Book on legendary Oklahoma golfer Charlie Coe was passion project that became team effort
Stephen Prescott spent lots of time writing as a doctor and researcher who spent nearly 15 years as the president of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
Medical papers, grant proposals and journal articles were a staple.
Sports books?
Not so much.
But now, he has authored a book about the life of Oklahoma native and legendary golfer Charlie Coe. As impressive as that might seem, it isn't even the most remarkable aspect of "The Last Amateur: The Life of Charlie Coe" getting published.
Prescott died before finishing the book, but his passion project was adopted by a group motivated by his devotion.
More: Everything Tiger Woods said before 2023 Masters: 'I don't know how many more I have left in me'
“I’m sad that he didn’t see the book,” said Bob Burke, local attorney and author. “It would have been so wonderful for him to be able to see the book.
“But I think he’d be proud.”
On the day the Masters begins, the golf world will be talking about guys like Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler. But back before every pro golf tournament was on television, back when some of the world’s best chose to remain amateurs, there was no bigger name than Charlie Coe.
He won the U.S. Amateur twice and was thrice the low amateur at the Masters, including 1961 when he nearly won, finishing a stroke behind Gary Player and tying for second with Arnold Palmer.
No doubt Coe, who was born in Ardmore and played collegiately at OU, is worthy of being the subject of a book.
But why was Prescott the one who ended up writing it?
The answer to that question is almost as remarkable as the way the book was finished after Prescott’s death.
More: Augusta chair Fred Ridley: Greg Norman wasn't invited to Masters to limit LIV Golf distractions
Who was amateur golfer Charlie Coe?
Stephen Prescott wore a lot of hats. Doctor. Researcher. Fundraiser.
But those who knew him best would add one more to the list: avid golfer.
When Prescott took over OMRF and moved to Oklahoma in 2006, he and wife, Susan, joined Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club. It happens to be where many pieces of Charlie Coe’s memorabilia are housed.
Prescott became interested in the golfer, and when he crossed paths with Coe’s widow, Elizabeth, a longtime OMRF volunteer, he wanted to know all about Charlie. Finally, he asked, “Where can I find a biography about Charlie so I can learn more about his life?”
Elizabeth Coe told him no such book existed.
Prescott decided that needed to change.
He talked with Elizabeth and learned a draft autobiography on Charlie existed. Sometime in the 1970s or 80s, former Oklahoman sportswriter Bill Inglish collaborated with Charlie to chronicle some memories and stories.
A rough manuscript was compiled but never published.
It gave Prescott a starting point for his book, which only available for purchase at the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. He was able to get more information from articles clipped and stories saved by Elizabeth. She meticulously put everything in a scrapbook.
More: 'Champions Dinner' brings together former Masters winners for steak, shrimp ... and skillet cookies
“It’s about a hundred pounds of it,” Charlie’s son Rick said with a laugh.
Prescott didn’t stop there. He did interviews not only with family and friends but also with people from across the golf world. He didn’t just talk to them on the phone either. He traveled around the country to meet them.
“He was driven to go talk to all these people,” Burke said. “He didn’t have to do that. But he wanted to tell Charlie’s story.”
“And he wanted to get this done before he passed away,” Rick Coe said.
In early 2021, Prescott, who’d already battled cancer twice, had a recurrence. One day that May, Prescott asked good friend Frank Merrick to visit. Merrick, one of Charlie Coe’s nephews, arrived to find Prescott confined to a wheelchair. He handed Merrick the manuscript of what he'd written about Coe.
“Frank, please get this published,” Merrick remembers Prescott saying.
Merrick promised he would and soon called Burke, who has written more than a hundred historical non-fiction books. They set up a meeting to talk about how they could get the book published.
Two days before the meeting, Prescott died.
More: What happened at the Masters Champions Dinner 2023? Fuzzy Zoeller and others give us the dirt
'The passion came through'
Frank Merrick had no intention of breaking his promise.
He and Rick Coe began meeting regularly with Burke and Gini Moore Campbell, who oversees Oklahoma Hall of Fame Publishing. They’d often get together for breakfast, fact checking and looking over photos.
Burke, who took charge of editing and organizing, knew Prescott to be a brilliant medical professional, but the amount of work Prescott put into the book on Coe was impressive.
“The passion came through,” Burke said. “He was writing about Charlie Coe as his hero who he never met.
“It was like he knew him and played with him. It was that personal.”
Merrick believes what his uncle had accomplished resonated with Prescott even though they were in extremely different professions.
“You could make the case that Steve was probably one of the top 10 to 20 scientists in his field in the world,” Merrick said of Prescott. “I mean, he was absolutely at the top of his game. And I think people that are there are many times fascinated with people who are at the top of their game in something different.”
Charlie Coe was at the top of his game for more than a decade.
“Steve became fascinated by that and wanted to figure out why,” Merrick said. “What was the magic sauce that Charlie had?”
The passion Prescott had motivated Merrick and Coe, Burke and Campbell to finish his work.
Earlier this year, “The Last Amateur: The Life of Charlie Coe” went to print.
More: By allowing LIV golfers, Masters officials are giving into Saudis' sportswashing scheme
'Utterly impressive'
Rick Coe knows the book contains stories and tips that would help aspiring athletes. Bob Burke believes it adds to the tapestry of amazing people who make Oklahoma unique. Frank Merrick hopes the book lets people see behind the curtain and get to know better a man he feels fortunate to have called his uncle.
But as much as Merrick, Burke and Rick Coe hope more people will come to know about the excellence of Charlie Coe through the book, they also want people to know what an amazing man the author was, too.
“How Steve found time to run OMRF, do all the fundraising he did, fight cancer and write this book?” Merrick said. “Utterly impressive.”
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at 405-475-4125 or jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Masters amateur great Charlie Coe celebrated in new book by OKC doctor
