Tom DiFonzo was a longtime New Hampshire Golf Course Superintendent who made an immense impact on agronomy and turfgrass in the state through his work on the Board of Directors of the New Hampshire Golf Course Superintendents Association (NHGCSA).
DiFonzo was the superintendent at Laconia Country Club for 18 years, a timeframe which included the 113th New Hampshire Amateur Championship. During that time, he held every office on the Board of Directors for the NHGCSA, including serving two terms as their President.
DiFonzo was active in encouraging industry leaders to monitor and impact important legislation that could affect golf courses and the turfgrass industry. He was at the forefront of protecting New Hampshire courses by being present at the State House when needed and signing necessary petitions. He served as the NHGCSA delegate for the national association for over 10 years and helped to grow the New Hampshire Chapter into a leader across the industry. DiFonzo’s efforts with the NHGCSA has earned him an induction into the New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame for his contributions to bettering the game of golf here in the Granite State. DiFonzo’s induction will be posthumous as he lost a brave battle with cancer in 2018.
Dedication and love for the game have been at the heart and soul of Larry Gallagher’s career. Gallagher started playing golf in high school and acquired his first job at North Conway Country Club in 1970. From there, he turned Professional and worked his way up through the PGA program. He landed back at North Conway in 1991 where he served as Head Golf Professional for 25 years. During his tenure at North Conway, Gallagher had a successful playing career and found even more success with the teaching and mentorship part of the job.
Some of Gallagher’s playing accomplishments include being the New Hampshire PGA’s Player of the Year in 1991 and 1995. Over the years he won the New Hampshire PGA Stroke Play Championship, Match Play Championship, Senior Stroke Play Championship and various other Pro/Amateur events.
In 2001, Gallagher and his wife Kathy designed and trademarked The Liberty Ball which raised over $30,000 for The Red Cross as well as The Police and Firefighters Women’s and Children’s Fund of NYC. Their efforts in raising funds through The Liberty Ball were recognized by President George H. W. Bush and President George W. Bush. That same year he was honored as the New Hampshire PGA Professional of the Year.
Gallagher was also a well-recognized teacher of the game. In 2007 and 2009, he was recognized by US Kids Golf for his work with junior golf at North Conway Country Club. For all his years of service to the game of golf, he is now a Lifetime Member of the PGA of America.
Danny Arvanitis has made a name for himself around the state through his amateur playing accomplishments. His accomplishments include winning the 2001 New Hampshire Amateur Championship, winning four New Hampshire Mid-Amateur Championships, and most recently, winning the 2022 New Hampshire Senior Championship. He has also competed in 13 USGA championship events over the years, which is an accomplishment on its own.
As a lifelong member of Derryfield Country Club in Manchester, Arvanitis has claimed 12 Manchester City Championship titles, the most any golfer has won. He has been inducted into the Manchester City Hall of Fame and was the 2015 NHGA Champions Dinner Honoree.
As he continues to compete against the top in the state, Arvanitis finds the time to give back to the game as he has been the Head Coach of The Derryfield School Golf Team since 2011. Prior to 2011, he was the Assistant Golf Coach for Southern New Hampshire University from 2008 to 2010.
Remembered by all for his dedication to the game, Mike Ryan, PGA will be inducted into the New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame for his contributions to the game as a PGA Professional. Right out of high school, Ryan joined the PGA Apprentice Program and was elected to the PGA of America in 1981. Starting out, he was the Assistant Golf Professional at Plausawa Valley CC, now Pembroke Pines CC. From there, he went on to take other Assistant Golf Professional positions until being named the Head Golf Professional at Derryfield CC in 1996 where he stayed the remainder of his career.
While at Derryfield, he created the Mike Ryan Learning Center with golf simulators for golfers to enjoy year-round. Over the course of his career, he garnered many honors, including NH PGA Junior Golf Leader, NH PGA Teacher of the Year and in 2017 was named NH PGA Professional of the Year.
Now in his memory, the New Hampshire Golf Association holds the Mike Ryan Memorial Tournament, formerly the Red Ryan, at Derryfield CC, bringing together junior golfers from the around the state to compete in a match play format championship.
With an impressive amateur golf record, Warren Tibbetts is set to be inducted into the 2023 class of the New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame. Tibbetts claimed his first New Hampshire Amateur title in 1955 and won again 15 years later in 1970. Between those two years, he picked up two New England Amateur titles (1960 and 1963) and won the Massachusetts Amateur Championship in 1966. Tibbetts was a part of the inaugural New Hampshire Tri-State team in 1935 and was a part of the team for two wins over Vermont and Maine.
Over the years, Tibbets was a member at multiple courses in New Hampshire, including Derryfield CC, Manchester CC, Green Meadow GC and The Maplewood GC. He claimed the club championship title at Manchester CC seven times as well as the Derryfield CC club championship title.
After turning professional, Tibbetts served as the Interim professional at Manchester CC while Joe Makara served in the military. He also served as the Head Golf Professional at Lake Sunapee CC.
With accomplishments spanning both his amateur and professional years, Rich Parker has rightfully earned his spot in the New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame. He is a two-time New Hampshire Junior Champion, winning in 1977 and 1978. As a three-sport athlete at Plymouth State University, Parker found most of his success in golf, winning the ECAC individual title in 1982. For all his accomplishments there, he was inducted into the Plymouth State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1993.
Professionally, he won three New Hampshire Open titles, one Massachusetts Open, Maine Open and Vermont Open titles. In 1990, he qualified and competed in the US Open at Medinah and competed in the 2010 US Senior Open. He was named Vermont PGA Player of the Year in 1997 and New Hampshire PGA Player of the Year in 1999.
Returning to his roots on the amateur side of competition, Parker won the 2018 New Hampshire Senior title and was named New Hampshire Senior Player of the Year that same year. Currently, Parker is the Head Coach of the Dartmouth College Men’s Golf Team, a position he has held since 2005.
Tina Tombs has earned her place in the New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame as an accomplished player and well-known and decorated golf instructor who continues to give back to the game.
Raised in New Hampshire, Tombs grew up playing the game at Manchester Country Club and was taught by fellow New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame Inductee, Phil Friel, at Green Meadow Golf Club. She played on the boy’s golf team at West High School in Manchester and went on to earn a full scholarship to play golf at Arizona State University (ASU) where she became a two-time All-American. While in college, he racked up four wins, including a win in the PAC 10 Championship and was selected as one of Golf Digest’s Top 10 Amateur Players.
Her amateur golfing accomplishments include winning the New Hampshire Girls Junior Championship, New Hampshire Women’s Golf Association (NHWGA) Championship, the New England Women’s Golf Association (NEWGA) Championship, and the Women’s Eastern Amateur Championship.
Following her successful college golf career, she began her professional career by qualifying for the Ladies’ Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour in 1987. She went on to win and the LPGA Jamie Farr Toledo Classic in 1990 and finished second in the Sara Lee Classic in 1993, losing in a three-hole playoff. She remains one of few LPGA Instructors in the world to have won on the LPGA Tour.
After 14 successful years competing professionally, Tombs moved on to become an instructor, sharing her knowledge and passion for the game to players of all ages and ability levels. In 2002, she founded and is now President of Tina Tombs Golf at the Arizona Biltmore Golf Club in Phoenix, Arizona, where she also holds the title of Director of Instruction.
As an instructor, she has garnered numerous awards as she worked her way into being one of the best teachers in the world, including being named the LPGA National Teacher of the Year in 2014 and 2018. She is one of four other teachers to have been honored with the award twice. Her other awards, to name a few, include being awarded the Arizona Golf Association’s Ed Updegraff Spirit of Golf Award in 2017, Arizona Golf Association’s highest award; 2014 and 2018 LPGA Central Section Teacher of the Year; 2015 Marilynn Smith LPGA Central Section Service Award; LPGA TOP 50 Best Teachers from 2017 to 2018; GRAA Top 50 Teaching Professionals in 2018; and GOLF Magazine Top 100 Teacher since 2019.
She was inducted into New Hampshire’s Queen City Hall of Fame in 1993, the ASU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame in 2020.
Outside of playing and teaching, she continues to give back to the game and donate her time. She recently served at President of the Central Section of the LPGA T&CP and has been on the Executive and Leadership Committees for the T&CP. She has been a guest instructor and presenter at numerous clinics and expos around the country and continues her dedication to the game as one of the busiest golf instructors in the world.
The New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame Committee is thrilled be inducting Tina Tombs into the New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame in October.
Through his service, dedication, contributions and professional accomplishments in the Granite State and New England, Jim Sheerin has earned his way into the New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame.
Sheerin’s golf career started at the age of 11 at Andover Country Club in Massachusetts as a caddie. By the age of 14, he worked his way up to caddie master and then up to managing the bag room before he enrolled in the PGA Apprentice program. He earned a business degree from the Andover Institute of Business and became a PGA member in 1972.
Three years later, in 1975, he became the Head Golf Professional at Abenaqui Country Club where he served his entire 40-year career. One of his first contributions at Abenaqui was establishing the caddie program, which still exists today thanks to Sheerin’s commitment to the program. His dedication to growing the game is evident in his Master Professional thesis titled “Junior Golf: Commitment and Purpose”. In 1995, Sheerin achieved the status of PGA Master Professional, which is the highest status to be achieved in the PGA of America.
Outside of Abenaqui Country Club, Sheerin has dedicated much of his time to the New Hampshire Chapter of the New England PGA (NHPGA) and to numerous committees associated with the New England PGA (NEPGA), along with other notable organizations around the area. He was instrumental is bringing The First Tee of New Hampshire to the Granite State and served on the first board of directors for the organization. He also spent many years serving the McDonough Scholarship Foundation, which now has an endowed scholarship in Sheerin’s name for his work with the organization and for growing junior golf in the seacoast area of New Hampshire.
Sheerin is also a talented golfer having won many Pro-Am tournaments over the years, along with winning the New Hampshire PGA Stroke Play Championship eight times and the New Hampshire PGA Senior Stroke Play Championship 15 times. He has also won the New England PGA Senior Championship three times. On a larger scale, Sheerin has qualified and competed in three U.S. Senior Open Championships, three Champions Tour events and one Senior PGA Championship.
Sheerin has won numerous awards with the New Hampshire PGA and New England PGA, including being named the NHPGA Player of the Year in 1995 and 1998. He has also been awarded Merchandiser of the Year in 1993, the Bill Strausbaugh Award in 1997 and 2005, and in 1998 was the NEPGA Professional of the Year. Sheerin was inducted into the New England PGA Hall of Fame in 2015.
The New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame is honored to be inducting Jim Sheerin into the 2021 Class of the New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame.
Thomas J. Leonard Jr. was born in Nashua, New Hampshire in 1918. The son of 1922 New Hampshire State Amateur Champion Thomas J. Leonard Sr, “Tommy” won his first state title in 1937, with the New Hampshire Junior Championship. In 1939, he embarked on what would be a record-breaking streak of State Amateur titles. When World War II broke out, Tommy served as a pilot in the European Theater for two and a half years. After the war, he returned to golf, winning six consecutive titles from 1947-1952, for a total of eight State Amateur titles. In 1947, Tommy became the first amateur to win the New Hampshire Open Championship.
He played in six US Amateur Championships, including the 1948 Amateur in Memphis, where he lost in the second round, in 21 holes, to Julios Boros. Boros went on to become a PGA tour standout.
One of Tommy’s ambitions was to win a New England Amateur Championship. Although that crown eluded him, he reached the finals twice, the semi-finals twice and the quarterfinals three times.
Tommy Leonard’s record of eight State Amateur titles held for 48 years, until it was beaten by fellow New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame inductee, Bob Meilcarz, at Bretwood Golf Club in 2000. His record of six consecutive wins still stands today.
Thomas J. Leonard Jr. set the bar for amateur golfers in the Granite State. Based on his accomplishments, the New Hampshire Golf Association Player of the Year Award is in his name.
Phil is the most decorated male golfer in New Hampshire having won a total of twenty New Hampshire Golf Association titles in years ranging from 1981 to 2017. In those 37 years, he collected three New Hampshire Amateur titles (1981, 1985, 1997), eight New Hampshire Mid-Amateur titles (1990, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2011, 2012), three New Hampshire Stroke Play titles (2002, 2003, 2005), and six New Hampshire Senior titles (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017). Accompanying those accomplishment, he has been named the New Hampshire Thomas J. Leonard Jr. Player of the Year three times and the New Hampshire Senior Player of the Year six times.
On a regional basis, Phil won back-to-back New England Senior Amateur Championships in 2016 and 2017.
Twenty is a common number in Phil’s accomplishment as he has competed in twenty USGA championships over the years. Notably, he finished runner-up in the 2011 U.S. Senior Amateur Championship held at Kinloch Golf Club in Virginia. Some of his more memorable experiences have come from competing alongside his son, James, in the 2012 U.S. Amateur Championship and as Four Ball partners in the 2017 U.S. Amateur Four Ball Championship.
Phil joins his father-in-law, Thomas J. Leonard, Jr. as an inductee into the New Hampshire Golf Hall of Fame.
