Bob Moreland was an assistant pro at Cedar Crest Country Club in Dallas, Texas, in the mid-1960s when his boss, Dennis Lavender, introduced him to a young man named Lee Trevino.

“He said, “I’ve got this kid across town who really plays good and you guys can get together,” Moreland recalled. “We played every morning at 8 a.m.”

Trevino, who was hustling money games at the time, went on to win six major championships and earn a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame. To this day, he andMoreland remain close friends.

During a 2023 interview on the GOLF Subpar program with Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz, Trevino was asked if he ever ran into a player who was hard for him to beat during his days as a hustler.

“No,” Trevino said. “But the one guy I had trouble beating was a guy named Bobby Moreland.”

The Moreland name preceded Bob’s success in the game. His father, Gus, was a decorated amateur player. Gus played in the second Masters at Augusta. He won three straight Texas Amateur titles (1931-33), was seventh in the 1933 U.S. Open and played on the 1932 and 1934 Walker Cup teams for the United States.

Bob Moreland turned professional in 1963. He took the job at the Ottumwa Country Club in 1976. Moreland became a five-time Iowa PGA Section Player of the Year between 1976 and 1985, and won the Iowa Section title in 1976 and 1985. He was the Iowa PGA Section Senior Player of the Year 10 times, including nine straight starting in 1996. In 2011, he became the oldest winner of the Iowa PGA Section Senior title at 67. He beat his age with a second-round 65 at the Dubuque Golf and Country Club and won by six shots.

Also an outstanding teacher who helped mold a long list of outstanding players from Ottumwa, Moreland was the Iowa Section’s Professional of the Year in 1988, received the Junior Leader of the Year in 1995 and was the Private Merchandiser of the Year in 2002.

Moreland’s on-course accomplishments include an Iowa Open title at Echo Valley Country Club in 1981 and three appearances in the PGA Championship. He also played in the U.S. Senior Open and teed it up at the Senior PGA Championship five times, tying for 65th in 1989.

Moreland didn’t take up golf until he was 13, even though his dad was a star who landed in the Texas Golf Hall of Fame. Bob played on the PGA Tour in 1968. At one tour stop, Moreland was talking to future CBS-TV golf analyst Bob Murphy.

“I told him, “This Trevino guy can play,” Moreland recalled. “He’s going to beat a whole bunch of you guys.” Said Murphy, “That remains to be seen.”

Two months later, Trevino won the U.S. Open at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., and became a star. When Moreland was inducted into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in 2006, a congratulatory letter from Trevino was read.

“Bobby Moreland was one of the finest ball strikers I have ever played with,” Moreland told the Des Moines Register. “Ever.”

• 5-time Iowa Section PGA Player of the Year – 1976, 80, 81, 83 & 85
• 10-time Iowa Section Senior PGA Player of the Year – 1994, 96-04
• 2-time Iowa PGA Super Senior Player of the Year – 2013-14
• 2-time Iowa Section PGA Champion – 1976 & 1981
• Iowa Open Champion – 1981
• Iowa Section PGA Senior Champion – 2011
• Played on the PGA Tour in 1968, and has played in a PGA Championship, a Senior PGA Championship, and a U.S. Senior Open

Awards

• 1981 – Iowa Golf Association PGA Professional of the Year
• 1988 – Iowa Section PGA Professional of the Year
• 1995 – Iowa PGA Junior Golf Leader Award
• 2002 – Iowa PGA Merchandiser of the Year – Private club

Ottumwa Courier Article about Bob’s Induction (5/5/2006) with extensive biographical material