When four Mississippi golfers traveled to Southern California last month for the U.S. Amateur, despite being thousands of miles from the Magnolia State, one of the first people to greet them shared with them a home-state bond.

Bel-Air Country Club golf professional emeritus Eddie Merrins welcomed the young men, including former Union star Andy Ogletree, to the club where he’s spent the last 50 years of his life.

Merrins, 85, is more than Bel-Air Country Club’s paternal figure. With more than 50 years of professional experiences as a PGA Tour player and as an instructor, Merrins’ name is well known throughout the national golfing community.

Although Merrins now calls Southern California home, his road to stately Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles began in Meridian 74 years ago when he was a novice golfer. His introduction to the game he loves occurred with the help of friends at Meridian’s Northwood Country Club.

After a while, not much could get between Merrins and the golf course.

“My parents had to join the club to support my habit,” Merrins said with a laugh.

Merrins graduated from Meridian High School in 1950 and attended Louisiana State University where he won two Southeastern Conference championships and the 1953 Southern Intercollegiate Championship.

He acknowledged the Queen City’s role during his formative years, and how his time spent in Meridian provided the framework for his illustrious career.

“I give a lot of credit for everything that’s occurred to me, to my beginning in Meridian and at LSU,” Merrins said. “It was the training ground that I needed. Meridian gave me to the opportunity to start in this great game we call golf.

Merrins’ professional resume includes logging eight U.S. Open appearances and six PGA Club Pro Championship and PGA Pro Championship appearances, among other accomplishments. He became a Class A PGA Tour member in 1961.

“Lo and behold, the first tournament was Beaumont, Texas,” Merrins said. “I was leading the tournament with nine holes to play and did everything I can think of to pull that off. But it didn’t work — I finished fourth finally, and that was my first tour event.”

Merrins played in 200 events as a PGA Tour member before accepting a golf club pro job at Bel-Air Country Club in 1962. Despite being from Meridian, Merrins quickly found a home in Southern California, and eventually became the UCLA head golf coach in 1975, while still serving as Bel-Air’s golf pro. Merrins remained UCLA’s golf coach for 14 fruitful seasons.

“In that period of time, we won 57 team tournaments, and I had 25 players with individual wins and we had 16 All-American players,” he said.

In 1988, Merrins guided UCLA to an NCAA championship before stepping down in 1989. He’s also authored “Swing the Handle – Not the Clubhead: A Great Method to Improve Your Golf Game” and directed the video collection for the book.

Merrins said the Los Angeles golfing community immediately accepted him and made him feel at home ever since. He became Bel-Air Country Club’s golf pro emeritus in 2002.

“They treated me with a lot of respect and dignity,” Merrins said. “They treated my wife and family (well) — I have a daughter and two sons — and the members of the club have taken us in as family, and I have great regard and great respect for that.”

Merrins last visited Meridian four years ago during a trip to New Orleans. The purpose of the trip, he said, was to give his son a glimpse of the area that set his professional career as a golfer and instructor in motion.

“My son Michael went with me, and we took a car and drove up to Meridian for the day,” Merrins said. “I wanted to show him the homestead there, the club Northwood where I played and the town so he knew something about my upbringing.

Merrins remains in tune with the golf landscape in his native state, and after hosting and observing Mississippi’s four young golfers in last month’s U.S. Amateur, feels confident about the future of the sport in the state.

“From what I gather and what I saw from these four players who earned their way here, the state of golf in Mississippi is very strong,” Merrins said. “And I was very pleased to see that. I will follow their progress as intently as I can.”