Four former Baylor School golfers - Luke List, Harris English, Keith Mitchell and Stephan Jaeger - will begin competing today in the Houston Open, which is the final PGA Tour tournament before next week's Masters in Augusta, Ga.
Baylor is believed to be the first high school ever to have four alumni on the PGA Tour in the same season, with all four having played for King Oehmig.
"King was the first guy I met in the States," the German-born Jaeger, who was a Baylor boarding student, said Wednesday. "The morning after I arrived from Germany, we went to my first event. He was such a great person and a great motivator.
"He was just an awesome person to be around, and I really enjoyed my time with him at Baylor."
Oehmig, who died in May 2015 while fly-fishing near Chickamauga, will be remembered at the Metropolitan Ministries King Oehmig Memorial Classic, which will be held May 14 at Lookout Mountain Golf Club. Online registration can be found at met-min.org/golf-tournament, with participants having the option of morning or afternoon starts.
Tournament proceeds will benefit MetMin's mission to stop homelessness before it starts.
Oehmig was a noted Episcopalian minister, and in his 12 seasons as Baylor's coach the Red Raiders and Lady Raiders totaled 21 TSSAA state golf championships. Two of his former players, List and Mitchell, have runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour so far this year, while English is a two-time winner on tour, breaking through in 2013 at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis.
"I'll never forget the time I played my first-ever match at Baylor in the sixth grade at Moccasin Bend, and Coach O came out and watched the last few holes," Mitchell said Wednesday. "He was scouting out potential varsity players three years early, which no high school golf coach would ever do but him. He was a fierce competitor and instilled that in his players, but he had a bigger and broader vision than just high school golf.
"He was grooming us to play competitively for the rest of our lives, and he knew that no point was too early in our careers."
This will be the third annual Oehmig Classic and the first at Lookout Mountain, the past two having been held at Black Creek.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.