Frank Wharton, a golf legend from Texas who shared his love of the sport with Greater Akron for decades, recently died at the age of 90.
Wharton worked as the head golf professional at Fairlawn Country Club from 1967-2009. He played on the PGA Tour during two separate stints in the 1960s. The native of Austin, Texas, won an individual state golf championship in 1954 with Hillcrest High School in Dallas and was a member of three NCAA title teams with the University of Houston (1956, 1957 and 1958) before moving to Akron.
Wharton, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease, died on Oct. 17, nine days after his 90th birthday, according to his obituary. His funeral is scheduled to be held on Oct. 24.
Akron native Kurt Ewing, 61, began playing golf at age 9 and became a longtime pupil of Wharton at Fairlawn Country Club. A former University of Akron golfer, Ewing was hired by Wharton in the late 1980s as an assistant golf pro at Fairlawn Country Club. Ewing held the position for about five years and went on to become the head golf pro at Rosemont Country Club in Fairlawn.
“He’s the ultimate professional just in life and in golf,” Ewing said of Wharton. “The way he would treat people, he’d go out of his way to help someone. I think the other characteristic of his that really stands out is he was probably the most loyal individual I’ve ever met. His faith in God, his commitment to golf — he loved to teach and help others get better at it. He was so passionate and loyal to that commitment, it would blow your hair back.”
Wharton was inducted into the Northern Ohio PGA Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. He won the Ohio Open in 1968. He was named the Northern Ohio PGA Player of the Year in 1971 and the Northern Ohio PGA Senior Player of the Year in 1999. He won 20 tournaments as an amateur and another 20 as a pro, according to his obituary.
Wharton landed his longtime job at Fairlawn Country Club by being picked from a pool of 38 applicants, the Beacon Journal reported in 1967. He had previously been an assistant golf pro at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.
“Northern Ohio has been very good to me,” Wharton told the Beacon Journal in 2001. “It has been wonderful.
“They have been wonderful people to work for and with [at Fairlawn Country Club]. “It is a lot of fun to watch people improve. I had no idea how long I would be here when I took the job, but I could not have asked for anything more.”
Ewing said Wharton needed much more than golf skills to build his legacy in Greater Akron.
“He was just great with people, and people loved him,” Ewing said. “Being a head golf professional at a private country club is not an easy gig. You deal with a lot of different types of personalities. You deal with a lot of type-A people — great people, but it’s not an easy gig. For him to last in one club as long as he did, speaks volumes to his personality and hard work and dedication to the sport. I mean, you just don’t see that anymore.”
Ewing said he will remember Wharton as a caring, genuine man.
“I don’t think the guy could lie if he had to,” Ewing said. “I mean, he was one of the most honest guys. You knew what you got when you spent time with Frank Wharton. You got the genuine guy. He wasn’t trying to impress. He was himself.”
And the local golf community treasured Wharton for it.
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
