Dale Douglass, the youngest player to capture a U.S. Senior Open title when he won in 1986, died on July 6 in his adopted hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz., at the age of 86 after a long illness.

A three-time winner on the PGA Tour, Douglass enjoyed his greatest success as a professional after turning 50, earning 11 victories on what is now called PGA Tour Champions. That included his 1986 U.S. Senior Open triumph by one stroke over Gary Player at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 50 years, 3 months and 24 days, which remains the record for the youngest champion. Douglass also is the only U.S. Senior Open champion to earn a wire-to-wire victory without ties after any round.

Douglass also competed in a record 26 U.S. Senior Opens, all consecutively from 1986-2011, one more than the legendary Arnold Palmer.

“This is a very sad day for Colorado golf,” current University of Colorado men’s golf coach Roy Edwards told the school’s website. “Dale Douglass is an icon at every level of the game. A true legend who was a tremendous friend to everyone.”

Douglass was born in Wewoka, Okla., on March 5, 1936, and raised in Fort Morgan, Colo. He rose to prominence as a member of the Colorado men’s golf team in the 1950s. He was a three-time all-conference performer, first in the Big Seven in 1956 and then the Big Eight in 1958 and ’59. He was the first golfer from CU to play on the PGA Tour and the second golfer to be inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame (2010) after five-time USGA champion Hale Irwin.

“He wore the school colors proudly,” Irwin told the school’s website from Akron, Ohio, site of this week’s Bridgestone Senior Players Championship at Firestone Country Club. “Personally, I’ve lost a close friend I’ve had for some 57 years. More importantly, golf has lost a real gentleman and a man who really championed golf throughout the country. He did so much for a lot of people, particularly in Colorado.

“Dale was like my big brother, and I was like his bratty little brother. We throw the world mentor around a lot, but in Dale’s case, I can elevate the word mentor to friend. I’ll miss him.”

Douglass befriended both Irwin, a former All-Big Eight defensive back as well as the 1967 NCAA individual golf champion, and Steve Jones, another CU alum who would go on to win the 1996 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Douglass created an endowment for the CU golf program and sponsored an annual tournament in his name in Fort Morgan, among many charitable endeavors.

Douglass turned pro in 1960 and earned his first PGA Tour win in the 1969 Azalea Open Invitational. Later that year, he won the Kemper Open and his last of three titles came in the 1970 Phoenix Open. His best major-championship finish was a tie for 13th in the 1969 U.S. Open at Champions Golf Club in Houston. He made 11 U.S. Open starts and he also tied for 31st in 1987 at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, a year after his U.S. Senior Open win. He competed in his final U.S. Senior Open in 2011 at Inverness Club at the age of 75.

David Shefter is a senior staff writer for the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.