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Bill Mulflur passes – media supporter of golf

Bill Mulflur, a longtime golf and college sportswriter in the Portland area, passed away on Tuesday, January 6. He was 94.

Bill was a big supporter of golf throughout the Northwest. He served several years as the Oregon PGA Senior Tournament Director. He spent 24 years with the Oregon Journal and another six years for the Oregonian. No matter his publication, Bill always ensured great coverage of the local golf scene. His passion for the game was evident in every piece he penned. In addition to covering golf, Bill also covered college athletics, the NBA, and high school athletics. 

Bill Mulflur

A New York native, Bill came to Portland as assistant general manager of baseball’s Portland Beavers in 1955. Four years later, he was executive secretary of the Portland Exposition-Recreation Commission and administrator of Oregon’s 1959 centennial celebration.

Mulflur joined the Oregon Journal in 1959, covering a wide variety of sports, but gained praise for establishing The Journal’s comprehensive high school sports coverage in Portland and around the state. He was named executive sports editor in 1966.

When the Journal and the Oregonian merged in 1982, he was named deputy sports editor and served for three years before returning to writing. He retired in 1988.

In addition, Bill coordinated the Oregonian Hayward Banquet of Champions, turning it into one of the leading events of its kind in the nation during the mid-1980s.

Bill and his wife Happy (who died in 2015) had eight children. Their daughter, Mary Lou, has coached the University of Washington women’s golf team for decades. Their son, Tom, owns the MacKenzie Golf Bag company, and is a director for the Western Golf Association, promoting the Evans Scholarship to young area caddies.

(Oregonian contributed to this notice.)