Art Tangen
Art Tangen was born on
Wednesday, January 31, 1912 in Eau
Claire, Wisconsin. He
contracted polio at the age of one
and wore leg braces for a number of
years.
At the age of twelve, he
began caddying at the now defunct
Riverside Golf Course in Eau Claire,
and as a high school junior he
became caddy master at the Hillcrest
Golf Course, also now not in
existence.
Upon high school
graduation he worked at the newly
opened Neillsville Golf Course
briefly but by this time, Art knew
he wanted to become involved in golf
as a profession. One
of his trips took him to Florida
looking for work in the industry
where he met his future wife, the
former Merida James. They
married in 1941 and had two
daughters, Tonya and Peggy.
In 1941 Art and Culley
Johnson leased Hallie golf Course
from Bertha Moe; a year later they
bought it. Art
became the sole owner in 1957. Also
in 1941, Art organized the very
first “Hallie Open”, won by Don
Johnson.
In 1958, Art, along
with Bill Rolland and 6 other area
club pros met and launched the
Chippewa Valley Golf Association. In
1975, Art developed the still used
point system to determine Player of
the Year and qualifications for the
Tournament of Champions.
In 1963, Art became a
PGA Class A professional. He
was a well respected member of the
Wisconsin PGA and was recognized as
“Pro of the Year” in 1976 by the
WSGA.
In 1987, he became a member
of the Quarter Century Club of the
PGA.
Arthur G. Tangen
passed on Saturday, September 6,
1997.
He was 84.
Joe Springer
Joe Springer was born in
Elmwood, Wisconsin, just a short
distance from Durand where he
graduated from high school in 1969. While
in high school he participated in
basketball, football, and golf. Joe
walked on at UW-Madison his freshman
year but then transferred to UW Stout
to pursue the dream of being a
receiver on the football team.
The first CVGA
tournament Joe played was in the
summer of 1970 at the Bloomer Memorial
Golf Course. The
first not being memorable, Joe didn’t
break 40 on any of the nines in the
27-hole tournament, but that was to
change quickly. Thousands
of range balls later, Joe became a
dominant player throughout the 70’s,
racking up victories at most of the
courses, most notably Hillcrest in ’74
and Hallie in ’75.
His game continued to
improve and his dreams became bigger;
that is until October 8, 1975.
It was on that day he was in an
automobile accident between Durand and
Elmwood.
It left his body with multiple
fractures and twisted body parts. After
an entire winter of healing and rehab,
Joe was back on the golf course in the
spring of ’76. He
won the second tournament he entered
and got back to winning CVGA
tournaments.
What followed in the
next decades was a career in the CVGA
that will never be equaled: 100
tournament wins, 16 Player of the Year
awards, 6 Tournament of Champions
victories! Never seen before or
since! Says Bob Yule, "Don
Johnson and I used be in the running
for trophies back then. We referred to
those years as BJ, 'Before Joe'.
That guy was really good!"
A little
quirky ...... eccentric?
Maybe, but inarguably, there
will never be another player like Joe
Springer on the Chippewa Valley
circuit.
Joe shares his time
between Eau Claire in the summer and
Beaver Creek, Colorado in the winter
where he is an expert downhill skier
and a member of the Ski Patrol.
Don
Johnson
Don Johnson was born
in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on Friday,
October 6, 1922. His
uncle and aunt, Henry and Bertha Moe
built the then 9 hole Hallie Golf
Course
in 1924. Don
essentially grew up on the course
from a very early age.
Since the inception of
the Chippewa Valley Golf Association
in 1958, Don had won twelve events,
however, prior to 1958 Don won 22
times in the Eau Claire area at
various tournaments. He
won the first Hallie Open in 1941. In
total, he won 7 more Hallie
Opens – more than anyone in it’s
history.
Don was considered the
premier player in 40’s, 50’s and
60’s and is credited with winning a
total of 34 times.
His accomplishments
didn’t end in the Chippewa Valley. Don
competed
in the Saint Paul Open against the
likes of Sam Snead, Johnny Revolta,
Horton Smith, and Jimmy Demaret to
name a few.
He played exhibitions at the
Eau Claire Country Club with Gene
Littler and George Bayer and Marilyn
Smith.
Don was a caring
husband and father who along with
his wife Wilma raised their
daughter, Kathy.
He was an avid Wisconsin
sports fan and bowler.
Don passed away on
Friday, January 4, 2013 at the age
of 90.
Bob
Yule, Jr.
Bob Yule, Jr. was born
on Saturday, October 24, 1925 just
west of Eau Claire in the town of
Washington. Shortly
after birth, the family moved into the
city on Woodland Avenue, which
paralleled the Chippewa River two
blocks away. Between
the new residence and the river was
the 9 hole, Riverside Golf Course (now
defunct) where Bob was introduced to
the game of golf. At
the age of 12, he began caddying at
the newly built Eau Claire Country
Club.
Eventually, he became a member
of the greens crew and was responsible
for watering and mowing the greens. In
high
school, Bob was a member of the golf
team.
Upon high school
graduation in 1943, Bob enlisted in
the Air Force, serving until the end
of the war in 1945. Returning
home, he worked at Uniroyal until 1986
when he retired.
Bob married Verna Green
in 1948; they had 6 children – Bob,
Barry, Rick, Sally, Toni, and John.
Bob started his
competitive golf career playing at
Hallie Golf Course in the club
championships in 1946. Bob
won many tournaments in his career
including the 1967 CVGA Tournament of
Champions. He
also twice won “CVGA Player of the
Year” honors in 1964 and 1968. Although
CVGA records indicate Bob won 12 Open
events and dozens of senior events,
his peak winning years were prior to
the CVGA’s inception in 1958 when his
greatest rival was Don Johnson.
To this day, at age 90,
Bob still plays 5 days a week at Lake
Hallie with close friends, Dick Greene,
Orv Larson, and John Wensel. His
golf season ends the last day of
August every year at which time he
moves into his cabin near Cable,
Wisconsin to enjoy the fall season 'up
north'.