Inducted, 2007

Everyone agrees----if there was a Nice Guys Hall of Fame Mike Reid would be a charter inductee.

And everyone agrees----if there was anyone whoever spoke softly and carried a big golf stick it is Mike Reid.

And everyone agrees---the soft spoken nice guy is a slam dunk choice for induction into the Utah Golf Hall of Fame.

Mike Reid became a Utah treasure via the immensely successful BYU golf program. During Reid’s BYU years (1973-1976) the Cougars won the WAC golf championship all four years and finished second in the nation in 1976. That team, coached by Karl Tucker, also included Jimmy Blair, Mike Brannan, Jim Nelford, Pat McGowan, and John Fought. He was an All American in 1974 and 1975, and was the individual WAC winner in 1975, and runnerup in 1974. As a capper to his wonderful amateur career he won the prestigious Pacific Coast Amateur and was low amateur in the U.S. Open, both in 1976.

As a professional he advanced his “nice guy’ status nationwide. He earned the nickname ‘Radar’ for his accuracy off the tee, winning the Most Fairways Hit statistical title in 1980. He became the first PGA Tour player to win a million dollars without winning a championship. In 25 years on the PGA Tour he played in more than 480 events and finished in the top ten 70 times and earned over $4.5 million.

He got his first tour win in 1987 at the Seiko Tucson Open and in 1988 he won the NEC World Series of Golf in a playoff with Tom Watson. He also won the 1990 Casio World Open in Japan. In 1989 he came within a whisker of winning two major championships, the Masters and the PGA Championship, leading both of them on the final day.

In Utah he won the Utah Open in 1983 and 1985 and in 1983 won the Shootout at Jeremy Ranch with Bob Goalby as his partner.

A second golf life on the Senior Tour has rewarded him with one of his most important victories, the 2005 Senior PGA Championship.

He has lived in Utah ever since his college days and has been a big supporter of golf in Utah, and particularly with junior golfers. He has been a member of Riverside Country Club for more than 20 years recently served on its Board of Directors.

When the Utah Golf Hall of Fame was formed in 1990 he was the guest speaker at the Charter Induction Ceremony that included his heroes, Johnny Miller and Billy Casper, and even at that time it was clear that Reid was headed to the same destiny.

He was born July 1, 1954, in Bainbridge, Maryland, the son of William (Bill) and Mary Ann Reid. He has two brothers, Bill and Steve. He married Randolyn Brockbank, a cousin of BYU golf coach Bruce Brockbank, and they have six children, Brendalyn Hacking, Lauren Soffe, Daniel, Clarissa, John, and Hannah Jo.