Product Guide

SITE

SEARCH

GOLF COURSE SEARCH:

GOLF CALENDAR

submit your event here
May 2012
SuMoTuWeThFrSa
293012345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
272829303112
3456789

Founders' Note

Untitled Page

His spirit moved us

Norrie West, who helped raise junior golf’s profile in San Diego, also was a goodwill ambassador for the game.

By Rob Lyon and Eric MarsonPublished: May, 2010

Rob Lyon (left) and Eric Marson are the founders of Southland Golf (PHOTO: Challenge Roddie).
It’s always hard telling an old friend goodbye, but what Norrie West accomplished in his 93 years gives plenty of reason to celebrate his life.
   
West, who died last month, was a living landmark of San Diego County golf. He helped build the San Diego Junior Golf Association into the successful organization it is today, helped guide Junior World Championships into a top-notch tournament and was the official historian of golf in the region.
   
He also was a friend to golf and golfers of all ages. He was a tireless promoter of local golf, and evidence of that is found in that in lieu of flowers, his family suggested a donation to the San Diego Junior Golf Association.
   
Though he was born in Massachusetts, West was a San Diegan at heart. His family moved there when he was 3, and he grew up in La Mesa and graduated from Grossmont High School in 1934. He would live there, and raise a family with his wife, Jane, until his death.
   
West joined the Navy during World War II and later became a sports writer at the San Diego Tribune. Over the next 45 years, he worked in an array of sports and publicity-related jobs.
   
But golf was his first and most enduring passion. He recounted in the introduction to his book, “100 Years of Golf in San Diego,” that he’d had the golf bug since 1928, when a neighbor handed him a wood-shafted mashie and a couple of beat-up balls. His first full round came in 1929, at La Mesa Country Club.
   
West served as executive director of the Andy Williams San Diego Open from 1970 to 1979, and was vice president of the San Diego Junior Golf Association from 1965 to 1985, as well as president from 1986 to 1993.
   
West also wrote about golf for several publications during his retirement, including the San Diego Tribune, Daily Californian in El Cajon, Times Advocate in Escondido and Southland Golf.
   
Norrie West’s character and goodwill will live on in the golf association he helped guide to prominence, the golf tournament he helped start, through his book and, of course, in the lives of his wife, three children, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
   
His glorious and nurturing spirit also will remain in the hearts of those of us at Southland Golf. We have met few people as friendly, gracious and passionate about the game as Norrie West.

Readers Feedback:

All of these atirecls have saved me a lot of headaches.
Comment at 8/19/2011
uHdzDU , [url=http://oihdooibappe.com/]oihdooibappe[/url], [link=http://bncdntpjedgi.com/]bncdntpjedgi[/link], http://zreeoiqnkbnd.com/
Comment at 8/23/2011
6cHBJm , [url=http://xqikyjheucar.com/]xqikyjheucar[/url], [link=http://rpflgwscrerq.com/]rpflgwscrerq[/link], http://icgdeoqaoava.com/
Comment at 8/30/2011