Page 42 - Las Vegas Golf & Leisure Fall 2021

PROFILE

clearly below his age.

What are his secrets to his successful golf skills? First, he
remains fit. Besides golf, he walks and swims. His fitness
allows him to play a lot of golf even during the extreme heat
of the Las Vegas summers and cold, windy, winter days.
Second, he limits red meats and spices (is this the secret
to great golf?). Finally, his sharp mind allows for a strong
mental game, which is so important to this crazy game.
Like most golfers as they age, he has noticed a decline in
his driving distance from 275 yards using an old steel shaft
and persimmon wood head to 220-240 yards with his cur-
rent driver. However, his driving remains consistent and
straight and his short game is spot on.

All the golf statistics are very impressive, but even more so
when you understand all of Doc’s other accomplishments.
He is a family man, a man of faith, completed medical
school, and had a distinguished military career where
he was a general surgeon. He specialized in cardiovas-
cular surgery and spent a year teaching at Evangelismos
Hospital in Athens, Greece. He also enjoys photography,
reading¸ investing, and traveling. Underachiever is not in
his vocabulary.

Doc and his family have become a significant part of the
tapestry of Las Vegas after moving here in the late 1960s.
He was married to his wife Janece for 66 ½ years and they
had three children, two who have called Las Vegas home.
He enjoys playing golf with his daughter, his only child who
has grown to love the game too. They came to Las Vegas
after he left the military, when he joined a classmate in his
medical practice in Las Vegas, where Doc and his partner
Harold Feikes, MD, started a pioneering cardiovascular
surgery practice in town. They had the only heart-lung
machine in town and would haul it from hospital to hospi-
tal in a pick-up truck. When he retired, he donated 13 sets
of golf clubs to First Tee, hoping to pass on his love of the
game.

Get ready to hear a few good stories when you play with Doc,
especially around his medical practice. For instance, after
successful cardiac surgery on a woman at Desert Springs
Hospital, he discovered she was the wife of the “Detroit”
hitman, so a “successful” outcome was crucial.

Doc has played golf around the world, including England,
Ireland, Scotland, France, the Philippines, Japan, Greece,
and Spain. His favorite golf quote was from a caddie at
Troon golf course in Scotland. After hitting his ball in the

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