Ira Templeton has been an outstanding figure in Tennessee amateur golf for more than forty years as a competitor on the local, state, and national levels. Known for his exceptional putting game, Templeton quite likely would have had a great professional career, if he had chosen to take on the grueling pace and nonstop travel of the pro tour. But he was a family man. “We already had all [three] of our kids then, and I loved them too much to get into anything like that,” said Templeton. So, he instead chose to tear up the Tennessee amateur circuit. Templeton was Metro Champion in 1954 and 1955 and then returned to reclaim the title thirty years later in 1985. He won the Tennessee Open in 1951 by setting an all-time record low score. Templeton won the Tennessee Seniors Championship at Lookout Mountain in 1980 and successfully defended his title at Brentwood in 1981. Even at age sixty-two in 1990, the putting master was able to put together remarkable rounds of 65 and 66 from the blue tees to win the Chattanooga Metro Amateur, making him the second-oldest player ever to win that title. Only longtime rival and friend Lew Oehmig was older, and only by a few months! For the past four decades, Ira Templeton has made great contributions to the game of golf, and the state of Tennessee is thankful that the amateur champion with the magical putting touch decided not to go pro.
