For Immediate Release Contact: Heather Leeke Marketing & Communications Director, Old Channel Trail Golf Course (231) 894-5076 heather@octgolf.com Mike Wolf Assistant Athletic Director Northwestern University Media Services 1501 Central Street Evanston, IL 60208 (847) 491-7503 November 2004 MERIAM BAILEY LEEKE TO RECEIVE ATHLETIC LETTER FROM NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY 47 YEARS AFTER GOLF VICTORIES Montague, Michigan - Some collegiate athletes letter in their freshman year, but Meriam Bailey Leeke has been waiting for 47 years to be recognized for her athletic achievements. Her waiting will be soon be over when she receives her ‘N’ at the end of November. As a student at Northwestern in the 1950s, she was one of just a handful of women studying business, and one of even a smaller number of women who participated in national athletic events. Even though she carried a full and rigorous course schedule, Meriam found time to keep up on her golf game. Meriam played in three consecutive US Women's Opens and made the cut for the final 36 hole round each time just a week to 10 days after her final exams at Northwestern. Despite her athletic victories, pundits of the day declared: “Meriam will never get her letter.” It took nearly half a century to prove him wrong, but in a ceremony to take place during halftime at the November 20, 2004, Northwestern Football Game against Illinois, Meriam will be awarded her ‘N’. Golf as a foundation Meriam was a member of the 1958 United States Curtis Cup Team and played competitive golf for several years until she married Lyle Leeke in 1960 and they moved to Germany where Lyle headed an engineering crew for the Army. Upon their return to the US in 1964, she and Lyle moved to Montague, Michigan, to assume management of Old Channel Trail Golf Course, a 9-hole facility designed by Robert Bruce Harris and built by Meriam’s grandfather, H.O. Bailey in 1927. She and Lyle expanded the facilities over the years, raised their son, Bill, and ran the course together until Lyle’s death in 1990. Inducted into Northwestern Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992, Meriam looks forward to finally earning her ‘Letterman’ status. Since her days of competition, she has a career as a businesswoman, serving on several bank boards, several college trustee boards, charitable foundations and as treasurer of the National Golf Course Owners Association, and expanding Old Channel Trail Golf Course from 9 holes to the current 27 with a full driving range and three practice holes. Most recently, Meriam’s son Bill (who golfed for NU’s Men’s Golf team in 1988 and 1989) and his wife Heather moved into management roles at the course to allow Meriam more time for leisure pursuits, including a trip to England in the summer of 2004 to take part in the Curtis Cup reunion team and competition for the Saucer Cup, where her victories continued. “My mother taught me a lot on the golf course,” Bill Leeke said. “How to stay cool under pressure, how to think through challenges, how to be strategic. She’s done a great job taking care of and expanding the course while also pursuing her own activities.” Even though her athletic pursuits came 15 years before the Title IX legislation that created new opportunities for women to compete in athletics, Meriam was never discouraged from going after her passion. "I started playing when I was 13," Meriam said. "Everything I did after college - from getting my pilot's license, to bank boards, to charity foundations - I can trace my success back to three things: A great education in Evanston at Evanston High School and Northwestern and competing in golf. It made a lot of other things easier for me in life." Other Resources: Northwestern Athletics: www.northwestern.edu/athletics/ Old Channel Trail Golf Course: www.octgolf.com Women’s Western Golf Association: www.wwga.org Meriam Bailey Leeke ~ Timeline: - 1926 – Old Channel Trail Golf Course (Montague, MI) founded by H.O. and Mabel Bailey; 1st nine holes designed by Robert Bruce Harris, opened for play in 1927 - 1954 ~ Graduated from Evanston Township High School and enrolled in Northwestern University’s undergraduate business program - 1957 ~ Won the Women’s Western Amateur Title - 1958 ~ Member of US Curtis Cup Team - 1960 ~ Married Lyle Leeke; moves to Germany with Lyle’s Army Engineering assignment - 1964 ~ Moved back to Montague, Michigan, to run Old Channel Trail Golf Course - 1967 ~ Opens second 9 hole course at Old Channel Trail - 1969 ~ Son William (Bill) Bailey Leeke is born - 1988 ~ Inducted into NU Hall of Fame - 1992 ~ Elected Treasurer of National Golf Course Owners Association - 1994 ~ Third nine (Valley) at Old Channel Trail Golf Course is built and opened for play with driving range, three practice holes and practice facilities - 2004 ~ Presented with ‘N’ during Northwestern Football game November 20, 2004 - END - Old Channel Trail Golf Course 8325 North Old Channel Trail ? 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