Players Championship week began on a somber note with the news that past chairman Henry Tuten, a longtime supporter of golf on the First Coast from the junior to professional level, passed away on March 7 at St. Luke’s Hospice.
Mr. Tuten was 97 years old and the last surviving chairman of the 12 Greater Jacksonville Opens played on the First Coast from 1965-1976.
A Savannah, Ga., native and Air Force veteran, Mr. Tuten graduated from Georgia Tech on the GI Bill and moved to Jacksonville in 1956 after working as a pro at the Savannah Golf Club. He made a business contact on the course that led to his long-time association with Center Brothers, a commercial construction firm. Mr. Tuten opened a Jacksonville office and remained with the company as a partner until his retirement.
A four-star athlete at Savannah High School and later a minor league pitcher in Statesboro, Ga., Mr. Tuten became one of the most accomplished amateur golfers on the First Coast, winning numerous club championships and the Jacksonville Amateur in 1971. He qualified for the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Senior Amateur championships.
“When they would have an odd number of players make the cut at the GJO and the player wanted a marker, Henry would be the guy,” said Fuller Tresca Jr., the chairman of the 1983 Players Championship. “He was a very good player. Henry was a go-getter. He got things done and made things happen. He’s the last of the GJO guys [chairmen] and another era has gone by.”
Henry Tuten a strong junior golf supporter
Tuten was also one of the driving forces for junior golf.
“Henry sponsored junior golf tournaments and a year-end banquet for the kids,” said former Gator Bowl President Rick Catlett, who played junior golf with his brother Terry in tournaments Tuten organized. “He’d get guys like Arnold Palmer and Don January to speak at the banquets. There were four or five adults back then who really cared about junior golf and Henry was one of them.”
Tuten was the chairman of the 1973 Greater Jacksonville Open at Deerwood. He also served as a past president of the Jacksonville Area Golf Association and the USGA Sectional Affairs committee.
“Just a good guy, good player and good for golf in this area,” said former Florida Times-Union sports editor Fred Seely. “He loved golf.”
Henry Tuten breathed life in Gator Bowl Pro-Am
Tuten later resurrected the Gator Bowl Pro-Am, which began in the 1960s but had faded from the local calendar. Tuten secured some of the area’s best golf courses for the tournament and it remains a holiday staple on the area golf calendar, run by former University of North Florida coach John Brooks and the youngest of Tuten’s five children, Chris.
The tournament has attracted major champions such as Cameron Smith, Vijay Singh and David Duval, Players champions Mark McCumber and Fred Funk and other PGA Tour winners such as Billy Horschel, Rocco Mediate, Kenny Perry and Len Mattiace; along with the top amateurs and club professionals in the area.
Catlett later renamed the tournament “the Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am.”
“He took over the Gator Bowl Pro-Am and made it work,” Catlett said. “He’s a special person in the history of the Gator Bowl.”
Chris Tuten remembered his father running the tournament in old-school ways.
“He sent out handwritten invitations,” he said. “Then he’d send handwritten cards to let people know he got their RSVP. He kept all the records by hand. He really enjoyed the time it took to make it a good tournament, to make it personal with the players.”
Henry Tuten memorial service planned
Mr. Tuten is survived by his wife of 10 years, Anne Richman Tuten; five children, Tracy Tuten (Terrie) of Atlanta, Matt Tuten of Jacksonville, Susie Johnston of Jacksonville, Mike Tuten (Amy) of Oahu, Hawaii and Chris Tuten (Emily); and nine grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Bobbie Jean McElveen Tuten, with whom he was married for 54 years before she passed away in 2011.
A memorial service will be held on March 21 at 3 p.m. at the CrossRoad Church at 10005 Gate Parkway North in Jacksonville. In lieu of flowers, the family has suggested that donations be made to the Henry Tuten Gator Bowl Pro-Am Charity Fund.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Henry Tuten, a longtime supporter of First Coast golf, passes away at 97
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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