Eller Chronicles May 942 p- 3

The Eller Chronicles


Vol. VIII NO 2.THE ELLER FAMILY ASSOCIATIONMAY 1994

Page - 118



FOLLOWING SUBMITTED BY: Gene Pearce, 120 Alta Vista Dr., Jackson, TN 38305



TENNESSEE'S ELLER FAMILY
NAMED NATIONAL GOLF FOUNDATION'S
GOLF FAMILY OF THE YEAR

A lifetime of devotion to the game of golf was recognized on November 16, 1993, when the Harold Eller Family of Tennessee was honored as the 1993 recipient of the National Golf Foundation's Jack Nicklaus Golf Family of the Year Award.

The presentation was made at the Spanish Bay Resort Hotel in Pebble Beach, California, at the Women in Golf Summit Honors Banquet, of which the N.G.F. was a co-sponsor.

Harold Eller, who was the golf professional and green superintendent at Old Hickory Country Club for 34 Years, retired in 1979. He had been an employee for DuPont, which owned the club, for 47 Years, the most service for any active DuPont employee at the time.

Harold and his wife, the former Ruth Shouse, raised four children, all who have made notable golf contributions. The children are daughters Beverly Pearce of Jackson, Tennessee, and Judy Street of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and sons Richard, golf professional at Windtree Golf Course, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, and Mike, co-owner of Hermitage Golf Course, Old Hickory, Tennessee, and Stonebridge Golf Course, Cordova, Tennessee. Grandsons Barry Pearce, Greenwood, Indiana, and Ray Pearce, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, are also P.G.A. golf professionals.

Harold Eller descended from Caspar, Jacob, John Jacob, Joseph, Jacob, William Josiah, and Clarence Mayfield Eller. He was born September 24, 1914, in the Hillsdale community of Macon County, Tennessee, where Jacob Eller settled after leaving North Carolina in 1843.

Several times in recent years Harold has taken the time and gone to the expense of cleaning out the Jacob Eller Family graveyard in Macon County that was established by deed on December 3O, 1897.

Presented by the N.G.F. since 1986, the award recognizes families that not only have made substantial contributions to the game, but which also exemplify the ideals of golf and family.

The award was created in conjunction with the N.G.F.'s family golf campaign which Jack Nicklaus was instrumental in creating in 1985. In 1986, the Nicklaus Family became the award's first recipient. Since then the list has grown to include the families of Renee Powell, Nancy Lopez, Jim Cook, Pat Bradley, Jim Gallagher, and Joe Jemsek.

"The National Golf Foundation could not honor a more deserving family than the Ellers," Dick Horton, executive director of the Tennessee Golf Association and the Tennessee PGA, said. "The influence and impact they have had on Tennesseans is unsurpassed. It's a great tribute to a very special family."



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The introduction of the Eller Family and the presentation was made by the N.G.F.'s Catherine Suddarth, the former Bunny Farrell, who learned to play golf by attending Harold Eller's Junior clinics. She went on to win the Tennessee State Junior, the Women's Nashville City, and the Women's Knoxville City championships.

The Ellers, long known as the first family of Tennessee golf, have made golf a major part of their lives for three generations.

Their credits, as of 1993, are as follows:

FIRST GENERATION

HAROLD ELLER, husband of the former Ruth Shouse

AGE:79 (September 24, 1914, Macon Co., Tennessee)
RESIDENCE:Hermitage, Tennessee; Wellington, Florida
CLUB: Old Hickory Country Club, Old Hickory, Tennessee Palm Beach Polo & Country Club, Wellington, Florida


Father of Mrs. Beverly Pearce, age 57, Mrs. Judy Street, age 53, Richard Eller, age 46, and Mike Eller, age 43; member of P.G.A.; head golf professional and green superintendent at Old Hickory Golf Club. Old Hickory, Tennessee, from 1945 until his retirement in 1979; 196'@' Southeastern P.G.A. Professional of the Year; Harold Eller Trophy annually given to the winner of the Tennessee P.G.A. Assistant's Championship; director Tennessee Junior Golf Association.

RUTH ELLER, wife of Harold Eller

AGE: 76 (August 6. 191"7, Fort Worth, Texas)
CLUB: Old Hickory Country Club, Old Hickory, Tennessee Palm Beach Polo & Country Club, Wellington, Florida


Founder and director Tennessee Junior Golf Association; served 19 years as a committee woman for the United States Golf Association; Ruth Eller Trophy annually given to the winner of the Tennessee Junior Girls' Championship.

SECOND GENERATION

BEVERLY ELLER PEARCE, wife of Gene Pearce

AGE: 57 (June 12, 1936, Old Hickory, Tennessee)
RESIDENCE: Jackson, Tennessee
CLUB: Jackson Golf & Country Club, Jackson, Tennessee


Mother of two sons. Barry, age 34, and Ray, age 29; won Women's Nashville City Championship in 1961; won Women's Tennessee Senior Championship in 1987, 1988, 1991, and 1992; won a total of 29 club championships, seven at Old Hickory Golf Club, Old Hickory, Tennessee, one at Woodland Hills Country Club, Jackson, Tennessee, and 21 at Jackson Golf & Country Club, Jackson, Tennessee; member Tennessee team that competed in the 1993 Women's Amateur Team Championship at Shoal Creek Country Club, Birmingham, Alabama; past president Women's Tennessee Golf Association; director Tennessee Junior Golf Association; former state director Women's Trans-National Golf Association; inducted into Jackson-Madison County Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. Beverly's husband, Gene, is a board member of the Tennessee Golf Association and a founding member of the Capital City Golf Association, one of the largest golf associations in Tennessee.


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JUDY ELLER STREET, wife of Gordon P. Street, Jr.

AGE: 53 (August 24, 1940, Old Hickory, Tennessee)
RESIDENCE: Chattanooga, Tennessee
CLUB: Chattanooga Golf & Country Club, Chattanooga, Tennessee


Mother of four children, Mrs. Lorie Mallchok, age 31, Gordon III, age 29, Elizabeth Anne. age 24, and Miriam, age 21; won Women's Tennessee State Championship seven times; first ever to win U.S.G.A. Junior Girls' Championship twice; won Women's Southern twice and was runner-up twice; won Women's National Intercollegiate while attending the University of Miami; scored the deciding points as the youngest member of the 1960 U. S. team that defeated Great Britain and Ireland in Curtis Cup matches; won three matches in 1960 British Amateur; selected to 1962 U. S. Curtis Cup team, but did not compete because of pregnancy; inducted into International Churchmen's Sports Hall of Fame in 1973; inducted into Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 1980; inducted into University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame and selected Tennessee's greatest woman golfer by Golf Digest in 1989; honored along with Lew Oehmig, Polly Boyd, Betty Rowland Probasco, and Dr. Cary Middlecoff by the Honors Course in Chattanooga for as a group having won a total of 29 Tennessee amateur golf championships; director Tennessee Junior Golf Association.

RICHARD ELLER, wife of former Jami Wright
AGE: 46 (January -2, 1947, Old Hickory, Tennessee)
RESIDENCE: Franklin, Tennessee
CLUB: Windtree Golf Club, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee


Father of three children, Ben, age 25, Eliza, age 20, and Kelsey, age 4; member of P.G.A.; golf professional, Windtree Golf Course, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee; former assistant golf professional Old Hickory Country Club, Old Hickory, Tennessee; former head golf professional Hermitage Woods Golf Club, Hermitage, Tennessee, Wolf Run Golf Club, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Nashboro Village Golf Club, Nashville, and Forrest Crossing Golf Course, Franklin, Tennessee; Tennessee P.G.A. Player of the Year in 1979; Tennessee P.G.A. Merchandiser of the Year for Public Courses in 1982 and 1983; won Tennessee State Open in 1971 and 1977; five-time qualifier for National Club Pro Championship; competitor in Tennessee Cup Matches the past 17 years; won numerous state and area amateur tournaments, including 1964 Tennessee State Junior; played for the Memphis State University golf team and won the Missouri Valley Conference Championship in 1967; inducted into Castle Heights Military Academy Sports Hall of Fame in 1983; inducted into Memphis State University Sports Hall of Fame in 1989. Richard's wife, Jami, is the tournament secretary for the Tennessee Golf Association and the Tennessee Section of the P.G.A.


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MIKE ELLER, husband of former Barbara Carter
AGE: 43 (August 17, 1950, Madison, Tennessee)
RESIDENCE: Old Hickory, Tennessee
CLUB: Hermitage Golf Course, Hermitage, Tennessee Stonebridge Golf Course, Cordova, Tennessee


Father of two children, Ashley, age 18, and Drew, age 15; member of P.G.A.; co-owner and golf director Hermitage Golf Course, Old Hickory, Tennessee, home of the L.P.G.A.'s Sara Lee Classic, and Stonebridge Golf Course, Memphis, Tennessee; former assistant and head golf professional Old Hickory Country Club, Old Hickory, Tennessee; recipient Tennessee P.G.A.'s Horton Smith Award in 1983; Tennessee Professional of the Year in 1986; former president Tennessee chapter of the P.G.A.; named committeeman by the United States Golf Association in 1990; graduate University of Alabama. Mike's wife, Barbara, is a member of the policy board for the Tennessee P.G.A. Junior Tour and rules chairman for the Middle Tennessee P.G.A. Junior Tour.

THIRD GENERATION

BARRY PEARCE, husband of former Denise Solden

AGE: 34 (born September 21, 1959, Madison, Tennessee)
RESIDENCE: Indianapolis, Indiana
CLUB: Royal Oak Country Club, Greenwood, Indiana


Son of Beverly Eller and Gene Pearce; member of P.G.A.; head golf professional Royal Oak Country Club, Greenwood, Indiana; former assistant wolf professional Nashboro Village Golf Club, Nashville, Tennessee, Lexington Country Club, Lexington, Kentucky, and Meridian Hills Country Club, Indianapolis, Indiana; former head golf professional Old Oakland Country Club, Indianapolis, Indiana; started playing golf at age 3; won National Pee Wee Tournament in Orlando at aces 4 and 5; as Junior player won Tennessee State Insurors and Tennessee P.G.A. State Junior; played on golf team at University of Tennessee at Knoxville; as amateur teamed to win Tennessee State Four-Ball Championship; as professional teamed to win Kentucky State Pro-Assistants Championship, Kentucky State Pro-Pro Championship, and the Indiana State Pro-Pro Championship; lost in finals Indiana State P.G.A. Match Play Championship in 1991.


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RAY PEARCE, husband of former Connie Barham

AGE: 29 (born May 27, 1964, Jackson, Tennessee)
RESIDENCE: Murfreesboro, Tennessee
CLUB: Hermitage Golf Course, Hermitage, Tennessee


Son of Beverly Eller and Gene Pearce; father of two children, Elaine, age 6, and Davis, age 4; member of P.G.A.; at Chattanooga Classic tied for fifth and won $21,900 in his first P.G.A. Tour event in 1990; member of P.G.A. Ben Hogan Tour in 1991 and 1992; former assistant at Forrest Crossing Golf Course,, Franklin, Tennessee, and Stones River Country Club, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; won Tennessee P.G.A. Assistant's Championship and the Harold Eller Trophy, named for his grandfather, in 1988, 1989, and 1990; in senior year of high school All-State football and basketball player and finished second in state high school golf tournament; played football and golf Memphis State University and University of Tennessee at Martin; at UTM won Gulf South Conference Championship in 1986. Ray's wife, Connie, is the executive secretary to Dick Horton, the executive director of the Tennessee Golf Association and the Tennessee Section of the P.G.A.

GEN/ELLER/AWARD (20 Dec 1993)



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By DAVID CLIMER
Senior Writer

    The first time Harold Eller Picked up a golf club, It belonged to somebody else.
    "All of this started about 68 years ago In Michigan when I was a caddy," Eller recalled yesterday. "I learned the game by Watching good players."
    Those early lessons have paid dividends through the years, Including an announcement that the Eller family has been selected the National golf Foundation's Jack Nicklaus Golf family of the Year.
    The Ellers will be honored on Nov. 16 In a ceremony In Pebble Beach, Calif.
    Past winners of the award Include the Nicklaus family, Nancy Lopez's family and Pat Bradley's family.
    Eller was head professional at Old Hickory Country Club from 1945 until his retirement In 1979.
    Ruth Eller hag served for 19 years as a committee member of the U.S. Golf Association and has been a moving force in junior golf. "The best thing about this Is that It's a family honor. and Everybody Is a part of It," Ruth Eller said.

    Included In the award are the Ellers' four children:
    Beverly Eller Pearce, three-time state Women's Senior titlist, Is past president of the Tennessee Women's Golf Association and is active In Junior golf along with her husband, Gene. Their song Barry and Ray are accomplished players.
    Judy Eller Street won seven State women's armature titles, back-to-back USGA Junior Girls championships and a national college title at the University of Miami In 1961.
    Richard Eller has won numerous titles In Tennessee, Including the State open In 1971 and '77, and Is now director of golf at Windtree Golf Course In Mount Juliet.
    Mike Eller Is co-owner and director of golf at Stonebridge In Memphis and Hermitage Golf Course, site of the Sara Lee Classic.
    Word of the award came yesterday when Harold and Ruth Eller's grandson, Ray Pearce, survived the first phase of PGA Tour Qualifying School at Old Fort Golf Club In Murfreesboro.
    Pearce and Craig Rudolph of Nashville were among 37 golfers advancing to sectional qualifying next month.



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