Bud and Maxine Ossey Golf Center Opened
The Oregon State men’s and women’s golf programs hit the facilities equivalent of a 320-yard drive straight down the fairway on Saturday with the official ribbon-cutting to dedicate the Ossey Golf Center.
Named in honor of namesake donors Bud and Maxine Ossey, the 2,500-square foot venue is located in the southeast corner of the second floor of Gill Coliseum. It gives the Beavers a cutting-edge indoor training center where they can practice regardless of weather and light conditions.
The $600,000 center features two driving bays; a 1,500 square-foot putting surface; the latest golf training technology, and a team lounge where team members can meet and study.
“I’m excited; it’s really something,” Bud Ossey said Saturday, speaking at the official ribbon-cutting ceremony about the facility commemorating him and his late wife, who passed away on Jan. 17, 2013, shortly after their 70th wedding anniversary. “Thanks to everyone who helped push this thing.”
The Ossey Center recognizes the lifetime contributions and volunteer efforts of the Osseys, alums who have supported OSU through gifts of time and philanthropy for more than 70 consecutive years. Their support has impacted student scholarships, the College of Engineering, the marching band, athletics, and OSU golf.
“For 70-plus years, Bud and Maxine Ossey have made it a priority to support and love Oregon State University,” OSU men’s coach Jon Reehoorn said. “With their name on this facility it ensures for many more years to come that everyone who comes to watch a sporting event in Gill Coliseum will remember what Bud and Maxine have given to our university, and especially the athletic department.
“Without a doubt this facility will be a great tool in the recruitment of potential student-athletes. Ultimately this facility is about the student-athletes on our men's and women's programs and making sure we do everything we can to provide them with the resources necessary to compete in the Pac-12 Conference.
“They now have a place to call home not only during inclement weather days, but maybe even more important it will allow them to practice on their own time between classes and in the evening when it gets dark earlier in the winter months.”
Added women’s coach Sammie Chergo:
“I am so thankful for all in Beaver Nation who made this facility possible. This practice facility is state of the art, and provides our student-athletes a place to improve their games and serve as a new home on campus.”
Ossey is a native of Portland who now lives in Tualatin. He’s been a Beaver fan since 1924, when he and his mother would take the train to Corvallis to visit his father, a student at then-Oregon Agricultural College.
He graduated from Benson High School in Portland in 1937, enrolled at OSC that fall and played freshman basketball. After a four-year hiatus to work for the Bonneville Power Administration, he joined the Army’s ROTC program and returned to school.
Ossey and the former Maxine Harris, a fellow Portlander who graduated from Jefferson High, were married in 1942. They both graduated in 1943.
After a four-year stint in the Army, Ossey worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for almost 30 years. He then worked in private business for seven more years as the state director of the Pacific Northwest Life Insurance company before retiring.
Ossey bleeds orange and black. He was a charter member of the old “Buck of the Month” booster club, the precursor of Our Beaver Nation, which started in 1939. He’s had OSU football and basketball season tickets since 1946; he also kept statistics for former OSU radio broadcaster Bob Blackburn in the 1950s and 1960s.
Ossey started a fund-raising tournament for the golf team and has directly raised more than $1 million for OSU athletics. Proceeds from the 2014 tournament completed the project’s capital drive.
“I’ve always enjoyed golf ever since I was a kid,” he said. “I belonged to Tualatin Country Club and in 1970 started the Sports Celebrity Tournament. It was such a success that in 1972 we turned it into a tournament to support the Oregon State golf program.
“Oregon State was in financial trouble and there was a possibility we might lose the golf program. So we used the money from this tournament to save Oregon State golf.”
Ossey chaired the tournament until last year. He is now the chairman emeritus.
Ossey is a member of the Oregon State Engineering Hall of Fame and the Our Beaver Nation Hall of Fame. He received the Martin Chaves Lifetime Achievement Award for Athletics, presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to OSU athletics, in 2007.
More than 100 gifts were received during the fundraising campaign. Nearly half were made by former student-athletes, including the final commitment from letterman Morten Madsen, a 2012 OSU graduate and current European Tour Professional.
“This facility took a great commitment from a number, of people including our athletic director, Bob DeCarolis, to continue help moving our men's and women's golf programs in an upward direction while making sure we remain competitive with within the Pac-12 Conference,” Reehoorn said. “We can’t thank everyone enough for their support.”
