FORE Magazine

Top Menu

  • About Me
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Home

Main Menu

  • Current Issue
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
  • scga.org
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login

logo

FORE Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Profiles
  • Sustainability
  • Travel
  • 19th Hole
  • Classic Course
  • FORE Her
  • More
    • Know the Rules
    • Handicap Hints
    • SCGA Junior
    • Where Are They Now?
    • News
    • Public Affairs
  • scga.org
Fall 2015Profiles
Home›Issues›Fall 2015›For the Love of her club: Historian Betty Bowler is right at home at Woodland Hills CC

For the Love of her club: Historian Betty Bowler is right at home at Woodland Hills CC

By Jill Painter Lopez
October 1, 2015
6588
0
Share:
For the love of her club- Betty Bowler

Betty Bowler can often be found driving a cart around Woodland Hills CC and parking it at the 10th tee during golf tournaments.

The 92-year-old is a people person and, parked at the 10th tee, she can see everyone come through after making the turn if she sets up shop there for the day. In addition to being a devoted member at WHCC for 41 years, Bowler is a photographer and the club’s historian, all as a volunteer.

She’s also the unofficial welcome committee for new members, an advocate to grow the WHCC Women’s Golf Association — of which there are 147 members — and everything that’s good about golf.

Bowler stopped playing golf at age 88, but luckily for the private equity club and the game in general, she’s as much a part of the fabric of the club, which opened in 1925, as the giant oak trees that grace the grounds. She’s two years older than the club, which will celebrate its 90-year anniversary in November.

UNOFFICIAL AMBASSADOR

When General Manager Jeremy Duda started working at the club in 2014, Bowler was there to welcome him.Betty Bowler- For the love of her club

“The first time I met Betty it was a Sunday,” Duda said. “It might have been my first Sunday there. She took me into the history office and we spent two or three hours talking about the history of the club. I had no idea it had gone through name changes, no idea about the history of Mr. (Victor) Girard (who developed the club) and how it helped shape the Valley. She’s a wealth of information about Woodland Hills CC.”

One of Bowler’s passions is to get more women involved in the club and the tournaments. To this end she always invites women to play golf and become a member of the women’s golf association — which celebrates its 30th year this fall — with a perfect pitch.

“I was just talking to (a woman) about joining,” Bowler said over a cup of coffee in the dining room recently. “You get acquainted with everyone. You have a regular day to play when tee times are reserved. We have great tournaments. We have prizes. For me, I got to meet everybody. If you like competition, and I liked competition, you’ll especially like it.”

Bowler and her late husband, Don, raised five children in Canoga Park, where Bowler is still a resident. She has grandchildren and great grandchildren, but most of her family lives outside Los Angeles. Her second family is at WHCC.

She calls friend Mark Hubbard, a longtime member at the club, her “club son.” They played together in mixers for years. Bowler didn’t hit the ball far, but she hit it straight. She won a lot of tournaments in her day as well.

“We had a great time playing golf together,” Hubbard said. “She’s just a joy to be around.”

Bowler and Hubbard dine together, with Bowler eating her favorite citrus chicken or salmon. They share a lot of laughs dining with other members, too.

“She’s just so outgoing and inclusive, particularly to new members,” Hubbard tells. “She greets everyone. She’s our unofficial ambassador.”

From her chair in her office, she can look out the window at the club’s garden, and remember that a pool was once there. When you walk into her history office, there’s a sign on the door that reads: “If history is ignored, you can’t plan for the future.”

“I’m trying to preserve the history of the club,” she said. “It’s all I ever do. I’ve just always liked history. It’s fun for me to talk to the different members and find out what they like about it and what they do. It’s a friendship. I’d like to see the spirit and the friendship of Woodland Hills Country Club continue.”

FRIENDS FOR LIFE

Bowler has organized decades of black-and-white bulletins on new shelves Duda ordered for her. Arnold Palmer shot a commercial at the club and he’s on the cover of one such bulletin.

“He was so gracious,” Bowler recalled. “He was talking to everybody.”

Then there’s a 1966 bulletin with a cover photo of Dodger greats Sandy Koufax and Ron Perranoski playing a round of golf. Recently, there was a marriage proposal at the 12th hole, and the couple later dined in the Sunset Room. Bowler stopped by for a minute to offer her best wishes.

Betty Bowler

Betty Bowler

When she turned 90 in 2013, the club celebrated with a big party. Members gifted her with a chain of a Woodland Hills CC ballmarker — complete with the big oak tree — as the charm. Engraved on the back: “Happy 90th with love, WHCC.”

She proudly wears it around her neck daily.

“It just made me love (the club) more,” Bowler said. “It showed me the spirit of the members.”

And their humor. Hubbard roasted Bowler on her big day, and he took that roast to Oregon when he attended another celebration for Bowler’s 90th, an event thrown by her family.

Bowler laughs just thinking about it.

She is one of 44 senior members at the club, and she could change her membership to a social one and pay less in dues since she hasn’t golfed in four years, but she’s not planning on doing that.

“I could be a social member and just eat and drink, but I like to support the club,” she said. “I like to be more than just a social member.”

When she isn’t at the club, she loves to sit on her patio at home and have an occasional scotch and chat with neighbors.

“A scotch before dinner contributes to longevity for life,” Bowler said with a laugh.

She’s doing many things right. She has her health and her independence, and she still drives her Acura to the club.

“I’m good until 95,” Bowler said.

Whatever her age, she’ll always have the keys to a cart at Woodland Hills CC and a parking place for it at the 10th tee.

Previous Article

Reason to Smile: Good food combines with ...

Next Article

The Comeback at Callaway: How new President ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
mm

Jill Painter Lopez

Related articles More from author

  • plusFOREProfiles

    Word To The Wise: Up-and-Coming Aaron Wise is One to Watch in 2017

    November 14, 2016
    By Judd Spicer
  • Fall 2017Profiles

    Beyond His Years

    October 23, 2017
    By Tod Leonard
  • A validating win
    Fall 2015Where Are They Now?

    A validating win

    October 1, 2015
    By Julia Pine
  • Profiles

    Angel Yin Was Ready To Win

    November 30, 2017
    By Ted Johnson
  • Fall 2016Profiles

    Stand By Me: Temecula Native Joe Skovron On Life As Rickie Fowler’s Caddie

    October 26, 2016
    By Jonathan Coe
  • Fall 2015Profiles

    Checking in with Johnny Miller: On playing in SoCal, the Anchored putting ban & more

    October 1, 2015
    By Tom Mackin

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • FeaturedSpring 2022The Podium

    Fan-Demonium: Up Close & Personal at WMPO’s 16th

  • FeaturedSpring 2022Sustainability

    Jewel in the Middle of Nowhere: Death Valley’s Furnace Creek GC Ramps Up Sustainability Efforts

  • FeaturedKnow the RulesSpring 2022

    The Provisional Ball: What? How? When?

  • Classic CourseFeaturedSpring 2022

    Western Home of Golf: Legends, Legacy and Looking Forward at PGA WEST

  • FeaturedSpring 2022Travel

    The Pubs of St Andrews

FOLLOW US

Facebook Fans
Twitter 0Followers
Instagram 0Followers
Youtube 0Subscriber
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • The Pubs of St Andrews

    By Mike James
    April 21, 2022
  • Scotland Must-Plays & Hidden Gems: 10 Terrific Tracks that Prove the Old Course Isn’t the ...

    By Joe Passov
    April 21, 2022
  • Bob Does Hollywood: The Hardest Working Man on Instagram Finds Gold in Golf

    By Adam Hawk
    April 21, 2022
  • Not Your Father’s Game: With Two Facilities Newly Open and Callaway at the Helm, the ...

    By Scott Kauffman
    April 21, 2022
  • The Provisional Ball: What? How? When?

    By Jimmy Becker
    April 21, 2022
  • The Diva Golfer

    By Azucena Maldonado
    January 31, 2017
  • The USGA’s Major Proposed Changes to the Rules of Golf

    By admin
    December 14, 2017
  • Stand By Me: Temecula Native Joe Skovron On Life As Rickie Fowler’s Caddie

    By Jonathan Coe
    October 26, 2016
  • Remembering Jim Murray: Best of the Best

    By Bill Dwyre
    February 14, 2017
  • Watching the Tiger Watchers

    By Andy Brumer
    February 20, 2018
  • free proxy list
    on
    December 5, 2018

    Top 4 College Golf Names You Need To Know

    Hello,I log on to ...
  • Adela C. Garcia
    on
    November 17, 2018

    Revolutionizing the “Ladies Club”

    Azucena Maldonado is a ...
  • Rose Sauceda
    on
    November 15, 2018

    Revolutionizing the “Ladies Club”

    Congratulations my lovely Amiga ...
  • Judy Carls
    on
    November 15, 2018

    The Gilded One: Eldorado CC

    Excellent magazine..thank you Judy Carls LPGA ...
  • SUE KNIGHT
    on
    October 19, 2018

    FULL HOUSE: First FORE Her Golf Outing

    I enjoyed the article ...

RECENT COMMENTS

  • free proxy list on Top 4 College Golf Names You Need To Know
  • Adela C. Garcia on Revolutionizing the “Ladies Club”
  • Rose Sauceda on Revolutionizing the “Ladies Club”
  • Judy Carls on The Gilded One: Eldorado CC
  • SUE KNIGHT on FULL HOUSE: First FORE Her Golf Outing
© 2016 FORE Magazine About Us | Contact Us | Advertise