The Man From Paducah

At the advent of the nineteenth century the intrepid explorer William Clark decided to found the town nestled in the western tip of Kentucky where the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers mingle their waters. Clark named the new settlement Paducah in honor of his friend Chief Paduke, the renowned chief of the Chickesaw Indians. He then embarked on what proved to be a transcontinental trip with another friend by the name of Lewis.

Clark probably envisioned that one day the town would be the site of three golf courses not to mention an atomic energy plant. These days young Paducans spend their time hunting birdies instead of bears. One of the new breed of golfing Paducans is David Paxton, a senior on the Harvard golf team who played some of the most superlative golf of his career this season. His teammates simply refer to him as "Paducah." "Paducah" Paxton took up the game just after dispensing with his swaddling clothes, wielding a sawed-off set of clubs handed to him by his father at the tender age of six. By the age of 13, he was heading out to the golf course early in the morning only returning at dusk after a fruitful day spent "hustling all the little kids."

In the opening match of the season Paxton shot an 80 to finish third and then he began a scintillating salvo of sub-eighty rounds. He was third once again in a dual meet with MIT and Bates when he rattled off a 75 at Stow Acres. A 76 earned him second place in the Big Three match with Yale and Princeton, one shot behind teammate Glenn Alexander. He was medalist in a match with Providence and UMass with a 75 in spite of five three-putt greens.

Paxton rounded out his season by finishing ninth in the New England NCAA Qualifying Tournament. He shot an 81 the final day of the tourney in a steady downpour. It would have been a 77, otherwise known as a "Red Grange," if he had parred the final two holes.

Like most outstanding golfers, the bread and butter of his game is putting and like many golfers he is willing to prate indefinitely on this science. "You have to practice putting but I think it's hard to learn," he says in his Paducah patois, "I just practice and experiment. In the Kentucky State Amateur one year I had only 23 putts for a round--that's 13 one-putt greens. Some days from 15 feet out you stand over it and you stand over it and you know you're going to make it. On a bad green if you don't have a good putting stroke you're not going to make a putt all day."

While Paxton may have the putting touch of a Swiss watchmaker, he can also powder the ball with the best of them. In the warmer climes of Paducah he regularly drives 280-290 yards. In a practice round before the NCAA Qualifying Tournament, he hit a humongous seven-iron onto a 228-yard par-three ninth hole.

Paxton learned to play at the Paxton Park Municipal Golf Course, the only public 18 in Paducah. His grandfather Edwin J. Paxton was an early devotee of the game. In 1937 he agreed to match the amount raised by a Paducah civil council for constructing a golf course, and the new layout was accordingly named in his honor. Paxton's mother's family also settled early in the Bluegrass state, although, they did not take to golf with quite as much gusto. His mother's ancestors crossed the Cumberland Gap in a covered wagon and settled in Cadiz, Kentucky, which is pronounced KAY-diz.

Every summer the Irwin Cobb Memorial Tournament is played at Paxton Park. One year professional Bob Goalby, a winner of the Masters, won the tournament. Another touring star, Jay Haas, has also played in the event. Cobb himself was a well-known humorist from Paducah.

Other famous Paducans are Alvin Barkley, who served as Truman's vice president, and Phil Roof, a catcher in the major leagues. Roof is one of nine ballplaying brothers, five of whom have played professionally.

During the summers when he was not playing golf, Paxton worked as a reporter for the Paducah Sun Democrat, the only daily in Paducah, and as a commercial writer for television station WPSD. Paxton's father is President of Paducah Newspaper Inc. which owns both enterprises. This is, needless to say, a boon for his son, who can take off from work early every day to head out for the golf course.

Paxton is probably more known for his basketball skill back in Paducah, where in his senior year at Paducah St. Mary's High School he was captain of both the basketball and the golf team. "Paducah" held his own playing pick-up with University of Kentucky sharpshooter Jack "Goose" Givens when both were in high school, Paxton met Givens, who comes from Lexington, Kentucky, when both attended a model state legislature.

Paducah, however, is a hotbed for golfing talent. "It's really strange," says Paxton, "because Paducah's a pretty little town but there are about ten or twelve golfers my age who are exceptionally good." As a senior, Paxton led his St. Mary's team to the high school state championships and neighboring Paducah Tillman High won the states in 1971.

One of Paxton's teammates was Russ Cochran, who now plays number one for Kentucky. Tillman has produced Steve Gallier, who plays number one at Miami, Jim Brown, who won the Kentucky State Amateur and plays for Southern Illinois, and Ralph Landrum, a semi-finalist in last year's U.S. Amateur who was invited to play in the Masters.

After graduation Paxton will work for an investment firm in Louisville before enrolling in business school. He's also getting married to his sweetheart form Paducah on June 24. The future Mrs. Paxton may be one of the few Paducans who does not play golf, but "Paducah" says "she's learning."