Local golf standout Rickert looking to end competitive career on a high note

Posted 8/25/16

It will also mark the end of a remarkable amateur career as it will be the last Senior tournament in which local legend Ron Rickert will play.

“I started playing in the Wyoming Senior Golfer’s Association and my first tournament was in …

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Local golf standout Rickert looking to end competitive career on a high note

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It will be a pretty prestigious weekend at the Powell Golf Club beginning on Saturday, with the two-round Wyoming State Senior Championship tournament taking place.

It will also mark the end of a remarkable amateur career as it will be the last Senior tournament in which local legend Ron Rickert will play.

“I started playing in the Wyoming Senior Golfer’s Association and my first tournament was in Laramie,” Rickert said. “I played there a couple of weeks ago and got my butt kicked and I figured it was a good time to stop, having come full circle at that course.”

To be fair, Rickert would finish third in his age bracket at that recent tournament, but it was more the way he played that kind of signaled it was time.

Similarly, having the Wyoming State Senior Tournament here, at his home course since 1968, seemed like a fitting place to end this segment of his competitive career.

“There is both the Wyoming Senior Golfer’s Association and then they started the Wyoming State Seniors,” Rickert said. “I played in the State Seniors and won in 2000, 2001 and 2002, but I’ve mostly stuck with playing the WSGA. Playing one, most of the time, is enough.”

Rickert is not dropping the game from his regular activities, just the competitive aspect of it, allowing him to enjoy the game and look back on an amateur career that has seen him be club champion at no less than five golf courses.

“When we lived in Casper, I won their club championship, and when we moved to Denver, I’ve won at two courses there,” he said. “And when we built our place in St. George, Utah, I was able to win the club championship at the course there.”

During his time in Powell, where he settled the family in 1968, Rickert has won the Powell Golf Club title 22 times and has been widely regarded as one of the best golfers in the state.

He also had a chance in the 1970s to compare his game to one of that era’s top professionals.

“I was at a pro-am and was put into a foursome that included Billy Casper, when he was in the prime of his career,” Rickert said. “I was able to tie him that day, which was pretty nice.”

But it was the words of another pro that halted any aspirations to turn professional himself.

“Lee Trevino once said, if you can’t consistently shoot a 63 on your home course, you have no business trying to play on the tour,” Rickert said with a smirk. “I’ve shot a 63 here at Powell, but that was before they put the new nine holes in. It was just the same nine holes twice. I’ve had a low of 29 for nine holes, but it’s not something I could do consistently.”

Even though Rickert had his sights set on finishing up his competitive career with this year’s State Senior event here in Powell, he tried to withdraw twice.

“I called and left a message with Dave Snyder (WSGA Executive Director) telling him I was thinking about withdrawing,” he said. “I didn’t get a call back and left another message. Then my son, Steve, said that they were planning to do something for me at the banquet and I figured I would go ahead and play.

“I just hope I make it through the weekend,” he added with a laugh.

One last weekend on the competitive stage for Ron Rickert, after a long career of making most weekends his own.

The Wyoming State Senior Golf Championship tees off at the Powell Golf Club on Saturday and concludes Sunday with the top seniors from throughout the state on hand.

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