02/18/2026
GOLFER BRUCE DEVLIN, 88, RETURNING TO TURNER’S LODGE (FALCONHEAD), WHERE 30‑TIME WINNER LAUNCHED HIS PRO CAREER IN 1963
(February 18, 2021 - Burneyville, OK)
By Barbara W. Sessions, Curator, Turner’s Lodge Pro Golf Museum at Falconhead Resort, Burneyville, OK
Australian great Bruce Devlin captured 30 titles across the globe during his remarkable professional run from 1961–1972.
But few places stir his memory quite like Burneyville, Oklahoma — home of the 1963 Waco Turner Open. Devlin openly credits his eighth‑place finish at that event with saving his young career.
That week delivered his first paycheck of 1963: $825 in prize money plus another $190 from the famed Turner Bonus system, which rewarded birdies and eagles with cold, hard cash.
Fans can hear the story straight from Devlin on February 26, when the 88‑year‑old returns to Falconhead Resort (formerly Turner’s Lodge) for the first time since that pivotal 1963 tournament.
He will speak at 10 a.m. at the Turner’s Lodge Pro Golf Museum in the Pro Shop at 115 Falconhead Dr., Burneyville, OK. Admission is free and the public is warmly invited.
A special Museum exhibit, “The Devil Takes Oklahoma,” will spotlight photos and highlights from Devlin’s spirited play in the decade of the ‘60s at Burneyville, multiple Oklahoma City Opens, the 1968 PGA Team Championship, held in Oklahoma City, and the 1970 PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa. Nicknamed “Devil,” Devlin charmed reporters everywhere he went.
After his playing days, Devlin expanded his fame through broadcasting with NBC and ESPN. He also built a respected career in golf course architecture and design. Today he continues to share stories through his podcast, “FORE The Good of the Game,” co‑hosted with Mike Gonzalez. They interview legends from the 1960s era and inductees in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
“When I arrived in Burneyville, I was in real trouble,” Devlin wrote in his book ‘Play Like the Devil.’ “I had only $400 in the world — not enough to pay the week’s hotel bill (in Ardmore) and get my family home to Australia – and a recent record of failure.”
He was ready to quit the Tour and return to life as a master plumber.
“The Waco Turner Open, which with bonuses brought in $1,015 — figures etched on my brain for life — got us out of there without having to wash the dishes,” he continued.
The Turner Magic followed him. Two weeks later, at the 1963 Oklahoma City Open at Quail Creek Golf Club, Devlin stormed into the lead by two strokes after 36 holes, fueled by a dazzling course‑record 65. Though he eventually slipped to ninth, he still pocketed $900.
Then the explosion came. Before 1963 ended, Devlin won the French Open, the New Zealand Open, the Caltex and Willis tournaments in Australia, and finished runner‑up in the Australian Open.
“From the edge of bankruptcy in May, I had by Christmas won $5,337,” he wrote. That windfall funded the down payment on his family’s first home in Canberra. From there, his career took off.
Ironically, for a golfer who once couldn’t make a cut, Devlin soon built a reputation for almost never missing a payday.
By the time he returned for the 1966 Oklahoma City Open, he told Oklahoman reporter Dave Todd, “I’ve finished in the money in 26 straight tournaments.” It was the longest active streak on the PGA Tour. The headline on the article read, “For “Ex-Plumber Devlin Golf’s a Lead-Pipe Cinch.”
During Devlin’s career, golf’s majors eluded him, but he posted three top‑five finishes at the Masters, two at the British Open, five top‑10s at the U.S. Open, and one at the PGA Championship.
His PGA wins include the 1964 St. Petersburg Open Invitational, 1966 Carling World Open, 1966 Colonial National Invitational, 1969 Byron Nelson Golf Classic, 1970 Bob Hope Desert Classic, 1970 Cleveland Open, 1972 Houston Open, and the 1972 USI Classic.
He will be accompanied to Falconhead by his son, Kelvin, and by Gary Martinolli, editor of the Australian Journal of Golf Heritage. Martinolli is writing a book on Devlin’s life. He plans to take pictures of Devlin in the Museum and at Falconhead for the book because the tournament Devlin played here in 1963 counted so heavily in his success.
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Falconhead Resort was built in 1958 for the purpose of holding professional golf tournaments. The builders and owners Waco and Opie Turner succeeded wildly. They called the course Turner’s Lodge. It was then and it is today a Pro Tour Course. Their 15 events at times were the richest in the country.
Falconhead is all the more distinctive for being one of the very few courses the public can play that has hosted both the LPGA Tour and the PGA Tour.
The ladies opened Turner’s Lodge with the 1958 Opie Turner Open, won by the greatest female golfer of all time, Mickey Wright.
The next year Betsy Rawls won, and a young Oklahoma amateur by the name of Susie Maxwell (Berning) competed at age 18. Wright, Rawls and Maxwell won multiple U.S. Open and LPGA Championships.
All three wound up in the World Golf Hall of Fame. These golfers are featured in a special exhibit in the Gallery Room of the Museum.
The PGA Tour had a regular tour stop at Turner’s Lodge from 1961-1964. It was called the Waco Turner Open. Butch Baird, Johnny Pott, Gay Brewer, and Pete Brown were victors here.
In November the Museum opened an exhibit on Johnny Pott, winner of the 1962 Waco Turner Open. Pott, age 90 on the day the exhibit opened, traveled from California with his son Jay to speak and be honored.
Pott last week mailed the Museum his PGA Medal from the tournament, “The Waco Turner Open.” The front side has Johnny Pott’s name and the back side the scores he shot in 1962. They set the tournament record, 276.
In 2024, the Museum celebrated the 60th anniversary of the late Pete Brown’s victory in the 1964 Waco Turner Open, the first win by a Black member of the PGA. His family and a host of national golf historians and golf officials came to Burneyville for the event.
Other professional golf events at Turner’s Lodge include 8 PGA South Central Championships from 1958-1965, and the 1965 Oklahoma Open.
Waco and Opie Turner formerly taught school at Burneyville. They struck it rich in oilfields in Oklahoma and Texas in the 1930s. They spent great sums on sports entertainment for southern Oklahoma, sponsoring both professional golf and professional baseball – the Ardmore Cardinals. Turner School is named in their honor. It opened when the golf course did, 1958.
