Inductees

She can still remember it all like it was yesterday: Her final two holes in the Missouri Women’s Senior Amateur. Her heart racing and wondering if it really was her time. And, then, finishing the job.

“The tears,” Stephany Jackson Powell recalled of finally conquering the mountain, so to speak, for her first major state amateur victory, in May 2012 at Twin Hills Country Club in Joplin. “What was even more special was seeing all of my fellow competitors running out with champagne to congratulate me.”

It was certainly with a toast, and not simply for that day.

After all, Powell carved out quite a remarkable golf career, establishing herself as one of southwest Missouri’s top amateurs dating back to the late 1970s. And her success is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Powell with the Class of 2021.

Having grown up playing golf at Hickory Hills Country Club with Payne Stewart (MSHOF Legend 2000), Powell helped Glendale High School’s girls team win the first two (1977, 1978) of three consecutive state championships before she graduated in 1979. She placed fourth in the 1976 state meet, and then tied for fourth in 1977 and placed third in 1978.

She went on to become a four-time runner-up at the Missouri Women’s Amateur (1984, 1989, 1991, 1993) and a three-time runner-up at the Missouri Girls Junior. She also qualified for a pair of U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateurs in the late 1980s and competed three times for the United States Golf Association (USGA) Missouri team, including twice as a player-captain.

And to think it all began back in the 1960s when her grandfather, Bob Harrison, would take her to Matson’s Driving Range in south Springfield (near where Battlefield Mall is now) and made it a point to introduce the game to her at Hickory Hills Country Club.

From the late 1960s until she arrived at Glendale, Powell’s influences included Ky Laffoon, a 10-time winner on the PGA Tour who was on the 1935 Ryder Cup Team; as well as longtime PGA golf teaching professionals Sam Reynolds, Dorl Sweet and Mike Habermehl.

“I didn’t realize what $100 for a lesson was in 1970,” Powell said. “And back then, at Hickory Hills, women couldn’t play until after noon. But my grandfather would take me out at 10:10 a.m. every Saturday with Dr. Bob Maher and Bob Bennett.”

At Glendale, Powell helped fuel the team’s postseason success. To her, it was a collective effort with Carrie Williams, Nancy Patterson, Linda Davis, Robin Osborn, Dorlece Kembel, Laura Johnson, Vickie Reynolds, Janelle Latimer, Debbie Reese, Julie Glass, Kathy Knez and Susie Hawkins.

“The friendships were the most memorable,” Powell said. “It was just a good, fun time.”

Powell’s success led to scholarship offers from UCLA, Louisiana State University, the University of Tulsa, the University of Missouri and Stephens College. She played at Stephens for one season before transferring to Drury University.

She later competed at Qualifying School for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and missed by one shot.

“That was a sign that I’m not supposed to do this,” Powell said with a laugh.

Instead, Powell found other rewarding avenues into golf.

She not only competed in Missouri Women’s Golf Association Amateurs but became involved in the organization’s board of directors, serving in roles such as junior director, vice president and president over a 16-year period.

Additionally, Powell coached the Missouri State University women’s golf team from 1993 to 2002, with the 2001 team advancing to the program’s first NCAA Tournament after winning its first Missouri Valley Conference championship.

“I found out I liked teaching golf,” Powell said. “When I got the job, I remembered what I didn’t like in college and I knew what I wanted to do.”

Along the way, she competed in Missouri Women’s Amateurs. Even going back to her high school years, Powell had strong positive showings. In the 1970s, she took seven-time champion Karen McGee to the wire before McGee won 2 and 1.

“I was devastated,” Powell said. “But everyone was like, ‘You don’t know how good that is.’”

That foreshadowed many of her notable finishes in the Missouri Women’s Amateur. In 1984, for example, it took Barbara Berkmeyer sinking 30- and 25-foot putts to overcome Powell and win a seventh Missouri Women’s Amateur.

Eventually, Powell hoisted one of those trophies, in 2012.

“The blessings have been 10-fold,” Powell said. “Who knew that a block of wood and a shaft would lead to this?”