With the Missouri State Amateur taking center stage this week, we couldn’t think of a better guest to call than our longtime buddy, Wayne Frederick. At 64 years old, the Springfield Glendale High School graduate and former Missouri State University (back when it was SMS!) standout is still out there teeing it up and letting it fly against the best in the state.

The Lifetime Exemption & Playing With the Kids

Wayne opened his tournament with a respectable 78 at Milburn, but he bluntly admits that the young guns out there are hitting it 60 yards past him. So what keeps him coming back? A lifetime exemption—and a rule he actually helped modify himself! As part of the player’s advisory committee, Wayne pushed to adjust the exemption rules after an older player quit mid-tournament a few years back. Now, the rule cuts off at 65 or five years after your last match play appearance. With next year’s tournament hosted at St. Louis Country Club, Wayne expects to grind it out for at least one more year, leaning heavily on his mental game and even a dedicated Pilates routine to stay sharp.

The Legendary Tough Love of Sam Reynolds

Wayne is the first to tell you he wasn’t a world-beater coming out of Glendale in 1980. In fact, his legendary career at SMS and beyond didn’t truly click until local icon Sam Reynolds stepped in with some unfiltered “chewing” at Hickory Hills Country Club. Wayne shared a classic, hilarious, and completely unvarnished memory of Sam tearing into him in the locker room between matches during his 1996 State Am championship run. Sam told him to stop playing it safe and to go down in flames if he was going to lose. It’s a lesson that didn’t just win him golf tournaments—it defined how Wayne approaches his successful real estate and consulting career today.

Keeping It in the Family

The Reynolds legacy continues to touch Wayne’s life, as Sam’s grandson Derek Reynolds is also out there competing in the State Am field out of Hickory Hills. But the family connection doesn’t stop there. Wayne beamed about his son, Nathan Frederick, who is balancing a rising country music career on the West Coast and Nashville with some serious game on the course. Nate is currently caddying at an exclusive new club in Tennessee called The Bounty, and he even had to sign an NDA just to loop there! Golf mirrors life, and for the Frederick family, the fairways of the Ozarks continue to provide the ultimate backdrop.