Ian Patterson has heard the stories of his most famous relative throughout his life. But it wasn’t until recently that he was able to gain a full appreciation.
Patterson, a senior at Aquinas Academy, went on a golf journey over the last two weeks that could be described as anywhere from coincidence to even fate.
After qualifying for the WPIAL Championships — a rare accomplishment for an Aquinas player — Patterson played his first championship round at South Hills Country Club on September 29 and his second round at Oakmont Country Club on October 6.
The ties between those two clubs are deep, and go back to one man and his stunning achievement 91 years ago.
Sam Parks Jr. was an accomplished amateur and then professional player from Western Pennsylvania, who made history in 1935 when he — as the club professional at South Hills Country Club — walked the grounds at Oakmont Country Club — then in just its 32nd year of existence — and won the U.S. Open.
It was the second of a record ten U.S. Opens hosted by Oakmont throughout the club’s illustrious history, and it was the pinnacle of Parks Jr.’s greatest golf season and of his entire professional career.
Parks that year appeared in just the second ever Masters Tournament and had his best finish in the competition, tying for 15th. He competed in the PGA Championship, making the Round of 16 portion of match play for the only time in his career. He participated in the Ryder Cup, matching up with British Open winner Alf Perry, marking the first time that a U.S. Open champion and a British Open champion went head-to-head in the historic match play competition.
A Bellevue native, Parks — who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and founded the school’s golf program — also won the WPGA Open and Junior Championships, in addition to many other victories and accomplishments as a player, and was posthumously inducted into the Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame in 2015.
“Most historians consider Sam Parks' 1935 victory at Oakmont the biggest ‘dark horse victory’ in National Open history,” says David Moore, the Curator of Collections at Oakmont Country Club. “But who doesn't love a Cinderella story? Sam deserves all the credit in the world for that victory. He not only outplayed the world's best players, but he also out-prepared them.
“Parks spent the month before the championship on-site at Oakmont, playing nine holes at dawn every morning with long-time OCC professional and greenkeeper Emil Loeffler. Everyone needs a little luck to win a major championship, but with that level of preparation and effort, luck is easier to come by.
“The win also changed his life. He did a lucrative exhibition tour after his victory, which was common among U.S. Open champions in the 1920s and 1930s. He played on that year's victorious Ryder Cup team. Though he never won another PGA Tour event, that week at Oakmont in 1935 changed his life forever, and we're proud to have a native Pittsburgher among our champions at the Club.”
So, what exactly does Sam Parks Jr. have to do with a current high school senior in Patterson? Patterson’s aunt, Kathy, is the daughter-in-law of Sam Parks Jr.
91 years after Parks Jr. claimed a U.S. Open at Oakmont while serving as the head professional at South Hills, one of his distant relatives chased one of the largest prizes for a high school golfer in the region on those two courses.
“I played golf a little bit growing up, because my family belongs to Wildwood Country Club and it’s really close to my house,” says Patterson. “I used to basically live on the course. But I kind of fell out of it for a little bit in my middle school years and then I brought it back up for high school and it really exploded.
“I’d gone to all of the U.S. Opens at Oakmont that I’ve been alive for and they were a ton of fun to go to. My dad always explained the story about how Sam won there. It never really really dawned on me until I got a little older and could understand what that really meant.”
Patterson was able to learn more of the history during a practice round at Oakmont a week earlier, a round that Kathy helped set up for him.
“I was able to absorb everything that Oakmont has to offer,” he says. “My gosh, I could really enjoy everything and there was no pressure on you to play well. Getting to walk through the locker rooms and seeing everything exactly how it was when it originated, wow.
“I waked by the cottages and, through one of the windows, I saw a picture of Sam holding the U.S. Open trophy. I never would have known that was there, but I got the ability to see it. His picture is hanging up in the champions cottage for everyone to see. That was a cool thing.”
The experience for Patterson and his family went even deeper than his round — one that he wishes he had played better in but still came away thrilled with the opportunity to compete on one of golf’s most sacred courses.
Kathy was on hand, arriving in a car loaded down with memorabilia and clothing that belonged to Sam Parks Jr. — items that she handed over to Moore as a donation to Oakmont Country Club and a gesture that she hopes will help her father-in-law’s legacy endure.
“Artifacts from pre-World War II tournaments are incredibly hard to find, and the 1935 U.S. Open is no different,” says Moore. “Kathy's donation of some of Sam's memorabilia will greatly enhance our members' and guests' understanding of the impact of Sam's 1935 victory, and we cannot wait to share these items to expand his story.”
Kathy has spent months compiling and organizing Parks’ many pins, medals, trophies, jackets and more.
“Sam taught me how to play golf in the backyard,” says Kathy, beaming with a smile as she speaks from a chair on the back porch of Oakmont Country Club, looking out over Oakmont’s iconic putting green behind the ninth hole. “We would then go play in Mt. Lebanon and I would tee off first thing in the morning with my Tommy Armour irons.”
Kathy married Dave Parks, Sam’s son, when she was 23. She dabbled in golf for a while before focusing in on her passion of showing dogs. But her memories of time spent at golf courses, including Oakmont, abound.
Kathy reminisces over particular memories, like sitting on that same Oakmont patio with Sam Parks Jr., or him sneaking her into the Grille Room at the club decades ago. And, more familial, a particular Christmas years ago when Sam Parks Jr. stayed with the entire family for the holiday.
“We had a wonderful Christmas that year,” she recalls. “Sam and my father got to talking and I think never shut up. Sam was a true gentleman, and really a very nice man.”
Dave Parks passed away in June of 2025, just 14 days before he and Kathy’s 50-year wedding anniversary. Sam Parks Jr. died in 1997 at the age of 87.
Now, Kathy — who as a young woman was almost intrinsically introduced to the game, is staying connected through the family’s long-rooted interest in golf by watching Ian compete on the same grounds where Sam Parks Jr. once thrived.
“It was very important to have her there,” says Patterson. “She showed up for me. She helped me get a practice round at South Hills Country Club when we weren’t really sure how to do it. She drove out there and asked.
“She got me a tee time to practice at Oakmont. She was able to secure everything for me and that was really amazing. And then she showed up at each of the rounds, which was awesome. It was really nice to have her there.”
The WPIAL Championships will be a memory for Patterson which he’ll remember forever. It also capped a week in which he found out where he’d be spending his future.
“I was accepted into Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University last week,” says Patterson, who wants to be a pilot and took his first solo flight a week prior. “I’m really big into travel. I love it. The number one job to go travel the world is a pilot. So this was such an exciting week.”
Kathy, who glowingly describes Sam Parks Jr., sees similarities between him and Patterson.
“Ian, as well as his father and mother, Andrew and Kim, are like Sam,” she said. “Down the line, they’re all so polite.”
Patterson has used golf to change his life. He describes himself, before golf, as ‘sloppy.’ Golf, however, changed him. It’s taught him not just how to dress a little better, but how to make an impression on people and how to act more appropriately. They are traits he knows well help guide him for years to come.
While his future likely won’t result in the on-course victories of his most famous relative, the game that’s interwoven in his family’s history — as well as the most memorable week of his life — will have a lasting impact.
“I moved on from sectionals to South Hills Country Club, where Sam Parks had played many, many times,” Patterson says. “Then I get to go to Oakmont, where he had won the U.S. Open.
“I just think that it was an incredible experience for me to make it through the WPIAL Championships and to play where my family has historically done so well.”
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