May 16, 2026 • 48 mins
Rich talks with former PGA of America President Tom Addis about Tom's path to the presidency, his proudest accomplishments, and more.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Rich Konwall Golf Show. Tom for my
guest this week. I am very very very fortunate to
have former PGA of America President, the President of the
PGA of America, Tom Addis on and Tom is a
I'm not going to tell you how old he is,
but Tom has much experience in this golf business, and
(00:24):
he has much experience in governance, and he has much
knowledge in the world of golf. So Tom, first off,
thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Rich, thank you, and give you an idea I've been
in I've been a PGA member now for fifty three
years and I've been in governance for fifty one years,
just so you know how old I am.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
All right, So effectively, you should be getting pretty good
at both those things by now, right, because you've been
doing them for fifty years, So we should be getting
better at him right.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, now that I'm retired, I can say that, yees.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
All right? So what we do with everybody? Tom? As
we go back? So tell me how you started in
this game. How you first got introduced to this awesome game.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, And first of all, Rich, thanks very much for
allowing me to be here and have the opportunity and
honor to talk with you, that's great, and to many
other golf friendly people, so that's cool. I probably have
a typical story in regarding in regards to starting in golf,
(01:28):
and that's my father, who was also a PGA member.
He passed away a few years ago, but it was
actually in a place called Fresno, California, which is central California,
and he was after being a turkey farmer and an
insurance person, he went to Ohio State, moved out here
(01:50):
and he got into the golf business first in nineteen
fifty five at a place called Fresno Airways golf Course.
And the typical story is he started. And one story
I like to tell this be brief, is we lived
behind the golf course and presnow airways. Literally the Fresno
Airport was there and still is. The golf course, I
(02:13):
believe was all they've talked about closing it. It was
an at and hole parse sixty nine municipal golf course.
We lived down the road and we lived in farmland
and my father cut off a seven iron like they do,
and I would go out and he would tell me
to go out, and I would hit dirt clods in
the plowed field, and that's how I started. And then
(02:37):
caddying at Fresnow Airways and we'd do our caddy round,
get our dollar ten, go in and buy our Delaware punch,
and then we'd go out and play ourselves at ten
years eleven years old. So that's how I got started.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Wow, I did not know your father first off, was
a PGA professional. Second, I didn't know he went to
that's the Ohio State University.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
You know that, right, he did?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Guy, I'm sorry I forgot that. Yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Graduates of the Ohio State University, so they have to, Yeah,
they have to make sure that, you know, be as
pretentious as they possibly can when.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
That's absolutely and the university deserves.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
It, that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
So it's off there two years. So anyway, sorry Rich, Wow, So.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
That's so so Actually, so we could say that Nicholas
followed in your father's footsteps, right, Jack, Jack, Nicholas, John
Tom Wi stuff, they all put Joey Sindelo, they all
followed in your father's footsteps.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
See, and he would love to hear that.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
So okay, so you know you're knocking around plowed fields,
you're knocking around dirt Clauds. But as you get a
little bit older, obviously being molded by your father, you're
gonna you're going to start to play actually very well, okay,
because you can say what you want, but you're a
good player. So how did you become how'd you become that?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Well, it's interesting. You know, I don't play golf anymore.
I have a bad hit and and I can't play.
So but yeah, back in the day, as the old
saying goes, I played a lot of junior golf in
northern California. Wasn't great, but it was halfway decent. Played
with individuals like Bobby Lunn and Ron Cerudo, and great
(04:30):
players like Dick Lotts John Watts who had some success
on the PGA Tour. And so I learned and grew
up around those those individual players and had a good time.
And I played my college golf. I only played a
year at a place called Grossmont College down near San Diego,
(04:53):
but played a lot of junior golf and a lot
of golf with with some great individuals. My dad ended
up being pro professional at the Hayward Golf Course, which
is in the San Francisco Bay area. He left presno
airways and went to Madera golf course Madera Country Club
just north of Fresno, and that's where I actually started
(05:15):
working in the golf business. I worked with my dad
at Madera Country Club besides the caddy and airways of course,
and my first job, and I got paid a dollar
an hour. My first job, we planted these oleanders that
went up the driveway to the clubhouse from Avenue twenty
(05:37):
four whatever the street was out there, and my job
was to make sure those stayed alive. So I watered
those every day for my dollar an hour. I also
did a few other things around around, but that was
my primary responsibility. That was my first job. And interestingly enough,
a couple of years ago, my wife Susan and I
(05:59):
drove through Madera and I decided to drive over to
the country club, which is still there, because this was
nineteen fifty seven, and I'm fingers crossed that the only
anders are still the hedge leading up to the clubhouse
and we get there and certain they certainly were. So
(06:20):
I had a very strong sense of pride that my
only anders were still there some what seventy eighty years later,
So it's pretty cool, pretty cool, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
So there's the first step in your legacy right there.
You actually the things that are still there. They're still there.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Yep, yep, that's cure, that's neat.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
So how long would you work for your dad?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Well, there was Madera where I went to elementary school. Course,
then we moved to a place called Hayward Hayward Golf Club,
which was another MUNI up in the Bay area. Hayward's
on the map is just north of santase and south
of Lokland, kind of right in the middle there, and
it was an eighteen hole golf course, very busy. That's
(07:04):
where I really started playing seriously, or at least thought
I was playing seriously and played with all these individuals
in junior golf. And my dad was there until nineteen
sixty four and he moved back down to San Diego.
I stayed. I graduated high school nineteen sixty three from
(07:27):
James Logan High School. I played golf there and went
to a year at Foothill College and then ended up
following my father moving to San Diego. And that's where
I ended up at Grossmont College and I did play
golf there and my dad was at a part of
three golf course called Sun Valley, and I was helping
(07:52):
him and he left and went he was part owner.
He left and went up to build a golf course
in Frisno, and I stayed on as the head golf
professional there at with my wife. That was one reason
that I left school is we ran off and got
married and so I ended up not going back to
(08:14):
school and went into the golf business and enjoyed it
ever since.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
That's crazy. So okay, So you are in charge. You
are the head professional at what age.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Let's see, that was nineteen sixty six, so I was born,
so I was twenty one, but I couldn't get in
the PGA at Sun Valley. Back then, the PGA didn't
have the what's now called the associate program, and so
I needed to work for a class APGA professional. But
(08:53):
I did a lot of good stuff at Sun Valley,
enjoyed it. I have you know the old story about
doing everything I would. It was a night light range
and we had to close the golf course at a
certain time to allow the range to open because it
was a nine hole Part three, really good part three
of course, and my wife and I operated that from
(09:14):
literally from dawn to midnight and she had the snack bar. Unfortunately,
the snack bar was next to the muni pool. So
we did fairly well with gum drops and life savers
and hot dogs and those kinds of things. Yeah, that's
for sure. And back then somebody might remember, You won't
(09:37):
because you're too young. They had a thing called Stuart
Infrared and some of the older professional people might remember this,
but it was it was literally an infrared oven like
an aluminum case. You'd open the door and you had
these these sandwiches that were pre made and you'd put
(10:00):
with them in the You'd cut open the little cellophane
deal and you'd put the sandwiches like a hot dog
inside the Steward infrared oven and turn it on three
minutes ding ding, pull out your freshly cooked hot dog
and hand it with mustard and everything to the customer.
So anyway, that's what we did. We did fairly well.
(10:20):
She did very well with that. But we would stay
there and I would literally and this is my trekking
up hill with the mail on my back in a snowstorm.
I would get there at four point thirty in the
morning and I would mow greens. I'd set the holes,
(10:40):
do that kind of stuff. I have a We're lucky
had a person in coming on. His name was Reynolds Garren,
who had come in at eight, work till noon, so
I could still continue to do stuff, and then we
would we would close the golf course, the rains set up.
(11:01):
We had to cover the first green because we didn't
want balls landing on the putting green and making permanent holes.
So I'd go out and put a piece of canvas
on the putting green. We'd run the rains till ten.
I'd pick up the balls literally because it was a
hilly place and I had to pick them up by hand.
(11:23):
Keep in mind, this is sixty six and sixty seven, okay. Anyway,
I'd get home at midnight, I'd get back up at four,
go back out there and do it all over again.
I only lasted about six months doing that before we
hired somebody to work on the golf course. But anyway,
that's how I got started. I think that's why I
appreciate my father in this business so much, is having
(11:46):
that start and not being able to get into the PGA.
And that's when I went to a place called Singing Hills,
which is a fifty four hole resort outside of San Diego,
working for a gentleman by the name of Laddie Drake.
So I was able to register then as a PGA
(12:07):
Back then they were called we just registered. I think
it was I can't remember, to be honest with you,
as an assistant golf professional later on. I don't know
if you are old enough PGA member to remember this. Well.
We had title classifications. You had head professional, you had
associate professional, I thinks to what it was called. And
(12:29):
so I applied for pg membership, but Laddie Drake ended
up leaving Singing Hills, so here I was again. He
left an ape with that he was right, yeah, and
we didn't have the again, the apprentice or associate program then,
so I was out of luck again. Unfortunately, one of
(12:50):
my mentors, pat Riley, and people might remember Pat as
PG president in eighty nine and ninety he helped the
PGA change the rules and established the apprentice program. So
I was able to reregister, did my pat. And back
(13:11):
then we had the day long business schools. I don't
know when you became a PGA member, but we used
to have these programs called PGA Business schools where you
go to a school for a week, take a test
at the end of the week. And that's what I did,
and I went to.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Membership in Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I went to Naples, Florida for one and for school
one and then Philadelphia for school too.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
All right, because it's uh. And then there's a story
later on about the business schools too that based on
the questions I think you're going to ask, or what
I wanted to talk about the change in the business schools.
So anyway, I did my business schools. So I've got
my PGA membership and here we are. So that was
September nineteen seventy.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Too, So so you were actually you were actually kind
of on the ground floor with the whole changing all
that with Tom Riley. With pat Riley, yes, Patroll, excuse me,
a friend of mine, Tom Raley, but yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
He happened to be. Yeah, he was on the board
at the time, or no, he was on the board later,
but he he he was on the apprentice committee at
the time and the education committee and champion the new
the new opportunity for apprentices back then.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Yeah. Wow, so yeah, this is yeah, this is a
this is a serious flashback. This is a serious flashback.
This is cool stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So that is so.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Then so then you so then you get you you
go through your PAT and that's the old school pat,
which was thirty six holes and we're not super scoring anything,
and you got to do it all one day, and.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
You had a PJ professional to go with you. A
guy named Alan Cook was my PGA professional who monitored
my pat at the time, I shot one forty eight,
so I didn't have a problem and and he had
to suffer through the thirty six holes with me.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
And then the school one school too. And then they
grant you that that sportty little uh moniker that you
are now a PGA professional.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Correct, that's correct, yep, Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
So when we come back from this commercial break, we
are going to start talking about how you how you
utilized that newly minted PGA professional okay, and the certification
not certification but classification, and then we are going to
start talking about how you expanded your career. This is
the rich com Woll Golf Show. Welcome back to the
(15:52):
rich Comonoll Golf Show. We are joined this week by
Tom Addis. Tom is a PGA professional and he is
also a former president of the PGA of America. But
right now, where we left off in Tom's story is
he just obtained his his class A certification from the
(16:14):
PGA of America, and he actually was kind of on
the front edge of the changing of the education process
and obtaining for assistants or apprentices or young professionals to
obtain their membership. So all right, Tom, so you're newly minted,
So now what do we do?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, that's that's newly minted. And I still thought I
could play golf. But then but then I looked at
the people who I played with, going back to junior
golf for example, and the people like Ron Serruda and
Boblin and who were on the tour, Dick Lots, and
(16:59):
you know, I couldn't beat them in junior golf, So
why did I think that I could beat them by
going out on the tour. So I kind of changed
my focus and became a club professional, so to speak.
And I was lucky. I was at a place called
Singing Hills, as I mentioned before, a fifty four old
(17:21):
golf resort just outside of San Diego, and we had
two regulation courses and an executive then an executive course.
It was a part sixty one, so it had part
fours on it and extremely busy. And that's where I started.
(17:42):
And that's also as soon as I got as soon
as I was elected in the PGA membership, I continued
playing in local events and that kind of stuff. And
then I want to say, the PGA chapter San Diego
Chapter recruited me to the board. So I went on
the chapter board. This is I believe seventy three and
(18:07):
I became tournament chairman. And that's how I first got involved.
Went on the section board of directors in nineteen seventy four.
But I was lucky to be involved with the San
Diego PGA and get my start in PGA governance that way.
After being Singing Hills. I was Singing Hills from nineteen
(18:28):
sixty seven through nineteen ninety eight, and I left Singing
Hills for an opportunity out of state that failed miserably,
excuse me, and moved back in two thousand and did
my own company until twenty six and that's when I
(18:51):
took the job. I don't know if you knew this
or not. I was the executive director of CEO of
the Southern California Section through twenty two two and then
two more years and in emeritus through twenty four. So
that's what I did career wise. But Singing Hills, you know,
of course the most impact thirty one years, fifty four holes,
hugely popular golf course. We were the leader in outing
(19:17):
slash tournaments in all of southern California, very innovative. We
focused a lot on women's programs at Singing Hills. For example,
we did two years we did in nineteen seventy and
I'm going back aways here and in nineteen seventy four
(19:37):
women's that are collegiate, which was then called the AIAW
before in seventy five, I think that's when they changed
at the NCAA. We did two of those, which was
really great, and that was kind of my nineteen seventy
was kind of my intro into one of my other loves,
and that was the rules of golf. But we did
(19:59):
two US Junior Championships at Singing Hill seventy three and
eighty nine. Jack Rinner won in seventy three and David
Duvall in eighty nine, so we're lucky to do that.
And then we continued to do great programs, especially programs
for women. We did a collegiates, event called Lady Aztec
(20:21):
and many other activities, school of Golf for women. Our
golf shop was very popular. We were one of the
first million dollar golf shops around other thanry Pines and
a couple of other places. So very busy we did.
At one time we did almost two hundred and fifty
thousand rounds of a year on the three golf courses.
(20:44):
That was in the eighties. So pretty busy place, a
wonderful place. And we're two of my main mentors. And
have to mention them because they owned the golf course
and really we're supportive of everything that I did in
golf and at the club. Probably should have reversed that.
Steve Harrel and Jerry Hollingsworth, and they've both deceased at
(21:07):
this time, are now and uh, but they were. They
were the keys to to my job, my success, my
family's success. Uh, And I still love them for that,
So I need to mention that.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah, So you know what, I'm not gonna let you
off the hook here. You know, I knew a decent
amount about your experience there, but you're downplaying how well
you did all that. You really are because I'll tell
you I've talked to some people, and I've done a
little little investigation. I don't do it. I don't do
(21:45):
a ton of research papers anymore. Once I left college,
I was done with those. But yeah, I gotta tell
you you you you you're the real deal, man, you are,
You're the real deal.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Thanks, And and that's.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
That's that's been good. You know, it's it's good. Golf
is good, as they say, and and this business and
the PGA and and you you know, all of our members.
It's just there's nothing like it. I'm dead serious when
I shouldn't say that. I'm very serious when I say that,
because it's it's my whole deal. It's Susan, my wife's
(22:18):
old deal. We were so disappointed when when we couldn't
go to the PGA Championship up in your world today
yesterday and and and see everybody. But no, there's nothing
like it. It's uh, I think about that. And we
owned two other businesses in a place called Mammoth Lakes
up here in California. We owned two chocolate retail chocolate
(22:41):
stores up there. And we love Mammoth, We love we
used to love skiing. But the golf business, there's something
about it and uh and it was everything as that
at Singing Hills. Thanks again to Steve Herrel, Jerry Hallinsworth,
the great individuals we had as team members there who
(23:02):
are still around and I still communicate with and still
love uh being with today. All good.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Yeah, So yeah, and I gotta tell you something. So
so I'm going to give you a chance now. And
I know I'm not going to try to. I'm not
going to pin you down to you know, because I
know you'll forget somebody. But you've had, You've had many, many,
many assistants that are very very very successful.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Yes, yeah, and and.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
You know, and I know you know, I always ask
you know, I always ask you no, very very very
highly qualified, highly accomplished PGA professionals like what their greatest
impact or what they're proudest of in the in their
in their job job, not their governance job, which we'll
talk about a little bit later, but but their governance role.
(23:53):
But but like and and to a person, every one
of them says, I'm proud of the people that worked
for me and what they went and did with their jobs,
you know, and and and Ford and and and Bob
Ford SAI at the best. He's like, you know, the
best thing about all all the guys that have worked
for me is that I there's some really great places
(24:15):
I get to go play for free. Yeah, and which
which is funny, but but but it's true. But the
fact of the matter is is that he walks on
that property and those guys still know that the debt
of gratitude that that they hold for him. And and
I know that you have several that that should that
(24:36):
do and and rightfully so hold a debt of gratitude
to you for looking at them maybe one day and
saying don't ever do that again, or go do more
of that again, you know, And and and that's that's
you know, I've had two two one really in my
career that that that was the most impactful thing he
(24:59):
ever said to me, is don't do that again and
do more of that again.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Yeah, And and so you know, I agree.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
I just think it's incredible the legacy of professionals that
you've had. And you've may turn out guys that have
had solid PGA of America or awesome pg of America careers.
So that's a that's it's a credit to you.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Well say, around the country, you know there's there's a
lot of of PGA professional slash mentors like Bob Ford,
who is a good friend of mine, and I think
that's I've heard I've heard that line before and it's
just when I first heard it. I would have never
expected Bob Ford to say that, ever, But when you
take it, has he meant it is? Uh in a
(25:49):
in a humorous approach. Uh, Then that's Bob Ford, that
dry sense of him. I think Bob is the consummate
golf professional PG golf professional, I think, and that shows
with how he's still involved in how the USGAS got
him to do and be and be active. I think
(26:12):
it's tremendous. But anyway, Uh yeah, I think it's an
honor and it's very emotional. I still get emotional when
I'm around a lot of our former team members and
staff and good friends. Everybody's been good friends, Signey Hills
(26:33):
we had. I don't really don't know how many have
gone on to be UH PGA professional class, as I
know a number of our former staff or current staff
have have been rewarded in many ways. I can think
(26:53):
of our current UH some of the California PGA Golf
Professional the year Holly Williams Holly Kennedy now excuse me.
She was Holly Williams when she started with us at
Singing Elf in nineteen ninety six. And Holly owns her
own golf course with her husband. She's she's president and
(27:13):
been president of the Sang Junior Golf among other things,
and continues to be active and continues to work hard
after this many years. And there's people like a good
friend of mine and business partner, Jeff Johnson, both as
golf professional year Section president all those kinds of things.
(27:34):
And Scott Bentley who was now in Arizona, who is
outstanding player, played in the number of PGA championships and
was Player of the Year for the section a couple
of times, and that kind of stuff. So there's so
many that are that, and even those who are not
(27:55):
PG professionals. There's a guy up north by the name
of Eric Peterson who I think he was like national
salesperson for ISAAC or something like that, and has done
extremely well. So that there's all those individuals who we
remain in touch and still love each other as much
(28:18):
as when we were together. And I'm most proud of
how many of them have exhibited, exhibited themselves as leaders,
and you know, whether it's being named golf Professional of
the Year, or whether it's being section president or chapter
president or Nicki gatch who's the current executive director of
(28:42):
the Southern CALPGA. She was president of the Southern California
Golf Association, not only the first PGA member to be so,
but the first woman to be so. As an example,
and it just continues and and the sense of pride
(29:02):
that is just unbelievable that that I have for for
all of these.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
People, Right, It's interesting.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
It's interesting you say that the non PGA part of
it is also like I've got I have a young
man that worked for me that that went on to
be a technical writer for Google. I have a young
man who's who's a speaker, Who's who's the who's the
who is the the the press secretary for Health and
Human Services, Department of Health and Human Service in Washington, DC,
(29:31):
Like like and and it's like it's like what that
I have. All I ever try to do is give
them the show up for work on time and show them
how important it was to be at work on time,
you know what I mean? Like I was never going
to teach him anything about that. But like it's it's
fascinating to me how many lives we can affect, even
if they are not in the golf business. No, because again,
(29:52):
the golf business is so very unique and and it's
just it's just you get you get to see people,
you know it weird times a day, and and and
we'd and weirdly stressful situations that we actually volunteer to
be in, you know what I mean, like pretty stressful
one and thirty plus mounting, it really is. But you
(30:13):
get you get this opportunity to kind of show people
how to how to kind of like be be like
the duck, you know, like paddle like how underneath the water.
But on top you're just kind of like, hey, this
is all cool. It's another another day, another day in paradise.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
And it's a great thing about about it. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Yeah, there's more so and the and.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
And the people you get to touch because of that.
You know, it's whether whether you're a merchandiser, whether you're
a golf instructor coach, whatever you do, that you you
you have the opportunity to be with all of these
great individuals, uh and and share your not only your time,
but your profession with them, and that's that's that's what
(30:56):
I think is one of the premiere things that that
we deal with is those friendships, those associations, and that opportunity.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Anyway, all right, perfect, absolutely perfect, Okay, So now at
the end. Now we're at the end of this segment.
So what's going to happen is after this commercial break,
we're going to talk about your your experiences and and
your efforts on the governance level in a a section
level as well as a national level, because obviously you
(31:29):
ascended to be president president of the PGA of America. So, uh,
this is the Rich Combo Golf Show. Welcome back to
the Rich Combo Golf Show. We are in a really really,
really cool discussion with Tom Addis. Tom is a PGA professional.
He's been one for either fifteen minutes or fifty three years.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
It's up there. It's up to which.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Day he decides to announce that. But and Tom has
kind of walked us through his career year and his
efforts and awesome efforts and his awesome legacy of people
who have worked for him and and in the golf
business and out of the golf business. And but one
of the things that while doing all of those wonderful
(32:16):
things that he was doing at his facility and in
making those positive impacts and all those worlds, is Tom
actually found the energy, the time, and the passion to
throw himself into governance of not only at the section level,
(32:38):
but the national level too. So Tom, I'm going to
ask you. We started obviously he started the section level,
right because you talked about San Diego, and then you're
in the chapter and then you got into the section governance,
so so let's start there. So so what what was
the first steps into that that you that you remember.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Yeah, I was, as I mentioned earlier, one of the
section board about seventy four, and I got into leader
of executive leadership pretty quickly. I was secretary in seventy
eight and seventy nine of the section, then president eighty
through eighty two and the Southern California PGA, and worked
(33:20):
with so many outstanding people. And at the same time,
I was able to become involved with and was an
instructor with those old PGA business schools that we mentioned
earlier in the program. And I was an instructor from
seventy four through ninety so pretty nice run there, and
(33:41):
the opportunity to do that. I instructed with rules, I
instructed the constitution, I did golf operations, all of those
kinds of things in the business schools. And of course
one of the great things about that is you get
to meet so many people. I have met you if
I was on the East Coast, probably, and the friendships
(34:05):
you developed from back then. I'm still friends with many people,
many of the instructors. Good example is Ken Lindsay, who
was president right after me, and he was kind of
my rules mentor. Because I get involved with rules, ended
up on the PGA of America Rules Committee in eighty
six through ninety one. I taught PGA USGA Rules of
(34:27):
Golf workshops, so I was honored to do that as
well as I served as vice chair of the PGA
of America Rules Committee. So the opportunity to do all
of that created this high interest for me. I went
on the Board of Directors of the pg of America
thanks to my section, again with all of the mentors
(34:48):
there and all of the leadership in Southern California at
that time, Bob Lovejoy and Perry Dickey and Bill Holbert
and Andy Tooney and all those individuals who kind of
led the way and helped and helped Tom Sargent and
helped go that way. Ron O'Connor is our executive director
(35:08):
who just recently passed Untilbrary first, he was eighty seven
years old and one of my mentors. But that helped
me get involved and headed to the PGA of America
Board of Directors. I ran for office in eighty eight
after a number of individuals helping me do so to speak,
(35:33):
and in the eighty eight meeting I ran against Gary Shaw,
who was president just before me, which means obviously he
beat me in the election. And that election was interesting
because we tied for four ballots, and these ballots back
then were handwritten ballots that you had to collect and
(35:56):
count one by one, and we had we had three ties, unbelievably,
and people changed their votes and we still tied. And
then on the fourth ballot, Gary out shown me in
some things and he ended up winning the election by
(36:17):
a couple of votes. So I didn't leave it alone.
I was very, very saddened by the loss. I didn't
know what I wanted to do with My wife, Susan
encouraged me, as she always has, says Tom you know,
you've got to keep going. The membership wants you and
(36:38):
and need you. So I did and ran again in
nineteen ninety with Ken Lindsey and ended up winning the
end of ninety and took office then and served two
years as secretary as we do, two years as vice president,
four in ninety three and ninety four, and then my
presidency was ninety five and ninety six. And greatest experience
(37:00):
you ever have. The Rules committee and being a board member,
getting to go to the Ryder Cup, doing the PGA Championships,
and having the opportunity as I mentioned earlier, may have
mentioned that as a member of the rules Committee and
as an officer being certified in the rules, we were
able to do rules. I was on the tournament committee
(37:21):
at Augusta for eight years. Wonderful experience. Yeah, was able
to be on the RNA Rules Committee for the Open Championship.
In fact, Ken Lindsey and I the RNA Rules Committee
used to wear these red flowers that would designate you
(37:41):
as a rules person for the RNA at the Open Championship,
and we were the first to be able to wear
those as PGA members back in the early nineties. And
of course wear those with pride, and to be able
to walk with the groups in the Open Championship and
(38:02):
we were signed most of the time to the final groups,
not the final group, but the penultimate and then the
one behind that, and so to do that rich is
just extraordinary. And that's you know, to meet all the
people around the world, to the USGA presidents and become
(38:22):
friends with with those those highly interested individuals, and to
be able to share time and share strategies and stuff
like that. That's what when you're an officer, when you're
on the board, when you're an officer of the PGA,
those are the kind of things that are really meaningful.
To be able to to be able to have the
(38:46):
opportunity impact to like change the business schools, for example,
the business school change from when when you and I
did it on the week long schools to say hey
this we need some consistency. And I was able to
work with I don't know if you remember, a gentleman
by the name of Joe O'Brien, and then there was
Jan Gilpin who the schools, and we worked together to
(39:12):
to change the program to what we then called the
g p TP Golf Professional Training Program, and that was
the idea to have more consistent programming, more consistent conversations
through the school. So you didn't have Tom Addis come
(39:32):
in one day and express this or pat Riley come
in the next day and express that.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Right. It basically formalized the curriculum. You formalized the exactly
exactly better than kid from the kid from Hawaii was
going to hear the same information as the kid from.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
Exactly and so that that led to the current program,
the PGM program. So, uh, that was probably a pretty
impactful thing that we did at the time that that
has a sense of pride. But being a board member
or being an officer of the PGA, those are the
things that that are really important to get, especially for
(40:15):
the membership and then other things, and that not a
lot of people know that. With Golf for the Disabled
or or adaptive golf as we call it today, whether
it was working with the National Amputee Association, we were
the We were the individuals who worked with the Special
(40:36):
Olympics to let golf become an official sport of the
Special Olympic Games. Uh. For example, Joe O'Brien and I
met and I'm not bragging, I'm just saying this is
these are the fact the nice things that we're able
to do. UH met with the Shrivers in Washington, d C.
And expressed the importance of a hand see especially And
(41:01):
so it ended up being. In ninety five at the
Games in Connecticut, golf was introduced as the UH as
an official sport. So pretty cool stuff there that that
you're able to get done and you're able to participate.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
UH.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
And it's very exciting and it's something that you always
recall and always remember.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
All right, So I'll tell you what before we get
back into that. I want I want your best rules story.
It's gotta have a famous people person in that. You
know that.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Well, yeah, I have a couple, but they're pretty long.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
Who was who was the most? Who is the most
Who is the easiest person to get along with as
far as rules are concerned.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
As far as a player, yeah, oh gosh, oh, there
was a bunch of them. But I do have I
do have a story with Jack Nicholas. It'll take more
than thirty seconds. I hope you're okay. It was the
eighty seven PGA at PGA National and I was assigned
(42:13):
I was assigned the eighteenth pole all week, which is
a great golf hole. Back then, it's not too much
different than it is today. But they all they had
that floating scoreboard out there. I don't know if anybody remembers.
Saturday night and Jack was coming up. And one thing,
(42:36):
back then, when you're on the rolls committee, you still
had to wear a coat and tie, and we at
that time had these plaid wool jackets. They were red
and black plaid or something like that, and we had
to wear these things. And it's Palm Beach Gardens in
August and I'm allady, he drenched, and Jack Nicholas is
(43:02):
coming up and I'm behind the green. I decided to
take my place behind the green because it's there's some
shade there. For one thing, he hits it over in
the He hits it over the green in the water
on the right hand side. I don't know if you've
been there or not, but it's it's in the hazard
but it's sitting up on a piece of grass or something.
(43:23):
But he's gonna have to stand in the water, so
he he walks up and I kind of go to
the side. You know, you never want to impose yourself
as a Roles official. And he comes in. Is what
was his caddy's name back then?
Speaker 3 (43:35):
I r GA, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
With the big hair and all that. Yeah, good guy,
nice person. And anyway, so I'm standing in the back
and mister Nicholas starts looking around and asks his caddy
what I need a rolls official. So the caddy turns around,
is there are rules? Is so great me? So I
(44:05):
walk over there and I go, yes, sir, how can
I be of help? You know, the same old line,
What do I do? I said, my ball's here in
the hazard. I don't I think I can play it,
but I don't know what to do. And right away
I'm thinking, okay, and I know mister Nicholas now, and
we're friends, and and I love the guy and what
(44:27):
he's done and everything. He says, I need to know
what to do, but I think right away he's playing me.
And so I said, well, here's your options. He says,
I don't want to hear the options. He's he actually
says that, And and I know we're on TV now,
and and now my tie, which is even more wet
(44:48):
than it was before because of my nervousness. He says, I,
I don't want to know you tell me what I
need to do. I said, mister Nicholas, I.
Speaker 3 (44:57):
Can't do that.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
I said, you can play the shot obviously, Well, I'll
get my feet all way. Blah blah blah. Said okay,
here's your options. Then you can take two club lengths
and blah blah blah. You know, I gave him all
the options. He says, I don't know. He said, maybe
I will play it. This is taking hours, as you
might expect, right, which has only taken minutes. He said, well,
(45:21):
maybe I'll play it, But what if I do? What
do I do if I leave it in here? He's
just going down the line And I said, well, and
I went through the options again, and he said, okay,
I'm going to drop And so he comes over and
he said, okay, if I drop here, the ball is
going to go back into the hazard. And I'm saying,
(45:42):
oh man, So anyway, I said, mister Nicholas, here's what
happens in that case. If the ball rolls back into
the hazard, we'll redrop it. And if it rolls in
the hazard again, you are going to place it at
the spot where it last hit the ground. Okay. So
he gets his club and he's going to play it.
(46:03):
He says, mister rules committee, come here please. He says,
what if it if it rolls back into the hazard
from here again? I said, oh crap. So if I said, Okay,
here's what's going to happen. If you cause it to move,
you're going to play it all over again as it lies.
If it moves accidentally, then you're going to replace it. Okay, fine,
(46:26):
long story short. We finally he finally hits the shot.
We got either, but that was probably the most intense
nervous I've ever been giving it a ruling. Yeah, because
it was him.
Speaker 1 (46:38):
Of course, it's fun It's funny because it's the best
player who ever lived, and he's look at you, tell
me what to do. I can't tell you what to do.
I can't tell you what to do. I'm not.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
That's not my job to tell you what to do.
It's my job to tell you what your options are.
But after that, you get to pick options. Man, This
is like a multiple choice test. You go ABCD man
that you.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
Pick there was who is the guy whould beat Tiger
in the playoffs?
Speaker 3 (47:03):
Ed?
Speaker 2 (47:04):
What was his last name? We're at the eighty eight
Championship at oak Tree. It's the ball. I think it's
the second ball I can't remember now into the water
hazard and it's a regular water hazard and he wants
to take lateral water hazard relief. And I say, okay,
(47:25):
mister ed you have here's your option, go back to
where you get it from, or keep this point between
you and the hole and go back on that line,
which he'd have to it across the water. He said no,
I want to go on the other side. And I
even pulled out the rouleu. I said no, and this
is taking forever. And so I finally said, here's what
your options are. This is what you're going to do.
(47:46):
He says, there a second opinion. Ken Lindsay, who at
the time was the chairman, happened to be there and
came over and what can I do? Mister Addis is great,
here's what you do the rollbook blah blah blah, and
Ed asked is there a appeals committee? And Ken goes yes,
who's on the appeals committee? He had the name names,
(48:09):
and he says, are you on their appeals committee? And
Ken goes yes. He said, well, I'll go ahead and
play this. But those kinds of situations make it interesting,
all right.
Speaker 1 (48:20):
So Tom you, first of all, congratulations on an incredible career,
flat out an incredible career. Number one, but number two,
thanks for hanging out with me for fifty three fifty
four minutes and it was just just awesome to just
to hear your story and anytime. Thanks, thank you very much.
This has been the mitchicom Wall Golf Show.
Welcome to the Rich Konwall Golf Show. Tom for my
guest this week. I am very very very fortunate to
have former PGA of America President, the President of the
PGA of America, Tom Addis on and Tom is a
I'm not going to tell you how old he is,
but Tom has much experience in this golf business, and
(00:24):
he has much experience in governance, and he has much
knowledge in the world of golf. So Tom, first off,
thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Rich, thank you, and give you an idea I've been
in I've been a PGA member now for fifty three
years and I've been in governance for fifty one years,
just so you know how old I am.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
All right, So effectively, you should be getting pretty good
at both those things by now, right, because you've been
doing them for fifty years, So we should be getting
better at him right.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Well, now that I'm retired, I can say that, yees.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
All right? So what we do with everybody? Tom? As
we go back? So tell me how you started in
this game. How you first got introduced to this awesome game.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, And first of all, Rich, thanks very much for
allowing me to be here and have the opportunity and
honor to talk with you, that's great, and to many
other golf friendly people, so that's cool. I probably have
a typical story in regarding in regards to starting in golf,
(01:28):
and that's my father, who was also a PGA member.
He passed away a few years ago, but it was
actually in a place called Fresno, California, which is central California,
and he was after being a turkey farmer and an
insurance person, he went to Ohio State, moved out here
(01:50):
and he got into the golf business first in nineteen
fifty five at a place called Fresno Airways golf Course.
And the typical story is he started. And one story
I like to tell this be brief, is we lived
behind the golf course and presnow airways. Literally the Fresno
Airport was there and still is. The golf course, I
(02:13):
believe was all they've talked about closing it. It was
an at and hole parse sixty nine municipal golf course.
We lived down the road and we lived in farmland
and my father cut off a seven iron like they do,
and I would go out and he would tell me
to go out, and I would hit dirt clods in
the plowed field, and that's how I started. And then
(02:37):
caddying at Fresnow Airways and we'd do our caddy round,
get our dollar ten, go in and buy our Delaware punch,
and then we'd go out and play ourselves at ten
years eleven years old. So that's how I got started.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Wow, I did not know your father first off, was
a PGA professional. Second, I didn't know he went to
that's the Ohio State University.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
You know that, right, he did?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Guy, I'm sorry I forgot that. Yeah, because.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Graduates of the Ohio State University, so they have to, Yeah,
they have to make sure that, you know, be as
pretentious as they possibly can when.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
That's absolutely and the university deserves.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
It, that's exactly right.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
So it's off there two years. So anyway, sorry Rich, Wow, So.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
That's so so Actually, so we could say that Nicholas
followed in your father's footsteps, right, Jack, Jack, Nicholas, John
Tom Wi stuff, they all put Joey Sindelo, they all
followed in your father's footsteps.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
See, and he would love to hear that.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
So okay, so you know you're knocking around plowed fields,
you're knocking around dirt Clauds. But as you get a
little bit older, obviously being molded by your father, you're
gonna you're going to start to play actually very well, okay,
because you can say what you want, but you're a
good player. So how did you become how'd you become that?
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Well, it's interesting. You know, I don't play golf anymore.
I have a bad hit and and I can't play.
So but yeah, back in the day, as the old
saying goes, I played a lot of junior golf in
northern California. Wasn't great, but it was halfway decent. Played
with individuals like Bobby Lunn and Ron Cerudo, and great
(04:30):
players like Dick Lotts John Watts who had some success
on the PGA Tour. And so I learned and grew
up around those those individual players and had a good time.
And I played my college golf. I only played a
year at a place called Grossmont College down near San Diego,
(04:53):
but played a lot of junior golf and a lot
of golf with with some great individuals. My dad ended
up being pro professional at the Hayward Golf Course, which
is in the San Francisco Bay area. He left presno
airways and went to Madera golf course Madera Country Club
just north of Fresno, and that's where I actually started
(05:15):
working in the golf business. I worked with my dad
at Madera Country Club besides the caddy and airways of course,
and my first job, and I got paid a dollar
an hour. My first job, we planted these oleanders that
went up the driveway to the clubhouse from Avenue twenty
(05:37):
four whatever the street was out there, and my job
was to make sure those stayed alive. So I watered
those every day for my dollar an hour. I also
did a few other things around around, but that was
my primary responsibility. That was my first job. And interestingly enough,
a couple of years ago, my wife Susan and I
(05:59):
drove through Madera and I decided to drive over to
the country club, which is still there, because this was
nineteen fifty seven, and I'm fingers crossed that the only
anders are still the hedge leading up to the clubhouse
and we get there and certain they certainly were. So
(06:20):
I had a very strong sense of pride that my
only anders were still there some what seventy eighty years later,
So it's pretty cool, pretty cool, yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
So there's the first step in your legacy right there.
You actually the things that are still there. They're still there.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Yep, yep, that's cure, that's neat.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
So how long would you work for your dad?
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Well, there was Madera where I went to elementary school. Course,
then we moved to a place called Hayward Hayward Golf Club,
which was another MUNI up in the Bay area. Hayward's
on the map is just north of santase and south
of Lokland, kind of right in the middle there, and
it was an eighteen hole golf course, very busy. That's
(07:04):
where I really started playing seriously, or at least thought
I was playing seriously and played with all these individuals
in junior golf. And my dad was there until nineteen
sixty four and he moved back down to San Diego.
I stayed. I graduated high school nineteen sixty three from
(07:27):
James Logan High School. I played golf there and went
to a year at Foothill College and then ended up
following my father moving to San Diego. And that's where
I ended up at Grossmont College and I did play
golf there and my dad was at a part of
three golf course called Sun Valley, and I was helping
(07:52):
him and he left and went he was part owner.
He left and went up to build a golf course
in Frisno, and I stayed on as the head golf
professional there at with my wife. That was one reason
that I left school is we ran off and got
married and so I ended up not going back to
(08:14):
school and went into the golf business and enjoyed it
ever since.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
That's crazy. So okay, So you are in charge. You
are the head professional at what age.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Let's see, that was nineteen sixty six, so I was born,
so I was twenty one, but I couldn't get in
the PGA at Sun Valley. Back then, the PGA didn't
have the what's now called the associate program, and so
I needed to work for a class APGA professional. But
(08:53):
I did a lot of good stuff at Sun Valley,
enjoyed it. I have you know the old story about
doing everything I would. It was a night light range
and we had to close the golf course at a
certain time to allow the range to open because it
was a nine hole Part three, really good part three
of course, and my wife and I operated that from
(09:14):
literally from dawn to midnight and she had the snack bar. Unfortunately,
the snack bar was next to the muni pool. So
we did fairly well with gum drops and life savers
and hot dogs and those kinds of things. Yeah, that's
for sure. And back then somebody might remember, You won't
(09:37):
because you're too young. They had a thing called Stuart
Infrared and some of the older professional people might remember this,
but it was it was literally an infrared oven like
an aluminum case. You'd open the door and you had
these these sandwiches that were pre made and you'd put
(10:00):
with them in the You'd cut open the little cellophane
deal and you'd put the sandwiches like a hot dog
inside the Steward infrared oven and turn it on three
minutes ding ding, pull out your freshly cooked hot dog
and hand it with mustard and everything to the customer.
So anyway, that's what we did. We did fairly well.
(10:20):
She did very well with that. But we would stay
there and I would literally and this is my trekking
up hill with the mail on my back in a snowstorm.
I would get there at four point thirty in the
morning and I would mow greens. I'd set the holes,
(10:40):
do that kind of stuff. I have a We're lucky
had a person in coming on. His name was Reynolds Garren,
who had come in at eight, work till noon, so
I could still continue to do stuff, and then we
would we would close the golf course, the rains set up.
(11:01):
We had to cover the first green because we didn't
want balls landing on the putting green and making permanent holes.
So I'd go out and put a piece of canvas
on the putting green. We'd run the rains till ten.
I'd pick up the balls literally because it was a
hilly place and I had to pick them up by hand.
(11:23):
Keep in mind, this is sixty six and sixty seven, okay. Anyway,
I'd get home at midnight, I'd get back up at four,
go back out there and do it all over again.
I only lasted about six months doing that before we
hired somebody to work on the golf course. But anyway,
that's how I got started. I think that's why I
appreciate my father in this business so much, is having
(11:46):
that start and not being able to get into the PGA.
And that's when I went to a place called Singing Hills,
which is a fifty four hole resort outside of San Diego,
working for a gentleman by the name of Laddie Drake.
So I was able to register then as a PGA
(12:07):
Back then they were called we just registered. I think
it was I can't remember, to be honest with you,
as an assistant golf professional later on. I don't know
if you are old enough PGA member to remember this. Well.
We had title classifications. You had head professional, you had
associate professional, I thinks to what it was called. And
(12:29):
so I applied for pg membership, but Laddie Drake ended
up leaving Singing Hills, so here I was again. He
left an ape with that he was right, yeah, and
we didn't have the again, the apprentice or associate program then,
so I was out of luck again. Unfortunately, one of
(12:50):
my mentors, pat Riley, and people might remember Pat as
PG president in eighty nine and ninety he helped the
PGA change the rules and established the apprentice program. So
I was able to reregister, did my pat. And back
(13:11):
then we had the day long business schools. I don't
know when you became a PGA member, but we used
to have these programs called PGA Business schools where you
go to a school for a week, take a test
at the end of the week. And that's what I did,
and I went to.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Membership in Philadelphia.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I went to Naples, Florida for one and for school
one and then Philadelphia for school too.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
All right, because it's uh. And then there's a story
later on about the business schools too that based on
the questions I think you're going to ask, or what
I wanted to talk about the change in the business schools.
So anyway, I did my business schools. So I've got
my PGA membership and here we are. So that was
September nineteen seventy.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Too, So so you were actually you were actually kind
of on the ground floor with the whole changing all
that with Tom Riley. With pat Riley, yes, Patroll, excuse me,
a friend of mine, Tom Raley, but yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
He happened to be. Yeah, he was on the board
at the time, or no, he was on the board later,
but he he he was on the apprentice committee at
the time and the education committee and champion the new
the new opportunity for apprentices back then.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Yeah. Wow, so yeah, this is yeah, this is a
this is a serious flashback. This is a serious flashback.
This is cool stuff.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
So that is so.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Then so then you so then you get you you
go through your PAT and that's the old school pat,
which was thirty six holes and we're not super scoring anything,
and you got to do it all one day, and.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
You had a PJ professional to go with you. A
guy named Alan Cook was my PGA professional who monitored
my pat at the time, I shot one forty eight,
so I didn't have a problem and and he had
to suffer through the thirty six holes with me.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
And then the school one school too. And then they
grant you that that sportty little uh moniker that you
are now a PGA professional.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Correct, that's correct, yep, Okay.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
So when we come back from this commercial break, we
are going to start talking about how you how you
utilized that newly minted PGA professional okay, and the certification
not certification but classification, and then we are going to
start talking about how you expanded your career. This is
the rich com Woll Golf Show. Welcome back to the
(15:52):
rich Comonoll Golf Show. We are joined this week by
Tom Addis. Tom is a PGA professional and he is
also a former president of the PGA of America. But
right now, where we left off in Tom's story is
he just obtained his his class A certification from the
(16:14):
PGA of America, and he actually was kind of on
the front edge of the changing of the education process
and obtaining for assistants or apprentices or young professionals to
obtain their membership. So all right, Tom, so you're newly minted,
So now what do we do?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Yeah, that's that's newly minted. And I still thought I
could play golf. But then but then I looked at
the people who I played with, going back to junior
golf for example, and the people like Ron Serruda and
Boblin and who were on the tour, Dick Lots, and
(16:59):
you know, I couldn't beat them in junior golf, So
why did I think that I could beat them by
going out on the tour. So I kind of changed
my focus and became a club professional, so to speak.
And I was lucky. I was at a place called
Singing Hills, as I mentioned before, a fifty four old
(17:21):
golf resort just outside of San Diego, and we had
two regulation courses and an executive then an executive course.
It was a part sixty one, so it had part
fours on it and extremely busy. And that's where I started.
(17:42):
And that's also as soon as I got as soon
as I was elected in the PGA membership, I continued
playing in local events and that kind of stuff. And
then I want to say, the PGA chapter San Diego
Chapter recruited me to the board. So I went on
the chapter board. This is I believe seventy three and
(18:07):
I became tournament chairman. And that's how I first got involved.
Went on the section board of directors in nineteen seventy four.
But I was lucky to be involved with the San
Diego PGA and get my start in PGA governance that way.
After being Singing Hills. I was Singing Hills from nineteen
(18:28):
sixty seven through nineteen ninety eight, and I left Singing
Hills for an opportunity out of state that failed miserably,
excuse me, and moved back in two thousand and did
my own company until twenty six and that's when I
(18:51):
took the job. I don't know if you knew this
or not. I was the executive director of CEO of
the Southern California Section through twenty two two and then
two more years and in emeritus through twenty four. So
that's what I did career wise. But Singing Hills, you know,
of course the most impact thirty one years, fifty four holes,
hugely popular golf course. We were the leader in outing
(19:17):
slash tournaments in all of southern California, very innovative. We
focused a lot on women's programs at Singing Hills. For example,
we did two years we did in nineteen seventy and
I'm going back aways here and in nineteen seventy four
(19:37):
women's that are collegiate, which was then called the AIAW
before in seventy five, I think that's when they changed
at the NCAA. We did two of those, which was
really great, and that was kind of my nineteen seventy
was kind of my intro into one of my other loves,
and that was the rules of golf. But we did
(19:59):
two US Junior Championships at Singing Hill seventy three and
eighty nine. Jack Rinner won in seventy three and David
Duvall in eighty nine, so we're lucky to do that.
And then we continued to do great programs, especially programs
for women. We did a collegiates, event called Lady Aztec
(20:21):
and many other activities, school of Golf for women. Our
golf shop was very popular. We were one of the
first million dollar golf shops around other thanry Pines and
a couple of other places. So very busy we did.
At one time we did almost two hundred and fifty
thousand rounds of a year on the three golf courses.
(20:44):
That was in the eighties. So pretty busy place, a
wonderful place. And we're two of my main mentors. And
have to mention them because they owned the golf course
and really we're supportive of everything that I did in
golf and at the club. Probably should have reversed that.
Steve Harrel and Jerry Hollingsworth, and they've both deceased at
(21:07):
this time, are now and uh, but they were. They
were the keys to to my job, my success, my
family's success. Uh, And I still love them for that,
So I need to mention that.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah, So you know what, I'm not gonna let you
off the hook here. You know, I knew a decent
amount about your experience there, but you're downplaying how well
you did all that. You really are because I'll tell
you I've talked to some people, and I've done a
little little investigation. I don't do it. I don't do
(21:45):
a ton of research papers anymore. Once I left college,
I was done with those. But yeah, I gotta tell
you you you you you're the real deal, man, you are,
You're the real deal.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Thanks, And and that's.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
That's that's been good. You know, it's it's good. Golf
is good, as they say, and and this business and
the PGA and and you you know, all of our members.
It's just there's nothing like it. I'm dead serious when
I shouldn't say that. I'm very serious when I say that,
because it's it's my whole deal. It's Susan, my wife's
(22:18):
old deal. We were so disappointed when when we couldn't
go to the PGA Championship up in your world today
yesterday and and and see everybody. But no, there's nothing
like it. It's uh, I think about that. And we
owned two other businesses in a place called Mammoth Lakes
up here in California. We owned two chocolate retail chocolate
(22:41):
stores up there. And we love Mammoth, We love we
used to love skiing. But the golf business, there's something
about it and uh and it was everything as that
at Singing Hills. Thanks again to Steve Herrel, Jerry Hallinsworth,
the great individuals we had as team members there who
(23:02):
are still around and I still communicate with and still
love uh being with today. All good.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Yeah, So yeah, and I gotta tell you something. So
so I'm going to give you a chance now. And
I know I'm not going to try to. I'm not
going to pin you down to you know, because I
know you'll forget somebody. But you've had, You've had many, many,
many assistants that are very very very successful.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Yes, yeah, and and.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
You know, and I know you know, I always ask
you know, I always ask you no, very very very
highly qualified, highly accomplished PGA professionals like what their greatest
impact or what they're proudest of in the in their
in their job job, not their governance job, which we'll
talk about a little bit later, but but their governance role.
(23:53):
But but like and and to a person, every one
of them says, I'm proud of the people that worked
for me and what they went and did with their jobs,
you know, and and and Ford and and and Bob
Ford SAI at the best. He's like, you know, the
best thing about all all the guys that have worked
for me is that I there's some really great places
(24:15):
I get to go play for free. Yeah, and which
which is funny, but but but it's true. But the
fact of the matter is is that he walks on
that property and those guys still know that the debt
of gratitude that that they hold for him. And and
I know that you have several that that should that
(24:36):
do and and rightfully so hold a debt of gratitude
to you for looking at them maybe one day and
saying don't ever do that again, or go do more
of that again, you know, And and and that's that's
you know, I've had two two one really in my
career that that that was the most impactful thing he
(24:59):
ever said to me, is don't do that again and
do more of that again.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Yeah, And and so you know, I agree.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
I just think it's incredible the legacy of professionals that
you've had. And you've may turn out guys that have
had solid PGA of America or awesome pg of America careers.
So that's a that's it's a credit to you.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Well say, around the country, you know there's there's a
lot of of PGA professional slash mentors like Bob Ford,
who is a good friend of mine, and I think
that's I've heard I've heard that line before and it's
just when I first heard it. I would have never
expected Bob Ford to say that, ever, But when you
take it, has he meant it is? Uh in a
(25:49):
in a humorous approach. Uh, Then that's Bob Ford, that
dry sense of him. I think Bob is the consummate
golf professional PG golf professional, I think, and that shows
with how he's still involved in how the USGAS got
him to do and be and be active. I think
(26:12):
it's tremendous. But anyway, Uh yeah, I think it's an
honor and it's very emotional. I still get emotional when
I'm around a lot of our former team members and
staff and good friends. Everybody's been good friends, Signey Hills
(26:33):
we had. I don't really don't know how many have
gone on to be UH PGA professional class, as I
know a number of our former staff or current staff
have have been rewarded in many ways. I can think
(26:53):
of our current UH some of the California PGA Golf
Professional the year Holly Williams Holly Kennedy now excuse me.
She was Holly Williams when she started with us at
Singing Elf in nineteen ninety six. And Holly owns her
own golf course with her husband. She's she's president and
(27:13):
been president of the Sang Junior Golf among other things,
and continues to be active and continues to work hard
after this many years. And there's people like a good
friend of mine and business partner, Jeff Johnson, both as
golf professional year Section president all those kinds of things.
(27:34):
And Scott Bentley who was now in Arizona, who is
outstanding player, played in the number of PGA championships and
was Player of the Year for the section a couple
of times, and that kind of stuff. So there's so
many that are that, and even those who are not
(27:55):
PG professionals. There's a guy up north by the name
of Eric Peterson who I think he was like national
salesperson for ISAAC or something like that, and has done
extremely well. So that there's all those individuals who we
remain in touch and still love each other as much
(28:18):
as when we were together. And I'm most proud of
how many of them have exhibited, exhibited themselves as leaders,
and you know, whether it's being named golf Professional of
the Year, or whether it's being section president or chapter
president or Nicki gatch who's the current executive director of
(28:42):
the Southern CALPGA. She was president of the Southern California
Golf Association, not only the first PGA member to be so,
but the first woman to be so. As an example,
and it just continues and and the sense of pride
(29:02):
that is just unbelievable that that I have for for
all of these.
Speaker 3 (29:07):
People, Right, It's interesting.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
It's interesting you say that the non PGA part of
it is also like I've got I have a young
man that worked for me that that went on to
be a technical writer for Google. I have a young
man who's who's a speaker, Who's who's the who's the
who is the the the press secretary for Health and
Human Services, Department of Health and Human Service in Washington, DC,
(29:31):
Like like and and it's like it's like what that
I have. All I ever try to do is give
them the show up for work on time and show them
how important it was to be at work on time,
you know what I mean? Like I was never going
to teach him anything about that. But like it's it's
fascinating to me how many lives we can affect, even
if they are not in the golf business. No, because again,
(29:52):
the golf business is so very unique and and it's
just it's just you get you get to see people,
you know it weird times a day, and and and
we'd and weirdly stressful situations that we actually volunteer to
be in, you know what I mean, like pretty stressful
one and thirty plus mounting, it really is. But you
(30:13):
get you get this opportunity to kind of show people
how to how to kind of like be be like
the duck, you know, like paddle like how underneath the water.
But on top you're just kind of like, hey, this
is all cool. It's another another day, another day in paradise.
Speaker 2 (30:28):
And it's a great thing about about it. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
Yeah, there's more so and the and.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
And the people you get to touch because of that.
You know, it's whether whether you're a merchandiser, whether you're
a golf instructor coach, whatever you do, that you you
you have the opportunity to be with all of these
great individuals, uh and and share your not only your time,
but your profession with them, and that's that's that's what
(30:56):
I think is one of the premiere things that that
we deal with is those friendships, those associations, and that opportunity.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Anyway, all right, perfect, absolutely perfect, Okay, So now at
the end. Now we're at the end of this segment.
So what's going to happen is after this commercial break,
we're going to talk about your your experiences and and
your efforts on the governance level in a a section
level as well as a national level, because obviously you
(31:29):
ascended to be president president of the PGA of America. So, uh,
this is the Rich Combo Golf Show. Welcome back to
the Rich Combo Golf Show. We are in a really really,
really cool discussion with Tom Addis. Tom is a PGA professional.
He's been one for either fifteen minutes or fifty three years.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
It's up there. It's up to which.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
Day he decides to announce that. But and Tom has
kind of walked us through his career year and his
efforts and awesome efforts and his awesome legacy of people
who have worked for him and and in the golf
business and out of the golf business. And but one
of the things that while doing all of those wonderful
(32:16):
things that he was doing at his facility and in
making those positive impacts and all those worlds, is Tom
actually found the energy, the time, and the passion to
throw himself into governance of not only at the section level,
(32:38):
but the national level too. So Tom, I'm going to
ask you. We started obviously he started the section level,
right because you talked about San Diego, and then you're
in the chapter and then you got into the section governance,
so so let's start there. So so what what was
the first steps into that that you that you remember.
Speaker 2 (32:57):
Yeah, I was, as I mentioned earlier, one of the
section board about seventy four, and I got into leader
of executive leadership pretty quickly. I was secretary in seventy
eight and seventy nine of the section, then president eighty
through eighty two and the Southern California PGA, and worked
(33:20):
with so many outstanding people. And at the same time,
I was able to become involved with and was an
instructor with those old PGA business schools that we mentioned
earlier in the program. And I was an instructor from
seventy four through ninety so pretty nice run there, and
(33:41):
the opportunity to do that. I instructed with rules, I
instructed the constitution, I did golf operations, all of those
kinds of things in the business schools. And of course
one of the great things about that is you get
to meet so many people. I have met you if
I was on the East Coast, probably, and the friendships
(34:05):
you developed from back then. I'm still friends with many people,
many of the instructors. Good example is Ken Lindsay, who
was president right after me, and he was kind of
my rules mentor. Because I get involved with rules, ended
up on the PGA of America Rules Committee in eighty
six through ninety one. I taught PGA USGA Rules of
(34:27):
Golf workshops, so I was honored to do that as
well as I served as vice chair of the PGA
of America Rules Committee. So the opportunity to do all
of that created this high interest for me. I went
on the Board of Directors of the pg of America
thanks to my section, again with all of the mentors
(34:48):
there and all of the leadership in Southern California at
that time, Bob Lovejoy and Perry Dickey and Bill Holbert
and Andy Tooney and all those individuals who kind of
led the way and helped and helped Tom Sargent and
helped go that way. Ron O'Connor is our executive director
(35:08):
who just recently passed Untilbrary first, he was eighty seven
years old and one of my mentors. But that helped
me get involved and headed to the PGA of America
Board of Directors. I ran for office in eighty eight
after a number of individuals helping me do so to speak,
(35:33):
and in the eighty eight meeting I ran against Gary Shaw,
who was president just before me, which means obviously he
beat me in the election. And that election was interesting
because we tied for four ballots, and these ballots back
then were handwritten ballots that you had to collect and
(35:56):
count one by one, and we had we had three ties, unbelievably,
and people changed their votes and we still tied. And
then on the fourth ballot, Gary out shown me in
some things and he ended up winning the election by
(36:17):
a couple of votes. So I didn't leave it alone.
I was very, very saddened by the loss. I didn't
know what I wanted to do with My wife, Susan
encouraged me, as she always has, says Tom you know,
you've got to keep going. The membership wants you and
(36:38):
and need you. So I did and ran again in
nineteen ninety with Ken Lindsey and ended up winning the
end of ninety and took office then and served two
years as secretary as we do, two years as vice president,
four in ninety three and ninety four, and then my
presidency was ninety five and ninety six. And greatest experience
(37:00):
you ever have. The Rules committee and being a board member,
getting to go to the Ryder Cup, doing the PGA Championships,
and having the opportunity as I mentioned earlier, may have
mentioned that as a member of the rules Committee and
as an officer being certified in the rules, we were
able to do rules. I was on the tournament committee
(37:21):
at Augusta for eight years. Wonderful experience. Yeah, was able
to be on the RNA Rules Committee for the Open Championship.
In fact, Ken Lindsey and I the RNA Rules Committee
used to wear these red flowers that would designate you
(37:41):
as a rules person for the RNA at the Open Championship,
and we were the first to be able to wear
those as PGA members back in the early nineties. And
of course wear those with pride, and to be able
to walk with the groups in the Open Championship and
(38:02):
we were signed most of the time to the final groups,
not the final group, but the penultimate and then the
one behind that, and so to do that rich is
just extraordinary. And that's you know, to meet all the
people around the world, to the USGA presidents and become
(38:22):
friends with with those those highly interested individuals, and to
be able to share time and share strategies and stuff
like that. That's what when you're an officer, when you're
on the board, when you're an officer of the PGA,
those are the kind of things that are really meaningful.
To be able to to be able to have the
(38:46):
opportunity impact to like change the business schools, for example,
the business school change from when when you and I
did it on the week long schools to say hey
this we need some consistency. And I was able to
work with I don't know if you remember, a gentleman
by the name of Joe O'Brien, and then there was
Jan Gilpin who the schools, and we worked together to
(39:12):
to change the program to what we then called the
g p TP Golf Professional Training Program, and that was
the idea to have more consistent programming, more consistent conversations
through the school. So you didn't have Tom Addis come
(39:32):
in one day and express this or pat Riley come
in the next day and express that.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Right. It basically formalized the curriculum. You formalized the exactly
exactly better than kid from the kid from Hawaii was
going to hear the same information as the kid from.
Speaker 2 (39:51):
Exactly and so that that led to the current program,
the PGM program. So, uh, that was probably a pretty
impactful thing that we did at the time that that
has a sense of pride. But being a board member
or being an officer of the PGA, those are the
things that that are really important to get, especially for
(40:15):
the membership and then other things, and that not a
lot of people know that. With Golf for the Disabled
or or adaptive golf as we call it today, whether
it was working with the National Amputee Association, we were
the We were the individuals who worked with the Special
(40:36):
Olympics to let golf become an official sport of the
Special Olympic Games. Uh. For example, Joe O'Brien and I
met and I'm not bragging, I'm just saying this is
these are the fact the nice things that we're able
to do. UH met with the Shrivers in Washington, d C.
And expressed the importance of a hand see especially And
(41:01):
so it ended up being. In ninety five at the
Games in Connecticut, golf was introduced as the UH as
an official sport. So pretty cool stuff there that that
you're able to get done and you're able to participate.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
UH.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
And it's very exciting and it's something that you always
recall and always remember.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
All right, So I'll tell you what before we get
back into that. I want I want your best rules story.
It's gotta have a famous people person in that. You
know that.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Well, yeah, I have a couple, but they're pretty long.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
Who was who was the most? Who is the most
Who is the easiest person to get along with as
far as rules are concerned.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
As far as a player, yeah, oh gosh, oh, there
was a bunch of them. But I do have I
do have a story with Jack Nicholas. It'll take more
than thirty seconds. I hope you're okay. It was the
eighty seven PGA at PGA National and I was assigned
(42:13):
I was assigned the eighteenth pole all week, which is
a great golf hole. Back then, it's not too much
different than it is today. But they all they had
that floating scoreboard out there. I don't know if anybody remembers.
Saturday night and Jack was coming up. And one thing,
(42:36):
back then, when you're on the rolls committee, you still
had to wear a coat and tie, and we at
that time had these plaid wool jackets. They were red
and black plaid or something like that, and we had
to wear these things. And it's Palm Beach Gardens in
August and I'm allady, he drenched, and Jack Nicholas is
(43:02):
coming up and I'm behind the green. I decided to
take my place behind the green because it's there's some
shade there. For one thing, he hits it over in
the He hits it over the green in the water
on the right hand side. I don't know if you've
been there or not, but it's it's in the hazard
but it's sitting up on a piece of grass or something.
(43:23):
But he's gonna have to stand in the water, so
he he walks up and I kind of go to
the side. You know, you never want to impose yourself
as a Roles official. And he comes in. Is what
was his caddy's name back then?
Speaker 3 (43:35):
I r GA, Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:40):
With the big hair and all that. Yeah, good guy,
nice person. And anyway, so I'm standing in the back
and mister Nicholas starts looking around and asks his caddy
what I need a rolls official. So the caddy turns around,
is there are rules? Is so great me? So I
(44:05):
walk over there and I go, yes, sir, how can
I be of help? You know, the same old line,
What do I do? I said, my ball's here in
the hazard. I don't I think I can play it,
but I don't know what to do. And right away
I'm thinking, okay, and I know mister Nicholas now, and
we're friends, and and I love the guy and what
(44:27):
he's done and everything. He says, I need to know
what to do, but I think right away he's playing me.
And so I said, well, here's your options. He says,
I don't want to hear the options. He's he actually
says that, And and I know we're on TV now,
and and now my tie, which is even more wet
(44:48):
than it was before because of my nervousness. He says, I,
I don't want to know you tell me what I
need to do. I said, mister Nicholas, I.
Speaker 3 (44:57):
Can't do that.
Speaker 2 (44:59):
I said, you can play the shot obviously, Well, I'll
get my feet all way. Blah blah blah. Said okay,
here's your options. Then you can take two club lengths
and blah blah blah. You know, I gave him all
the options. He says, I don't know. He said, maybe
I will play it. This is taking hours, as you
might expect, right, which has only taken minutes. He said, well,
(45:21):
maybe I'll play it, But what if I do? What
do I do if I leave it in here? He's
just going down the line And I said, well, and
I went through the options again, and he said, okay,
I'm going to drop And so he comes over and
he said, okay, if I drop here, the ball is
going to go back into the hazard. And I'm saying,
(45:42):
oh man, So anyway, I said, mister Nicholas, here's what
happens in that case. If the ball rolls back into
the hazard, we'll redrop it. And if it rolls in
the hazard again, you are going to place it at
the spot where it last hit the ground. Okay. So
he gets his club and he's going to play it.
(46:03):
He says, mister rules committee, come here please. He says,
what if it if it rolls back into the hazard
from here again? I said, oh crap. So if I said, Okay,
here's what's going to happen. If you cause it to move,
you're going to play it all over again as it lies.
If it moves accidentally, then you're going to replace it. Okay, fine,
(46:26):
long story short. We finally he finally hits the shot.
We got either, but that was probably the most intense
nervous I've ever been giving it a ruling. Yeah, because
it was him.
Speaker 1 (46:38):
Of course, it's fun It's funny because it's the best
player who ever lived, and he's look at you, tell
me what to do. I can't tell you what to do.
I can't tell you what to do. I'm not.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
That's not my job to tell you what to do.
It's my job to tell you what your options are.
But after that, you get to pick options. Man, This
is like a multiple choice test. You go ABCD man
that you.
Speaker 2 (46:58):
Pick there was who is the guy whould beat Tiger
in the playoffs?
Speaker 3 (47:03):
Ed?
Speaker 2 (47:04):
What was his last name? We're at the eighty eight
Championship at oak Tree. It's the ball. I think it's
the second ball I can't remember now into the water
hazard and it's a regular water hazard and he wants
to take lateral water hazard relief. And I say, okay,
(47:25):
mister ed you have here's your option, go back to
where you get it from, or keep this point between
you and the hole and go back on that line,
which he'd have to it across the water. He said no,
I want to go on the other side. And I
even pulled out the rouleu. I said no, and this
is taking forever. And so I finally said, here's what
your options are. This is what you're going to do.
(47:46):
He says, there a second opinion. Ken Lindsay, who at
the time was the chairman, happened to be there and
came over and what can I do? Mister Addis is great,
here's what you do the rollbook blah blah blah, and
Ed asked is there a appeals committee? And Ken goes yes,
who's on the appeals committee? He had the name names,
(48:09):
and he says, are you on their appeals committee? And
Ken goes yes. He said, well, I'll go ahead and
play this. But those kinds of situations make it interesting,
all right.
Speaker 1 (48:20):
So Tom you, first of all, congratulations on an incredible career,
flat out an incredible career. Number one, but number two,
thanks for hanging out with me for fifty three fifty
four minutes and it was just just awesome to just
to hear your story and anytime. Thanks, thank you very much.
This has been the mitchicom Wall Golf Show.
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