By Steve Scholfield
North County (Calif.) Times
Every golfer who has participated in the fine San Diego County Junior Golf Association should thank their lucky stars that Norrie West's neighbor introduced him to the sport.
Now 88, West is a walking, talking energetic history of golf.
He is one of the driving forces behind the Callaway Golf Junior World Golf Championships, which began its 38th year this past weekend with an Olympic-like parade of flags at Torrey Pines Golf Course.
More than 1,000 junior golfers from 40 countries will be in San Diego this week to participate in an event that West helped create.
West scoffs at the notion that without him the tournament would be nothing but a theory.
He is quick to point out the real founders are John Brown, who came up with the idea in 1968, and Mrs. A.S. (Lou) Smith, the Junior Golf Association's secretary for 33 years.
But West's contributions can't be discounted. Smith and West ran the tournament for 15 years. West then became the director for another eight years.
To think, West's interest in golf started in 1929 when he was 12 years old and living in La Mesa.
"A neighbor across the street, I can't remember his name, gave me a mashie (5-iron) and I started playing with it," West said prior to a round of golf last week at Torrey Pines.
"One Saturday, he asked me if I wanted to play, and for some reason, I liked it," West said.
Though West's handicap never got below 10, he said his best round was a 79 on the difficult Torrey Pines South Course.
"But that was a long time ago." West said modestly. "I guess I had a flair for golf."
He also had a flair for public relations, which became his life's work.
Among the highlights:
+ He was the sports information director at the University of California from 1946-1951 and worked with legendary football coach Pappy Waldorf.
+ He was the PR director of the Del Mar Fair from 1962-1971.
+ He handled publicity and then became executive director of the PGA Tour's Andy Williams San Diego Open, which is now called the Buick Invitational.
West's legacy, however, is the Callaway tournament.
"I got involved in Junior Golf in 1965, when John Brown asked if I could help them with some publicity," West said.
Today, San Diego has the reputation of having the best junior program in the world.
It was Brown who thought about bringing the best young golfers from around the globe to San Diego for an international friendship tournament.
"We must have talked about it for six months and we weren't getting anywhere," West said. "I said to John, 'Let's either do it or forget about it.' "
It was West who penned the name "Junior World" because of the emphasis on the young golfers ages 6 to 17.
The first event attracted 475 players from six nations and 20 states. Each year it has expanded into one of San Diego's best summer attractions, although there have been some stumbling blocks.
"During the third year we came close to shutting it down because we were short on money, but we decided to go on," West said.
Good thing they did. Imagine the thousands of youngsters who would not have had a chance to participate in an event that really celebrates the game of golf.
And West has been there to see all the highlights, including the six wins by Tiger Woods and the emergence of such stars as Ernie Els, Rancho Santa Fe's Phil Mickelson, Amy Alcott, Craig Stadler, and Carlsbad High grad Leta Lindley, who is on the LPGA Tour.
Throw a name at West, and he'll have a story to tell.
For instance, in 1974, a 17-year-old from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) by the name of Nicholas Price simply had to win, West said.
"My Mom told me if I don't do well, she doesn't want to hear about golf again," Price told West.
Good thing he won or Nick Price may have never won the PGA Championship and the British Open.
"His ball was stuck in a tree on No. 17 and he took a triple bogey, but he still won by four shots," West said.
When Mickelson, a product of the San Diego County Junior Golf Association, held a news conference after winning the Masters in 2004, the first person he embraced among the media was West.
Mickelson said to West, "Thank you."
We should echo Mickelson's thought for West's contributions.