Dr. Jack Lamey – 2024 PNGA Hall of Fame Inductee
There is a phrase that states, “Bloom where you are planted.” And Dr. Jack Lamey did just that.
Growing up in Everett, Wash., Jack’s father introduced him to the game at the age of 10. It would become a lifelong passion for him, both on the golf course as a player and through his involvement in the betterment of the golf community.
He took to it immediately, winning seven consecutive Everett Tiny Tad/Junior Championships starting at age 10.
In 1957 he won the individual title in the Washington State High School Championship (after finishing runner-up in 1956) and won back-to-back titles in the Snohomish County Amateur. At age 17, he was nominated for the 1957 Everett Herald Sports “Man of the Year” award for both golf and basketball.
With Jack as their No. 1 player, the Everett High School golf team was undefeated during his years there. He went on to earn a full athletic scholarship to Stanford University where he earned All-American honors while playing for the men’s golf team.
During his junior year, he transferred to the University of Washington to continue his pre-med studies and was part of the Husky golf team that won the Pac-8 title in 1961.
At age six, Jack had declared that he wanted to be a doctor, as his father was, and he accomplished that goal by graduating from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1965.
Jack then spent many years away from state, regional, and national golf competitions. He played no competitive golf, except for club events, instead devoting his time to raising a family and building his practice of obstetrics and gynecology at Seattle Women’s Clinic and Swedish Hospital for 30 years. At his retirement party in 2000, his nurses estimated he had delivered over 5,000 babies.
When he re-entered the competitive golf scene after retirement, he quickly rose to the top of the leaderboards and again became a prominent amateur champion many times over.
The long list of his accomplishments includes competing in the Washington Senior Open, Northwest Pro-Am, Hudson Cup Senior Amateur Team (being selected nine times), and winning the Hudson Cup Bill Eggers Award for Outstanding Senior Amateur player. He would win three PNGA titles, and six WA Golf state titles.
“I never saw anyone who could turn it on and focus like he did,” said Bruce Richards, himself a Hall of Famer who partnered with Jack in winning five Washington Senior Four-Ball titles. “You didn’t want to face him in a match. You wanted him as a partner rather than an opponent.”
Along with his playing accomplishments, Jack became very active with the Pacific Northwest Golf Association, serving as a Club Representative from 1999-2019, as well as serving on the board of directors for 15 years, including as president in 2010-2012. He would also serve on the board, and as vice president, of PNGA/WSGA Properties, Inc., which oversees The Home Course, the golf course the two associations co-own.
“Jack was an ambassador for the game in the Pacific Northwest,” said Troy Andrew, PNGA executive director. “What attracted people to him was his humble and selfless demeanor. He did everything with a high level of integrity and was a true gentleman.”
Jack spent nearly 40 years as a member of Seattle Golf Club, where he was president during the club’s centennial celebration in 2000, won the Men’s Club Championship five times, the Senior Men’s Championship five times and the Super Senior Men’s Championship twice – an incredibly consistent playing record across all categories.
And he was always willing to give back, especially to those from his hometown.
“I grew up in Everett and Jack was one of my sponsors, mentors, advisors and heroes,” said Paul Meyer, a fellow member at Seattle Golf Club. “He was a legend.”
During these later years of devotion to the game, it was Jack’s idea to create the PNGA Cup Matches, which will be one of his legacies to the region’s golf community. He wanted the PNGA to have a championship that brought the four (and later, five) major member associations in the Pacific Northwest together for what he called the “Three C’s” – competition, camaraderie, and cooperation.
As a PNGA board member, he worked to make the competition a reality, with the staging of its inaugural event in 2006 at his home club of Seattle Golf Club.
Now, the annual Ryder Cup-style match-play competition has become one of the most coveted events at the PNGA. In 2015, the competition’s perpetual trophy was renamed the Dr. Jack Lamey Cup. And in 2019, the PNGA renamed the event itself in Jack’s honor – it is now called the PNGA Lamey Cup.
Jack passed away on December 15, 2019. He was 80.
The most important thing to him by far was his family. He and his wife Yvonne loved spending time with their large and crazy family. He loved everyone fiercely and unconditionally, and he traveled near and far to watch his grandkids compete and perform.
He also loved the region’s golf community unconditionally, and his impact upon it will be forever felt.
Accomplishments
- Everett Tiny Tad/Junior Championship Champion – 1950-1956
- Nominated for Everett Herald Sports “Man of the Year” – 1957
- Washington State High School Individual Champion – 1957
- Snohomish County Amateur Champion – 1956, 1957
- Everett City Amateur Champion – 1960
- NCAA All-American – 1959
- PNGA Men’s Master-40 Champion – 1993
- PNGA Senior Men’s Amateur Champion – 1998, 2001
- Washington Senior Men’s Amateur Runner-up – 3 times
- Washington Senior Men’s Four-Ball Champion – 6 times
- Washington Senior Open Runner-up – 2001
- Member of Senior Hudson Cup Team – 9 times
- Club Champion at Seattle Golf Club – 5 times
- Club Champion at Inglewood Golf Club – 4 times
- PNGA President – 2010-2012
- PNGA Director – 2004-2019
- Founder of the PNGA Cup in 2006
- PNGA Cup renamed as PNGA Lamey Cup – 2019
- Director and Vice President of PNGA/WSGA Properties, Inc. – 2012-2019
- Inducted into Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame – 2024
