Respected golf figure Roger Watson, who once bested Sam Snead, has died at 81
Roger Watson earned national golf acclaim by beating the legendary Sam Snead, but became one of North Carolina’s best-known and respected golf figures.
Watson, who died this past week at 81, played in major championships and is a member of N.C. Sports Hall of Fame. Few in the golf business did not know of the High Point native with the sweet swing on the course and pleasant disposition off it.
Watson’s memorable moment against Snead came in the 1974 PGA Club Championship on Pinehurst No. 2, holing an 80-foot birdie putt to force a playoff and then winning. Defending his title in 1975, Watson quickly earned a reputation as one of the best club pros in the nation, spending 12 years at MacGregor Downs Country Club in Cary.
Watson was successful in building and managing golf courses. His first partnership, the Eaglemere Group, was formed in 1982 and built Wildwood Green in Raleigh and Lochmere Golf Club in Cary.
With the formation of Watson Golf Services, Watson managed both courses. He later was a founding member of the Carolinas Golf Group along with Stuart Frantz. In the next 10 years, the company was involved in building such courses as Devils Ridge Golf Club in Holly Springs and The Neuse Country Club in Clayton.
The Carolinas Golf Group later provided club management services while also overseeing the construction of such clubs as N.C. State’s Lonnie Poole Golf Course and Old Chatham Club in Chapel Hill.
Watson, a 50-year member of the PGA of America, was inducted into seven halls of fame. He was selected one of the 10 most influential people in North Carolina’s golf industry.
A 1966 graduate of High Point University, where he earned NAIA All-American honors, he was inducted into the school’s sports hall of fame. Turning professional, he later competed in the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open.
Watson’s victory in the 1974 National Club Pro Championship came after he shot a 69 in the final round, rolling in the 80-footer from the front of the 18th green at No. 2. A member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, Snead missed a 5-footer for birdie on the 18th that would have won it, then double-bogeyed the first playoff hole.
“I was nervous all day but was able to control it,” Watson said after the round, the N&O reported. “I just kept working and working.”
Watson, having beaten Snead, was asked if he’d ever consider joining the PGA Tour, saying, “I’ve got a nice club job, I enjoy Raleigh, my wife and family are happy .... so I don’t have any desire to join the tour.”
Watson, who was living in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was married to the former Sandy Morris of High Point. He is survived by two children: Chip, husband of Julie (Mancuso) Watson, of Cary, North Carolina and Molly (Watson), wife of Gregory “Jamey” Maack, of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.
Celebration of Life services will be held at later dates in North Myrtle Beach and,at Wildwood Green Golf Club in Raleigh.
This story was originally published February 22, 2025 at 9:51 AM.
