About -- Billy-Sixty

 

When Billy-Sixty was born on November 30, 1899, he was christened with the German name of Billy Soechtig; the family later changed their name to its English translation of Sixty.

 

Sixty started out as a caddie at the Milwaukee Country Club and instantly became the favorite caddie of Lucius Nieman, the founder and owner of the Milwaukee Journal. Nieman took Sixty to tournaments, where he had a knack for being able to read the undulations in greens, much to Niemans pleasure.

 

He then asked Sixty if he would like to have a job at the Journal printshop. Billy was delighted with the offer and at the tender age of twelve, in September of 1912, accepted the job. He became a copy boy and ‘jack of all trades,’ and a favorite of the sports department writers. He continued to play golf and would bring the results back to the newspaper so that they had instant coverage of golf events.

 

One day, one of the sports writers responsible for covering golf failed to report as the deadline approached. The sports editor was in a tizzy and he looked for help with getting that evening’s edition out. Billy offered to put together a story and the editor, out of desperation, said, “Go ahead, Billy, write me a story.” That was the start of a seventy-year career as a sportswriter with the Milwaukee Journal.

 

Sixty’s bowling prowess became world-renowned. He was a member of the world champion Heil Company bowling team, won numerous city, state and national individual titles, and once bowled an 878 three-game series, which at that time was the highest in the nation.

 

In golf, he played in all the tournaments of his day, winning many of them and always being a leading contender. He never won the WSGA State Amateur title, but was runner-up four times, in addition to twice placing second in the State Open. With his son, they won the Pater-Filius (Father-Son) title seven times. He authored many well-received golf and bowling tip books.  He has 9 - Hole-in-Ones, along with 9 - 300 games in bowling.

He was elected to the  WSGA Hall of Fame in 1964 and is one of five charter members and was elected to the Wisconsin Hall of Fame in 1971. In addition to the above, he served as a Director of the WSGA from 1925 – 1970.

 

In 1972, a golf tournament was started in his honor ----------

the  “Billy-Sixty BestBall Championship.”  It is held annually in the Milwaukee area, and to this day is considered to be one of the Major Amateur Golf Tournaments in Wisconsin.