Pat Fisher (1948-2015) loved golf, Dickinson, The Rock, and his family. Not necessarily in that order.
Before Pat passed away in 2015, after a two-year battle with cancer, he forged a bond between all that he loved – bonds that continue to do great things for the Dickinson community.
Pat’s son, Todd, carries on the annual Pat Fisher Memorial Endowed Golf Scholarship at Dickinson State University, an event that provides between $6,000 and $8,000 to the athletic program, with much of that benefiting both male and female golfers.
“We (The Rock) had done a golf scramble for 16 years before Pat passed and when he passed, we decided to turn it into a memorial and donate the proceeds to a charity,” says Todd, who golfed at DSU from 1997-2000. “The first year, we donated to the cancer treatment center in Tulsa where he doctored. The next year, we supported the hospice care center in Dickinson.”
After that, Todd decided rather than select a charity every year, he would create a scholarship at the university in honor of his dad. “We thought we would start a scholarship for golf because he was an avid golfer,” Todd says. “He didn’t pick it up until later in life, but he played mostly every day when he could.”
When Todd played golf at the university, there was only one scholarship. “I knew dad was trying to jump-start the program to get it to another level,” Todd recalls.
Todd continues to run the popular four-person golf scramble. “I hold the tournament the second Saturday in June,” Todd says. “Every year it’s full. Thirty-six teams is what we like to keep it at, but we have been up to 41 with late calls. I can’t tell anybody no.”
Todd is the continuation of a relationship that began with Pat’s first semester at DSU. He left after that, joined the National Guard, and got married. But he remained a Blue Hawk fan and passed that loyalty down to his son and daughters.
“He was always an avid fan,” Todd says. “As a kid, he would take me and my cousins and their dads to away football games and basketball games. He was one of those guys back in the day that would sit on the hill across from the bleachers at Whitney Stadium.”
The Rock, a popular downtown watering hole, was owned by the couple for 20 years before Pat’s death. Although they sold The Rock during Pat’s battle in 2015, the sale contained a clause giving Kathy first rights if it was resold within a year. She exercised that option and bought the bar back. The Rock remained in the Fisher family until it was sold in October of 2024.
When the Fishers gutted the bar and remodeled in 2000, they used Blue Hawk blue paint and Todd’s sister painted a Blue Hawk mural on a wall.
According to Tori Barnum, Pat’s son-in-law, the Pat Fisher Memorial Golf Scramble and its contributions to Dickinson State athletics will continue.
If you would like to donate to the Pat Fisher Memorial, please call or email the DSU HF at: (701) 483-2486 or DSU Heritage Foundation.
By Scooter Pursley
DSU Heritage Foundation Communication Specialist
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