Local pro golf pioneer Teel dies

Thursday, June 24, 2004 | 9:25 a.m.

Local golfers never thought of Las Vegas professional golfer Charlie "One-Putt" Teel as having a handicap -- at least not anyone who had to deal with his formidable short game.

His left arm withered from a childhood ailment, Teel overcame that disability by learning to drive short and straight, chip onto the green and putt with marksman-like accuracy, which earned him the intimidating nickname.

"He had a deadly short game, especially from 100 yards in," said Dick Huff, general manager of the Las Vegas Paiute Resort golf course and a longtime friend. "When I got to Las Vegas in 1961, Charlie already was a legend here."

Charles F. Teel, who won back-to-back Nevada state amateur titles and 18 Southern Nevada and Las Vegas city amateur championships en route to being inducted into the Southern Nevada Golf Hall of Fame, died Saturday at a local hospital. He was 81.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 62 years were to be held today at Davis Paradise Valley Funeral Home.

State Sen. Bob Coffin, former president of the Nevada State Golf Association, said Teel has been a respected fixture in local golf as long as anyone can remember.

"He was really remarkable given that he overcame the challenge of a shriveled arm to become a scratch golfer," Coffin said. "He utilized total concentration, and that really made his game."

When late Sun Publisher Hank Greenspun needed a pro and general manager for his newly opened Paradise Valley Country Club in 1959, he turned to Teel, who had just come off winning state amateur crowns in 1957 and 1958.

"We picked Charlie because everyone in town knew him and he could get the local golfers to come out and play our course," said Sun Publisher Barbara Greenspun, widow of Hank Greenspun and a longtime amateur golfer.

"We were charging $2 a round in those days, and it was still a challenge getting locals. Charlie would make phone calls to his friends and others and they'd come out."

In the mid-1960s, Teel left Paradise Valley, which now is the Wildhorse Golf Club, to become head pro at the Sahara Country Club, now Las Vegas National. He was there until his retirement in the early 1980s.

Throughout the 1960s, Teel served on the committees for the Sahara Invitational Pro-Am and the Tournament of Champions at the old Desert Inn golf course.

Teel also served as a rules official at those tournaments that helped put Las Vegas on the international golf map.

"Charlie was well-respected not only here but also in California, where he won the Palm Springs championship and played in the Bing Crosby Pro-Am and the Los Angeles Open," said Larry McGovern, executive director of the Southern Nevada Golf Association.

Born June 27, 1922, in Syracuse, Neb., Teel early on wanted to be a professional photographer.

He came to Las Vegas in 1942 and got a showroom photographer concession, going table-to-table prior to shows, taking pictures and selling them to patrons.

But during that time Teel also became noted for his prowess in golf. Between 1942 and 1958, he won, in addition to the two state titles, 11 Southern Nevada amateur championships and seven Las Vegas city amateur crowns. He became a Professional Golf Association-certified pro in 1959.

Teel was past president of the Nevada State Golf Association and was a longtime avid supporter of local junior golf and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas golf program. He also was a life member of the Professional Golf Association and a member of the Las Vegas Country Club and Executive Lions Club.

Teel is survived by a sister, Ramona Teel Webber of Omaha, Neb.; and two brothers, Deane Teel of Chico, Calif., and Lyle Teel of Hastings, Neb. He was preceded in death in 2000 by his wife, Dorothy.