Dale Morey

1982

Amateur Golfer

One of the country’s leading amateurs for almost three decades, Dale Morey was born in Martinsville, Ind., where he was a high school basketball star in the late 1930's.  He moved to North Carolina over 20 years ago at the urging of his friend and fellow Carolinas Hall of Famer, Billy Joe Patton.

At Louisiana State University, he was on a basketball scholarship and played on NCAA championship golf teams with such notables as Jay and Lionel Hebert, Gardner Dickinson, Johnny Pott, and Earl Stewart. 

He was unbeaten in match play in both high school and college.  After graduation, Morey played pro basketball briefly with the Anderson Packers (Anderson, Ind.) and then served as a golf pro in St. Louis and Louisville before regaining his amateur status.  His best tour finish was 4th at Montgomery, Ala. He has won most of the country’s amateur and senior amateur events among his over 200 tournament victories. 

His list of wins includes state championships in 4 states (North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky and Texas), two Southern Amateur crowns, a Western Amateur, The North and South, The Mid Atlantic Amateur, four Indiana Opens, two NC Amateurs, a Carolinas Amateur, an NC Open and 14 major senior championships.

Although he never won the US Amateur, he did reach the finals in 1953 and birdied the 34th and 35th holes at Oklahoma City to bring Gene Littler back to all square.  However, Littler’s birdie on the last hole cost Morey the championship.  Morey also reached the quarterfinals in 1954 and 1964, ten years apart! Dale played on two Walker Cup Teams, two Americas Cup Teams and a World Amateur Team. 

He was voted into The Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1982. As a competitor, he won the 1970 Carolinas Father-Son with Clyde III and took the 1962 Dunes International Four-Ball title