Document text
Masters, Singler to take over South golf teams By GREG STILES owell Masters shot a lot of golf growing up in La Grande, but he never played on the high school team. Bill Singler turned out for the Medford High golf team in 1970 but didn't make the varsity and turned his attention to track. Both have spent a great deal of time on the links since their teenage years and will have a hand in the future of South Medford High golf. Masters, 53, will coach girls and Singler, 46, will coach the boys next spring. Masters, who has a 3 handicap, works as a psychologist at South High and Jackson, Jacksonville and Rush elementary schools. Masters played golf for Clark College in Vancouver, Wash., before earning his bachelor's degree at Eastern Oregon, where he played for Howard Richardson. He bounced back to Vancouver, where he was an assistant pro at Royal Oaks. His travels -- 12 moves in 11 years -- were only beginning. When Richardson moved on to Indiana State University, Masters followed. He was a graduate assistant, taught golf and worked on a master's in adapted P.E. That was followed by stints in Chicago and Battle Creek, Mich., where he taught special education. He earned a doctorate at Northern Colorado, then taught special education teacher training at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Two years later, he moved to the University of Arkansas, where he began a program to teach physical education to the handicapped. "We made many moves, but I wanted to get all the experience I could get to go with my education," Masters says. In 1978, he returned to Las Vegas. For the next two decades, Masters spent most of his time working for public schools and the state department of education. He began a private practice in 1988, and for seven years before moving to Medford last August, his business -- assessment, tutoring, counseling and computer technology assistance to people with learning differences -- was a full-time pursuit. While in Las Vegas, he rubbed elbows with golfers such as PGA pro Brad Faxon and worked with a junior girls golf program that sent two scholarship players to Stanford, one to Arizona and one to Brigham Young. "I saw that happen there and thought, why not be part of that here," Masters says. Masters envisions having a team of 16-20 girls, complete with a junior varsity schedule, not far down the road. Like Masters, Singler traversed the country before returning home and becoming South's football coach in 1998. His own stab at playing high school golf ended several weeks into his junior season. "I didn't make the fifth or sixth man to make varsity when they went to state," Singler recalls. "The track team needed another sprinter for the relay team, so they recruited me." Singler joined Ross Cook, Mike O'Grady and Steve McIntyre on the 440-yard relay team. "The next week we set a district-meet record at Crater," Singler says. That was the tuneup for a run at the state meet, where the Black Tornado upset a Jefferson team that included future Kansas City Chiefs star Woody Green. Even though Singler found his athletic calling elsewhere, he continued to play golf. "It's kind of hard to find experienced golf and tennis guys in the building," Singler says. "I'm going to rely a lot on Todd Couch, and I know guys like (former PGA player) Doug Olson that can help us out." Couch coached South from 1996 until early last season when work forced him to resign. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.