Appendix 10 – The Temple Terrace Golf & CC Hall-of-Fame
Surviving for a century is no small feat whether you’re a golf course or a redwood tree; but to do it as a golf course requires the efforts of many dedicated people including owners, members, employees and friends of the Club. So, who were the “All-Stars” of Temple Terrace, the key people who shaped the Club’s path during the past hundred years?
Unquestionably, the first person on any list would have to be Bertha Palmer without whose vision and foresight not only would there be no need for a one hundred year celebration of the golf course, but the fast approaching hundred year celebration of the City itself would probably be unnecessary because without her, the real estate incorporated as the City of Temple Terrace would most likely be just another unincorporated suburb of the City of Tampa, similar to Brandon, Riverview or Town & Country.
Shouldn’t the names of all key contributors be identified and recognized with pictures and descriptions of their contributions proudly displayed in a Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club Hall-of-Fame, both as a thank you for their efforts and as a challenge to current and future generations of members?
Why not create an Ad Hoc Committee tasked by the Club’s Board of Directors with identifying and documenting a list of potential “Hall of Fame” candidates for review and approval by a slate of judges comprised of interested club members with input from the Temple Terrace Preservation Society.
To that end and based entirely on documentation I’ve reviewed and discussions I’ve had with senior club members throughout this project, I’m confident a strong case could be made for many individuals including the following who I offer as a potential “starter-set” of candidates should the idea gain traction. Also included are suggested partial profiles on several of these candidates, as well as a recommendation for the Club’s #1 “All-Star Family” and its “Most Valuable Player (MVP)”
Temple Terrace Hall-of-Fame “All-Star” candidates, among others, might include:
Joe Affronti John Nertney *
Sandy Alpaugh Maryrose Owens *
Jim Barnes Bertha Palmer
John “Big John” Brinson Grant Rimbey
Basil Brook Jim Roberts
Skip Davis Julian Serles *
Brian Hawke * Jack Stodghill
Doug Hughes Bill Taylor
Gary Koch Ernie Traina
Ted “Chief” LeCompte Bill Wathen *
Bob Mora
* Suggested partial profiles created from information I gathered during book research
Brian Hawke – A member of the Club since age six when his family joined as charter members, he won the first of his thirty-six Club Championships at the age of eight. After graduating from USF and marrying Rhonda, they became Senior Members in 1974. A past President of the Club, Brian has served a total of nine years on various Boards of Directors and many, many more years leading and/or participating in various critical Committee assignments, including:
- Chairman of an Ad Hoc Committee that navigated the Club through significant legal challenges in the late 80’s.
- Member and spokesman of an Ad Hoc Committee responsible for recommending and implementing the “General Manager” concept of club management which transitioned the Board of Directors role from “operational and tactical” to “strategic” in the early 90’s.
- Chairman of an Ad Hoc Committee tasked with construction of the Club’s current swimming pool complex.
Brian’s commitment to the Club is also evidenced by his involvement as a Centennial Member, a 1922 Club Member and participation in the Lifetime Benefits Program.
John Nertney – A member since June 1995, John began volunteering service to the Club almost immediately. First elected to the Board in 1996, he’s been ultra-active ever since, having served on a record thirteen different Boards of Directors. At one time or another, he has held each of the Club’s four officer positions, including six terms as Club Treasurer. John and wife Lorrie are participants in the Lifetime Benefits Program.
A few of his more noteworthy contributions were made as,
- Chairman of a 1996 Ad Hoc Committee that successfully represented the Club in efforts to include the construction of tunnels as part of the Bullard Parkway Widening Project.
- Club President who initiated the effort to develop, design and implement a “Lower Cost/Broader Based” Strategic Business Plan to successfully combat the 2008 Global Economic Crisis.
- Chairman of the 2012 Ad Hoc Committee of Ex-Club Presidents that designed the membership classification structure that transitioned the Club from fifty years of a “one-price-fits-all” structure to the current “usage-based” structure.
- Club Board Member during the “Integrity Recovery Era”, he led efforts to secure government grants that facilitated construction of a new “million dollar” irrigation system in 2020.
Bill Wathen – A member since February 1983, Bill was appointed to fill a Board vacancy in 1986 and immediately named Club Treasurer. Over the years, he served on eight different Boards of Directors, including two terms as Club President.
Having served five years as Club Treasurer and many more as a member of the Finance Committee, he is generally acknowledged as being responsible for moving the Club from an unsophisticated “checkbook” accounting system into the Certified Public Accounting world of “Generally Accepted Accounting Principles”. Bill and wife Becky are also 1922 Club Members.
Julian R Serles Jr. – After being the only man in the history of our country to, at various times, hold the positions of Parliamentarian in the Senate, the House of Representatives and the combined House and Senate of the United States, Julian retired to Temple Terrace in August 1975 and for twenty-five years voluntarily served as Parliamentarian at the Annual and Special Meetings of the Club Membership. During this timeframe he also functioned as the primary editor of Club By-Laws and the Club Rules & Regulations. An avid and competitive golfer, he regularly served on or chaired the Club’s Tournament Committee and Handicap Committee.
The Whittemore Family – Led by patriarch James D. Whittemore, Sr, no family has contributed more to the history and success of the Club than the Whittemore family that joined in August 1968 and almost immediately began making positive contributions on the golf course, in the clubhouse and on the Board of Directors.
Jim Senior served on several Boards during the 70’s and was actively involved in Club Committee activities for thirty years. Wife Dorothy, an avid golfer, was an extremely active member of the Women’s Golf Association for over forty years and for several years worked in the Club’s business office.
Jim Junior was first elected to the Board in 1981 and for the next two decades distinguished himself through service in the boardroom, on committees and in all Club matters requiring legal expertise. On May 24, 2000, the entire membership of Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club was elevated to a higher level of prominence and stature when James D. Whittemore Jr. was “unanimously” confirmed by the United States Senate as a Federal Judge for the Middle District of the State of Florida.
Don Whittemore was approved as a Senior Voting Member of the Club and admitted to the Florida Bar Association in 1985. First elected in 1989, he has served on ten separate Boards of Directors, including five terms as club President. In addition to spending most of the past thirty plus years donating time and talent in serving the Club’s “legal” needs, Don’s herculean leadership efforts throughout the Club’s recovery from the “Integrity Era” and its survival from the “Coronavirus Era” are the primary reason Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club is still functioning as a member owned and operated legal entity.
Maryrose Owens – Choosing an MVP from a list of candidates that’s a hundred years long might seem like an almost impossible task, but relative to Temple Terrace, it really isn’t that difficult. As charter members, Maryrose and Bobby Owens have been familiar faces around the Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club since day one in 1957, but if you live anywhere in Temple Terrace, there’s a very good chance that even if you don’t know Maryrose by name, you’ve probably seen or been the beneficiary of at least one of her countless acts of kindness.
A lifelong resident of the area, Maryrose claims to have “retired” from a career as a Registered Nurse in 1975, but in truth, the only thing she “retired” from was receiving a paycheck for services rendered. According to Webster’s Dictionary, to “retire” is defined as “to quit working” and a “registered nurse” is described as a certified professional who “provides physical and psychological support to patients, friends and families”
Maryrose has absolutely never “quit working as someone who provides physical and psychological support to patients, friends and families”, she’s just added a Country Club and an entire City to her list of beneficiaries.
After receiving her last paycheck as a Registered Nurse, she immediately volunteered her services to the Tampa Meals-On-Wheels organization on the first day their doors were opened in 1975. In fact, she personally delivered the first meal they ever provided to a resident of Temple Terrace and her uninterrupted service to the organization spanned almost fifty years.
But Meals on Wheels was just one of her charitable undertakings and Maryrose always made a total long-term commitment to every organization she served. In addition to her active participation at the member level, she more often than not also served at the Board of Director level.
Included among the organizations that have benefitted from her efforts are the:
- Temple Terrace Women’s Club (Past President)
- Temple Terrace Friendship Club (PP)
- Woodmont Clubhouse Association
- Temple Terrace Garden Club
- Ladies Guild at Corpus Cristi Catholic Church (PP)
- St Vincent DePaul Society
- Temple Terrace Women’s Golf Association (PP)
In her spare time, she has also volunteered to work with students at the Riverhills Elementary School, spent many years as an avid supporter of Junior Golf to the extent she was enshrined in the Greater Tampa Junior Golf Hall-Of-Fame, and she has organized and conducted fundraisers to support our overseas military troops.
When receiving one of her multiple Temple Terrace Citizen of the Year Awards from the Mayor, Maryrose was aptly described as “The reigning Matriarch of Temple Terrace”.
If the concept of creating a Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club Hall-Of-Fame is approved for implementation, maybe the perfect place to display pictures and profiles of the honorees might be the walls of the Ladies Card Room. After all, it was recently renamed the “Maryrose Room”.
