"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Stan Crawley

July 27, 2004

During their prime, Dan Tribble, Sr. and Ira Templeton had a lot in common.

"You knew how you stood around them,'' Dan Tribble, Jr. said this week. "There were no gray areas.

"They also both honored proper golf etiquette. They both appreciated the history and the values of the game of golf.''

Tribble, Jr., who owns Hickory Valley Golf Course, remains committed to keeping those ideals alive. He played a key role in the Chattanooga Open being named the Ira Templeton Open after Templeton's death.

And this week at Hickory Valley, Tribble will oversee the Dan Tribble Sr. PGA Junior Championship. The junior event will feature more than 80 teen-agers participating on Wednesday and Thursday in seven age divisions.

The Tribble Junior Championship started in 1984 and originally was played at Creeks Bend, Cleveland and WindStone. After Tribble Sr. suffered a stroke in 1989, the event was named after him. He remains in a Chattanooga nursing home.

"Dad originated the tournament,'' Tribble Jr. said. "It was his idea. A lot of people helped—Mike Nelms and Ira and Buddy Templeton at Creeks Bend, Rick Tucker at Waterville and Richard Rebne at WindStone.

"Rebne made the nomination to name the tournament after dad and the vote was unanimous at the Chattanooga Chapter PGA.''

The Tribble Sr. Tournament is one of several junior tournaments around town. Players can earn points and play at The Honors Course at the end of the season.

"Dad always wanted the kids to be able to play other courses,'' Tribble Jr. said.

He also said the young players have become better educated through the years.

"The kids used to do some damage early on, but now they all have a better appreciation of the etiquette of the game,'' he said. "They get so many more opportunities to play. Some of them will play in our tournament this week and one at Bear Trace.

"The players have gotten so good. Technology is better, and that has almost made our course obsolete for the stronger kids who hit it so far. Thank goodness we have a few par 4s where they have to put away the driver and think more about placement.''

Hats off to Tribble, Jr. for continuing to honor the commitment to adult and junior golf made years ago by his father and Ira Templeton.

"I don't want them to ever be forgotten,'' Tribble Jr. said. "Well continue to honor them as long as we can.''

(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)

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