By the time Jeff Morgan completed his golf career at Salem Community High school, the 1993 graduate had raised the standard bar to a new level.

At the time of his induction into the SCHS Sports Hall of Fame, Morgan owned the top three scoring averages with marks of 36.2 strokes per nine holes in 1991, 36.8 in 1992 and 37.6 in 1990.

Besides season averages, Morgan set course records at Salem Country Club with a three-under-par 33 and at Mt. Carmel with another round of three-under-par 33. Morgan finished first or tied for first in 37 of Salem’s 46 regular season meets during his four years in high school.
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Coach Bill Morgan’s 1991 Salem Wildcats golf team compiled an impressive resume, which included a North Egypt Conference championship, a regional crown and an overall 63-8-1 record.

Salem was nearly perfect in the regular season where it compiled a 47-1 record. The Wildcats won the NEC Meet, which was played at Lawrenceville, by 33 strokes over second place Carmi. Salem’s winning score of 304 included a 73 from NEC individual champion Mike Williams and a 75 by runner-up Blake Morrison. The Wildcats also got identical rounds of 78 by Ryan Andrews, Jeff Morgan and Mike Russell.
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The golf teams at Salem Community High School would certainly not be as well known today if it were not for the coaching of William “Bill” Morgan.

Having coached for 33 years, 22 of which were as the golf coach at SCHS, Bill has achieved an impressive list of accomplishments. Probably the most impressive is a string of 15 North Egypt Conference championships, defining SCHS as the school to beat every year in the conference tournament. Also during his tenure, Salem won 16 invitational championships, seven Class AA regional championships, one sectional championship, three appearances in the State finals as a team and 12 individual State final appearances. He was named the Southern Illinois Coach of the Year in 1991 and 2002. Bill coached at least 15 players that have received college scholarships and 6 golfers who are now members of the PGA of America.
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The 1984 SCHS golf team compiled an undefeated 15-0 record in dual and triangular meets and won the North Egypt Conference Championship.

Coached by Bill Morgan, the 1984 team won invitational meet championships at Granite City and Centralia and also won the regional tournament. They placed fifth in the sectional tournament.

The 1984 golfers established a school record in a match against Carlyle with a team score of 145.

Rob Albright was named the most valuable player for the 1984 team. Albright also was chosen to the All-Southern Illinois team for the third consecutive year. Cindie Fry also was selected to the All-Southern Illinois squad.

In addition to Albright and Fry, team members included Mike Chitty, Rich Haney, Tommy Kane, Randy Larson, Craig Liddle, Tony Malan, Joe Meador, Don Roberts, Kerry Wallace and Jeff Williams.

While Steve Hill excelled in both football and basketball at Salem Community High School, it was golf that paved his way into not only a collegiate career but a professional career as well.

A 1969 graduate of SCHS, Hill was known as a fierce rebounder on the basketball court despite his lack of size inside. That ability led to special mention on the all-state team in the 1968-69 season.

In football Hill capped off a solid high school career in 1968 when he was named to the All-South Team as a split end.

Hill was medalist during several meets as a Wildcat golfer. His biggest moment came during his junior season in 1968 when he finished second at the regional and qualified for the state meet as an individual. During state competition Hill finished 30th out of 144 golfers.
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A better-than-average athlete in high school, David Meador did not let a tragic auto accident deter him from excelling in life and in his favorite sport. Meador lost his sight when a police car, in which he was riding on a trip home from completing his shift as a radio-dispatcher for the police department, gave a pursuit to a fleeing violator and crashed.

Meador, overcame his disability to become a successful businessman and one of the top golfers in the nation. He won the National Championship of the United States Blind Golfers Association (USBGA) at the Firestone Country Club at Akron, Ohio, in 1977 and has finished second seven times.
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