Milligan commended for service to city

ByMatthew Crane Reading Time: 2 minutes

“You probably don’t know this,” Steve Milligan said to Jasper Park Director Ken Buck. “My first day, you sent me out to get the cups out of 15, no 16 …”

“I remember that,” Buck said about that first day back in 1988 when Milligan started working with the city’s golf program.

“Yeah, I got the cart stuck,” Milligan said. “I had to pull the cart out by myself. I don’t think I ever told you, did I?”

“No, you never did,” Buck responded.

“I got it out and got it cleaned up before you saw me,” Milligan laughed.

Milligan, 60, was hired as the full-time golf director in 1991. He is leaving his position as the Assistant Director of Golf due to health issues forcing him to go on disability.

The Jasper Park Board took a moment to praise Milligan for his years of dedication to the city’s golf program.

“We worked as a team,” Milligan said about the parks department employees.

“I thank you for giving me the opportunity to work for the last 25-plus years,” Milligan said. “I wish I could’ve stayed longer. But it was time for me to go. My health just couldn’t go anymore.”

Buck thanked Milligan for his dedication to the golf program. “I give Steve an awful lot of credit for the way golfing has increased,” Buck said. “He helped build the municipal golf course, which is now Buffalo Trace. Steve put a lot of time, 24 years full time, into the golf course up there.”

Milligan added that John Bertges, the current golf director will do a great job at the helm.

Park board President Roger Seger added that Milligan was a special asset to the City of Jasper.

Milligan said he plans on continuing his involvement in golf but is not freed up to go see his “kids” play in tournaments. Those kids are the golfers he has coached through the years at Jasper High School. He coached the boys golf team for 11 years and the girls for nine. He resigned after this past season.

He was inducted into the Indiana High School Golf Coaches Hall of Fame in June.

Share