Tom Addis III is celebrating several milestone anniversaries this year.
First and foremost, Tom and his “high school sweetheart,” Susan, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in June.
You could say he’s been married to golf even longer than that.
Because his father also was a PGA club professional who worked at various courses in Northern and Southern California when Tom was growing up, he says he has had “day-to-day exposure” to the golf industry since he was 10 years old. That’s when his father became a club pro in Fresno and gave him a “cut-off 7 iron” to start swinging. That was 60 years ago.
And considering how the planets have been aligned during his long and illustrious career in golf, it’s probably not a coincidence that this year also is the 100th anniversary of the PGA of America, the 20th anniversary of Addis’ two-year term as president of the PGA of America and the 10th anniversary of Addis’ second tenure as CEO of the Southern California PGA Section.
“I’ve never looked at it that way, but that’s exactly right; that’s pretty cool,” Addis said in a recent interview from his SCPGA office in Ontario.
Along the way, TA III – not to be confused with tour pro Tommy Armour III – has become one of the most honored and decorated PGA club professionals in the history of the PGA of America, which is comprised of more than 28,000 men and women professionals across the country whose collective mission is to promote the enjoyment of the game and to grow the sport.
As further proof, Addis in 2008 became the 13th honoree of the “Legends of the PGA” program, joining an exclusive fraternity that also includes Patrick Rielly, another past PGA of America president and SCPGA Hall of Fame inductee.
Among Addis’ other honors:
1981 national Horton Smith Trophy winner, for contributions to improving educational opportunities for PGA professionals.
1988 National Golf Foundation Joe Graffis Award winner, for contributions to the game of golf.
1989 PGA Golf Professional of the Year, the highest award that can be bestowed on a PGA golf professional.
2005 inductee into the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame, joining such distinguished members as Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Jimmy Demaret, Julius Boros, Jack Burke Jr., Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper and Gene Littler.
2008 Conrad Rehling Award winner for contributions to the Special Olympics as one of the driving forces behind the inclusion of golf as a SO sport beginning in 1999. He has been a crusader for children and adults with special needs his entire career.
“All of my honors have special meaning to me, but I’m very proud of the Rehling Award,” said Addis, who also received an honorary membership in the National Amputee Golf Association for his contributions to that organization and its members. “We started working with (co-founders) Eunice and Sargent Shriver and the Special Olympics in 1988 and years later it finally became an official sport.”
2012 Langley Award winner, in honor of longtime Cypress Point head pro Jim Langley, presented annually to a legend of the game and to a local PGA professional who has given back to the game.
2010 inductee into Southland Golf Hall of Fame. “Very honored, even though I never received a plaque for that one,” he said, laughing.
During his 50-year golf career, Addis has devoted his life to the sport and to the business of the game, trying to to make it better and accessible for everyone. He was a PGA professional at Singing Hills Country Club in El Cajon (now Sycuan Golf & Tennis Resort) for 31 years, many while serving in the administration of the PGA of America as president at the local, regional and national levels.
He was president of the San Diego chapter of the PGA in 1978 and 1979, president of the Southern California Section of the PGA twice – from 1980-82 and from 2006-present – and president of the PGA of America in 1995-96 after serving two years as its secretary and two years as its vice president.
He has done it all during his career, which seems fitting considering that he had to do it all in his first job in the industry 50 years ago.
Before he became a PGA professional, he worked part-time for his father at Sun Valley Golf Club, a nine-hole par-3 course in La Mesa while going to Grossmont College in San Diego County. But shortly after he and Susan got married, his father left the area to accept an opportunity to build a golf course in Fresno. He remained behind to run Sun Valley – at the age of 21.
“When I took over, that was my first real job in golf,” he said. “It was a night-lit par-3 course, and I was the golf pro. The La Mesa municipal swimming pool was contiguous to us, and we shared the same parking lot. We had the snack shop at the golf course, and it also serviced the swimming pool (patrons). So that’s what we did. My wife ran the snack bar, and I would do the golf thing.
“You’ve heard the old story about delivering the mail in the rain, snow and mud? This was one of those things. When I took over at Sun Valley, I did the whole (operation). We had a part-time person come in (to open) in the morning, but I would take over at noon and would close the (driving) range at 10 pm. Then I would pick up the balls on the range – by hand – and I would set the irrigation system. I would come back at 4 or 5 in the morning, mow the greens, get the golf course ready to play. Then I’d go back home and be back in the golf shop at noon. That was my first experience in golf course management.”
His goal was to become a PGA professional, so in August of 1967 he left Sun Valley to become an assistant pro at Singing Hills.
“I went there to play and teach, and after (head pro) Laddy Drake left in 1969, I took over as head pro,” he said. “That’s when I started focusing more on teaching.”
Not long after becoming a PGA professional in 1972, he got involved in the administration of the PGA of America. He was elected to the board of the San Diego chapter in 1974, became president in 1978, then elected president of the SCPGA (1980-82), then served on the national board of the PGA of America (1986-88).
His star was rising. In his spare time at Singing Hills, he became involved in PGA education programs, business schools, rules work shops and teaching seminars. He became vice chairman of the PGA Rules Committee, enabling him to referee at the Ryder Cup and PGA Championship, then was invited to be on the tournament rules committees for the Masters, British Open and US Open. “My rules experience was really integral to my career,” he said.
After being elected Golf Professional of the Year in the PGA of America in 1989, his future was all but set: two years as secretary of the national organization, two years as vice president and then two years president of the PGA of America. He had reached the pinnacle of his profession as a PGA professional.
“When I finished being PGA president, I thought I was done (in the PGA),” he said.
He thought wrong. After a stint in private business, he returned to his roots in the SCPGA. Ten years later, he’s still doing it — and loving it. And at 70, he says he has no plans of retiring.
“Not at all. I love what I do,” said Addis, who also has two sons in the golf business – Tom IV, who builds golf courses in Asia and lives in Vietnam, and Bryan, who’s a third-generation PGA professional and currently general manager at Calimesa Country Club in Riverside County. Tom and Susan also have six grandchildren, including Tom V, who turns 4 in September.
“I enjoy every single day. This tops everything off – to work with our members and interact with our professionals in Southern California. To me there’s nothing better than that. I have been truly blessed.”
