Golf pro who originated tournament changes course

The golf pro who started the tournament that became the Buy.Com Ozarks Open spends less time on the links these days, now that he's started his own company.

Perry Leslie's new business is selling golf memorabilia and collectibles, most notably seven classic lithographs and canvas reproductions from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland.

St. Andrews is believed to have been the site in the 1400s of the very first golf games, and Leslie said his company, One Tee LLC, "has an agreement with the R&A Club to sell the items."

Leslie bought the distributorship from the company Antique Golf Collectibles, which means, he said, that he has "the right to reproduce everything inside the Royal and Ancient Golf Club."

The framed artwork ranges in price from $700 to several thousand dollars per piece. Unframed art is less expensive.

As part of the new enterprise, Leslie also will conduct golf events "where the participants use replicas of clubs and balls that were used 150 years ago." The clubs have hickory shafts and maple heads, and the balls are made of gutta- percha, a sap that comes from India.

"Using the older equipment has made me learn to appreciate how good the early players were," Leslie said. "They had to have quite a talent for the game, because the clubs didn't react the same way every time."

The new venture began when Leslie first saw an article on Antique Golf Collectibles. The company has a Web site located at http://millenniumgolf.org.

Of starting the landmark tournament that led to the Buy.Com Ozarks Open, Leslie smiled and said, "I have a good record for creating successful golfing events."

It was in May 1989 while he was president of the Missouri section of the Professional Golf Association that the PGA Tour approached him about getting involved in its newly formed Ben Hogan Tour.

"I think I was asked to get involved because the PGA had 30 tournaments they wanted to start," he said. "Involving the golf pros was a quick way to get them scheduled and have our expertise, as well. I spent five years during the 1970s on the PGA tour, so I was familiar with how (the tournaments) ran."

After deciding to work on the Hogan, Leslie approached John Q. Hammons about hosting the tournament at Highland Springs.

"I told him over the phone that he would need to underwrite $100,000," Leslie said. "I was so sure the event was going to be successful that I told Mr. Hammons that I would pay back every penny we lost. The first year, the event made $112,000."

The first charity to benefit from the Hogan Tour was Ronald McDonald House. "Phil Stocker, a local Mc-Donald's owner-operator, told me he would like a big golf event for the Ronald McDonald House," Leslie said. "When I found out about the Hogan Tour, I called Phil and asked him if he wanted to be involved in a PGA Tour event. After about five minutes of silence, he agreed."

The Hogan tournament eventually became the Nike Ozarks Open, which in turn became the Buy.Com Ozarks Open.

A golf pro since 1970, Leslie spent 20 years as the club professional at Hickory Hills Country Club. "Then from 1989 until 1994, I was at Highland Springs. I moved to Highland Springs because it was a new facility." He also was golf pro at Branson Creek in Branson, from 1998 until October 2000.

Although he is not involved with the Buy.Com Ozarks Open now, Leslie is still a fervent fan. "It's the most successful Buy.Com event," he said. "It's a community event because there are over 1,000 people involved; and it spreads good will throughout the Ozarks and brings in visitors." Now that the tournament is televised, "Springfield is being seen all over the country," he said.

Leslie has played golf at St. Andrews himself. He also takes groups of friends to Scotland every year to play golf on the country's most famous courses.

Leslie currently is serving on a committee for the Frank Connor Children's Charity Classic to be played at Millwood on Sept. 24. "I'm acting as a liaison between the golf pros and the event committee," he said.

Responsibilities of running the new company notwithstanding, the lifelong golfer still tries to play at least nine holes of golf a week.