Dick Horton

Richard J. Horton (born 1949) is an American golf administrator who was inducted into the 2019 Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame. Horton served for 35 years as the executive director of both the Tennessee Golf Association (TGA) and the Tennessee Section PGA (Professional Golf Association of America) . He was one of the first fifteen full-time PGA Section executive directors in the U.S. and he gained national attention by bringing together golf's formerly competitive and often-contentious factions: professional golfers (PGA) and amateur golfers (TGA). He became executive director of both organizations and eventually was able to put all of the state's collective golf operations under one roof.

Starting as a one-man operation in a bedroom office, he took the sport of golf in Tennessee from a largely structureless environment into the era of modern commercial golf. A skilled fundraiser, he secured donations that opened the door to advancement of golf administration— he created a single golf complex called "Golf House Tennessee" which served to administer all golf activities in the state, including pro golf, amateur golf, women's golf, junior golf, and turfgrass research. It was the only facility of its kind at the time. Horton's success influenced other states to follow his blueprint. Tennessean sportswriter Joe Rexrode calls Horton "the Godfather of Tennessee Golf".

Early life Horton was born in 1949 in Hamilton, New York, a small town that is the home of Colgate University, about 40 miles southeast of Syracuse. Horton graduated from Wake Forest cum laude in 1971 with a major in Latin.

The TGA golfers saw the early administrative success the PGA was having and inquired whether they might share Horton's services. With some concern over a previously strained relationship, the PGA agreed to "lease" his services to them. said, "Some people just have people skills and Dick was honest, he was straight, he was able to look at both groups and tell them the benefits of being together." This model has been copied by several other states and several have hired Horton's people to run them. The trend continued in other states.

Youth golf Horton was one of the first in the nation to organize youth summer golf camps which introduced many youngsters to the sport. The rise of skilled young players helped assure the sport's future popularity, identifying future golf champions and golf teachers. Junior golf in Tennessee came into being in 1974 when Dave Noble, the golf pro at Fall Creek Falls State Park in central Tennessee offered Horton the site to become the "PGA Junior Golf Academy", one of the nation's first. It had 98 boys the first year and Horton rented the cabins for them at the park. After 21 years there the golf academy was moved to new facilities. As of 2018, the junior golf program under director Lissa Bradford has had more than 15,000 graduates . The Vanderbilt Legends course, designed by Bob Cupp and Tom Kite, served as the Tennessee Golf Foundation's temporary headquarters while the land next door was being developed. The house and adjacent land was known as "Aspen Grove"— built in 1830s by Thomas McEwen who fought alongside Andrew Jackson in the Indian wars. Expanded and restored, it was named "Golf House Tennessee" and became the 21,000 square foot centerpiece of all golf operations in the state and opened in April, 1995. As of 1995, Golf House Tennessee was the only facility of its kind. The original structure now houses the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame. The added administrative center, named for Horton, also contains the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, the Volunteer Chapter Club Managers Association of America, and the Women's TGA (WTGA) among others. This tournament has raised over $8 million Gill received the PGA Distinguished Service Award in 2003, the PGA's highest honor. and said it was an unforgettable experience to sit on quarterly board meetings with Arnold Palmer and Nancy Lopez. He is a member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, Scotland and was president of the International Association of Golf Administrators. Horton retired in 2018, after 45 years of golf administration. In 2019, he was inducted into the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame.