Audie Tarpley has extensive experience as a construction industry leader in Indiana and throughout the United States. As the owner and president of the Dillon Construction Group (DCG), he manages business development, design processes, and construction operations for a diversity of projects, ranging from retail and mixed-use spaces to major corporate headquarters. When he is not guiding construction and management efforts at DCG, Audie Tarpley enjoys staying active by golfing at various courses throughout Indiana.
Indiana is an important state in the history of golf. Several top players hail from Indiana, including 1979 Masters and 1984 US Open winner Fuzzy Zoeller, as well as Jim Gallagher, Jr., Bill Kratzert, and many other accomplished golfers. Pete Dye, arguably the most accomplished golf course architect in the history of the sport, began his career while living in Indiana. A few of his earliest creations include the Royal Oak course at Dye’s Walk Country Club in Greenwood and the Maple Creek Golf and Country Club in Indianapolis. Unsurprisingly, the contributions of Dye and the career achievements of golfers like Zoeller have resulted in Indianapolis hosting several major golf events, though one of the state’s biggest golf events predates both by several decades.
In 1924, Indiana hosted the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Championship at the French Lick Springs Resort’s Springs Country Club Course, a Donald Ross design. The seventh edition of the tournament attracted a field of the nation’s leading golfers and ultimately culminated in one of the tournament’s closest finishes.
The 1924 PGA Championship looked very different compared to the modern edition of the event. Beyond the fact that the event had no television coverage or live scoring updates for fans around the world, golfers had to complete 216 holes over 12 rounds of play in just six days, compared to the modern 72-hole stroke-play format. After narrowing the field down to 32 golfers via a 36-hole qualifier, the tournament progressed with a head-to-head match play format.
After five days of competition, the 1924 PGA Championship came down to two players: Walter Hagen and Jim Barnes. Barnes had won the first-ever PGA Championship in 1916, while Hagen had claimed the 1921 title, in addition to finishing runner-up in 1923. The final was contested under rainy conditions, with Hagen and Barnes trading the lead back and forth over the final 36 holes of play. Hagen trailed by four strokes after the first round, but pulled ahead by two strokes midway through the second. Barnes pulled back to within one stroke, but Hagen finished with a two-stroke victory. It was the second of five PGA Championship wins for Hagen that decade, who enjoyed a 15-1 head-to-head match record at the event.
Visiting and local golfers like Audie Tarpley can play on the historic course, as well as a Pete Dye course at French Lick Resort, by visiting frenchlick.com.
The PGA Championship returned to Indiana in 1991 at the Crooked Stick Golf Club, another Pete Dye creation. Zoeller competed at the event but, seven years removed from his US Open win, failed to make the cut. The event proved memorable for spectators, however, as John Daly went on to win the first of his two career majors, winning the tournament with just a three-stroke margin over Bruce Lietzke. Daly was the ninth alternate for the draw at Crooked Stick, only gaining entry to the tournament after several players ahead of him in the rankings withdrew. He was just 25 years old.
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