmer as the only two Americans to make the cut in the Open Championship.
As he continued his career as a player, Johnston started a lucrative and successful golf course design business, a job he pursued well into his 80s.
Johnston Friedlich died in Idaho on April 23, 2021. He was 96 years old.
As a child, Johnston learned to caddy at Ogden’s El Monte Country Club, where he remembered he could usually play once a month – if he was lucky enough to convince a member to loan Johnston his clubs. He eventually honed his game, played well in amateur circles in Utah and, as a freshman, ran the Weber State College golf team. Johnston then joined the US Army in 1945. Upon his return, Johnston enrolled at the University of Utah. He served as the three year old captain (1948-50) of the golf team and was very successful at Intermountain West tournaments. He won the title in the 1947 Utah Amateur, 1948 Idaho State Amateur, and 1949 Salt Lake City Amateur. He was also the low amateur in the 1948 Utah Open, a PGA TOUR event that season. He turned pro in 1950 and took the job as head pro at the Empire Golf & Country Club in Vernal, Utah, a course he designed.
Johnston made his PGA TOUR professional debut in 1951 and finished 47th in the Los Angeles Open. Between 1952 and 1955, Johnston played a few tournaments while handling his various head-pro positions. He became Head Pro at the Timpanogos Golf Course in Provo in 1952 and moved to the Arizona Country Club in 1958.
A professional touring professional, Johnston finally broke through in the 1956 PGA Championship at the Blue Hill Country Club in Canton, Massachusetts. Johnston defeated Guy Paulsen, Jay Hebert, Tony Fortino, Walter Burkemo and Henry Ransom before falling to Ted Kroll in the semifinals with 10 and 8. Johnston shared third place with Ed Furgol, who lost 37 holes in the semifinals to eventual champion Jack Burke Jr.
Johnston’s big break came in 1958 on the Brackenridge Park Golf Course in San Antonio. At the Texas Open, Johnston finished second with 36 holes, six shots behind Dave Marr. In the 36-hole final, Johnston shot past Marr with 66-68 points, holding back Bob Rosburg for a triumph with three shots.
Bill Johnston from AGA on Vimeo.
He followed suit with his second TOUR title in his adopted home state. He has not reached or improved to Final Round 63 in any of his other 645 Career TOUR Rounds.
As he curtailed his career as a player – he only hit double digits once between 1964 and 1974 (11 in 1972) – his course design business continued to flourish. After building the course in Vernal, he designed the Continental Country Club in Flagstaff, Arizona (1960), two courses in Phoenix – the Links Course at Arizona Biltmore Country Club (1978) and the Pointe Hilton Golf Club on Lookout Mountain (1989). – and Rancho Manana in Cave Creek, Arizona (1987) and four courses in Texas: Tapatio Springs Resort in Boerne (1981), Dominion Country Club in San Antonio (1984), Legacy Ridge Country Club in Bonham (2003) and The Hidden Golf Club in Brownwood (2008).
“I do everything on site. I walk through the country until I find which way I want to go. I go back and forth. Not completely sideways, but in every way, ”said Johnston in a 2014 interview about his design philosophy. “I learned a lot about how to design and relativize things as much as possible. I always try to get easy doglegs on golf courses, at least six or seven, and I built them for fun and possibly (to host a tournament).
“From then on, it seemed like invitations to build courses kept coming in,” added Johnston.
In addition to his TOUR titles, Johnston was a three-time winner of the Arizona Open, winning the Colorado PGA Championship in 1972 and the Colorado Open in 1973.
Although he turned 50 in 1975, long before the PGA TOUR Champions played their inaugural season, Johnston was an active senior player in 1980, playing in 196 tournaments between 1980 and 1999. His best performance was at the first event on the circuit – the Atlantic City Senior International. Johnston finished third, four shots behind winner Don January.
In 1994, Johnston became a member of the Utah Golf Hall of Fame and Arizona Golf Hall of Fame, introducing Johnston in 2018.
He is survived by his almost 64-year-old wife, JoAnne, and their four sons, Brad, Blake, Brice and Burke.
A private family service will be held in Utah at a later date.
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