The recent state title by Ridgeview sophomore Isaac Buerger was the first Oregon School Activities Association championship for a Redmond individual golfer.

But Don Krieger says there’s good reason he didn’t win the high school title seven decades ago while he was a student at Redmond Union High — there was no place to play.

“I came up here, and there wasn’t any golf courses,” he said on a recent visit to Redmond.

That didn’t stop Krieger from having a distinguished amateur career.

Central Oregon in the 1940s was far from the golf mecca it is now. Krieger, 84, said the closest place to golf was a 6-hole course in Prineville and a 9-hole track in Bend. He was used to playing regularly in Portland — where his family has owned the Broadmoor Golf Course since 1931 — before moving to Redmond in high school.

While a student in Redmond, Krieger won the state boys golf tournament twice, in 1946 and 1947, he said.

From there, he went on to letter at the University of Oregon from 1952-54, winning the Pacific Coast Conference northern division individual title in 1953.

He became one of the finer golfers in Oregon between 1955 and 1970, according to the Pacific Northwest Golf Association’s website. The organization said Krieger had an uncomplicated approach to the game.

“Krieger’s worry-free attitude made him one of the fastest players in competitions,” the PNGA said.

Krieger had a breakthrough victory in 1956, winning the Oregon Amateur championship, to go along with his 1948 Junior Amateur title. He won the amateur title in match play over William Langley by 6 holes with four holes to play at Langley’s home course, Portland Golf Club.

Krieger qualified three times for the match play portion of the U.S. Amateur Championship, according to the PNGA. He defeated Bill Stewart, the father of hall-of-famer Payne Stewart, in 1961 at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Krieger then challenged the soon-to-be legendary Jack Nicklaus. The match was even after nine holes, but the Golden Bear pulled away to win 4 & 3.

Krieger went on to play another future star, Tom Watson, in the 1967 U.S. Amateur, he said.

Krieger returned to Portland, where he still lives, and played 13 consecutive times in the annual Hudson Cup matches, which place top amateurs and professionals in the region against each other.

“I kind of quit playing, pretty much, when I was 40,” Krieger said.

While he retired from competition, Krieger was far from done with the game. According to PNGA, he spent 25 years on the administrative side of the Oregon Golf Association, serving as the organization’s president from 1987-89.

Krieger was also president of the Pacific Coast Golf Association in 1990. He was inducted into the Pacific Northwest Golf Hall of Fame in 1993.

His vision helped create the OGA’s own public golf course in Woodburn, which opened its full 18 holes in 1996. The course plays host to numerous junior golf development programs, as well as state championships and U.S. Golf Association qualifying events.

“The OGA course represents the foresight of Don Krieger, who managed to draw more golfers to the OGA and benefit the association by instilling a businesslike approach,” the PNGA said.

The popularity of the game is visible no place more than Central Oregon. When asked about the resorts and other courses that have popped up across the region since he played here, Krieger had one word — “Unbelievable.”

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, gfolsom@redmondspokesman.com