{"id":728609,"date":"2026-06-11T01:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T01:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/728609\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T01:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T01:24:09","slug":"cu-golf-alum-60s-star-larry-mcatee-passes-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/728609\/","title":{"rendered":"CU Golf Alum & 60\u2019s Star Larry McAtee Passes Away"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0BOULDER \u2013 One of the best players in University of Colorado golf history, Larry McAtee, passed away this past Tuesday (June 9) after a long illness.\u00a0 He was 82.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A three-year letterman under coach Les Fowler between 1963 and 1966 (he redshirted in ’65), he earned first-team All-Big Eight honors as a senior; while a Buffalo, he won three consecutive Colorado Match Play Championships (1963-64-65).
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0“We send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Larry McAtee,” CU head coach Roy Edwards<\/a> said.\u00a0 “Larry was a legend in Colorado golf history and a tremendous Buff with as good of an amateur, college, and junior golf career of as anyone in our state’s history. \u00a0He will be greatly missed.”
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But prior to CU, he had already built an impressive amateur resume.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He began playing golf at the age of 10 under the tutelage of Gene Root at Lakewood Country Club.\u00a0 The next 19 years took him all over the United States and parts of Europe after \u2013 at the age of 13 \u2013 he won the 1956 Lakewood Junior Club Championship.\u00a0 He successfully defended that title for the next four years.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In 1961, Larry was named the Colorado Junior Golfer of the Year by the Colorado Section of the PGA, which also named him Amateur of the Year in 1963.\u00a0 In-between, he accepted a scholarship from Fowler to play golf at CU and would team with Hale Irwin for two seasons as one of the top 1-2 punches in Buff annals.\u00a0
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The duo led the Buffs to a second place conference finish in 1966 \u2013 putting a scare into eight-time defending champion Oklahoma State.\u00a0 McAtee and Irwin were tied for medalist honors after two rounds and trailed OSU by just five shots before the Cowboys pulled away for a 10-stroke win.\u00a0 (Irwin closed with a 68 for a 2-under 208; OSU’s Jim Hardy was in-between with a 1-over 211).\u00a0 The 1-3 individual finishes by Irwin and McAtee tied the previous best by CU in a league meet since 1948, and has not been matched since.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He would finish third with a 4-over par scorecard (71-69-74–214), six strokes back of Irwin, his junior teammate.\u00a0 It was his third Big Eight meet, with previous finishes of 20th and 15th, and he also played in two NCAA Championships, just the fourth Buff at the time to do so, with his best finish a tie 15th as a junior.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He and Irwin not only made noise collegiately, they did around the state.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0“In those days, amateur golf in the state received major coverage,” McAtee told the Denver Post in a 2013 article.\u00a0 “It was special.\u00a0 Hale and I were leading a trend that was indicating a takeover by younger golfers.\u00a0 While I was winning the match-play tournament, Hale was winning the stroke-play titles.”
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There was evidence to back up those thoughts.\u00a0 The two Buffaloes were consistently beating the state’s veteran golf establishment \u2013 including their coach, one of the best amateurs in state history \u2013 and were causing the media to write about the young wave starting to take over the state’s golf scene.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That sentiment was echoed in the writings of the Denver Post’s Ralph Moore and the Rocky Mountain News’ Dave Nelson.\u00a0 They referred to the ’63 state events \u2013 McAtee’s match play win and Irwin’s 15-stroke romp in the stroke play \u2013 as “Custer’s Last Stand” and “Changing of the Guard” as a tribute to the young core of golfers regularly beating the state’s veteran golfers on a consistent basis.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0“The state of Colorado and the world of golf have lost a man of great accomplishments and esteem,” said Irwin.\u00a0 “Larry McAtee was a friend, a teammate, and a fellow competitor who always brought his “A” game and persona to everything he did.\u00a0 His golf successes are many and notable.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0“But in my opinion he rose above all of that to serve his country as a naval aviator with distinction, after which he tried the professional golf tour,” Irwin continued.\u00a0 “While that was not particularly successful, which many find it’s not, Larry still distinguished himself by returning to the business community in Colorado.\u00a0 I have many pleasant and heartwarming memories of him and hope that his family and friends feel more inspired by his legacy than saddened by his passing. God speed, Larry!”
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When McAtee graduated from CU in the spring of 1966, he had originally was drafted and was supposed to join the Army and to fight in Vietnam.\u00a0 But instead, he pursued another dream — he agreed to a five-year commitment to the Navy and became an officer and a pilot.\u00a0 In July 1968, McAtee got his “wings of gold” to fly F-8 Crusader fighter jets.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0“I wanted to serve my country and fly jets,” McAtee also told the Post.\u00a0 He served most of his time in the military as a flight instructor.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Though his golf bag was always close — he accumulated numerous base, district and regional military championships \u2013 including becoming the world-wide All-Navy champion in 1967, 1969 and 1970.\u00a0 In 1970, he was Interservice champion, meaning the top golfer, world-wide, in the U.S. armed forces.\u00a0 Along the way, he set competitive course records at several golf clubs around the country.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In 1972, McAtee returned to Colorado to win a fourth CGA Match Play title \u2013 making him the first four-time winner since Larry Bromfield won eight between 1912 and 1928 \u2013 and only equaled once since, by former Buff Mark Crabtree in the 90’s.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After retiring from the Navy, a bout with mononucleosis first derailed his shot at earning his PGA Tour card; he tried twice more before moving on to take over the family business, Mr. Mack of Neusteter’s, a downtown Denver beauty salon his father started.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1992, the same year head was inducted to the CU’s Golf Hall of Fame.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He was born on August 5, 1943, in Denver, and graduated from Wheat Ridge High School.\u00a0 One of his favorite hobbies was teaching golf to youngsters, stressing honesty and patience, until in recent years he had been battling Parkinson’s Disease.\u00a0
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He is survived by two sisters, Peggy Parella and Trish York.
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\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Any services or memorials are in the planning stages and will be announced at a later date.\u00a0
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\nPrevious stories in the Denver Post and by the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame contributed to this story.
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