ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606100075
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: GOLF
SOURCE: RANDY KING
During his amateur heyday, Dicky Linkous virtually owned the Roanoke Valley Golf Hall of Fame men's tournament.
Now, Linkous has been given possession to some more organizational real estate - a permanent seat in the Hall of Fame.
The 38-year-old Roanoker was a unanimous selection as the Hall of Fame's 1996 inductee. Linkous will be enshrined as the hall's 23rd member at the HOF's annual banquet in November.
``I'm delighted and surprised,'' said Linkous, the only five-time HOF winner. ``When I look at any type of Hall of Fame, I think for the most part you honor people later in their careers. I think David Tolley [1988 inductee] is probably the only younger person in it.
``So I'm surprised it happened this early. But it's a group I'm glad to join, believe me.''
Few, if any, could argue with Linkous' credentials. Before turning professional in 1992, the Patrick Henry High and University of Virginia graduate posted one of the top amateur resumes in the state.
He won the Hall of Fame in 1981, '86, '87, '90 and '91. Salem's Bobby Penn, a three-time champion, is the only other player to ever win more than two Hall of Fame men's titles.
In addition, Linkous won the 1988 Roanoke Valley Golf Association's City-County and the 1989 Greater Blacksburg Open. Moreover, he was runner-up in both the 1988 State Amateur and Mid-Amateur championships.
In 1992, confessing to being ``unable to get excited'' about competing in area amateur events, Linkous turned pro.
His 1996 schedule started this weekend in Paintsville, Ky., where he won in '95. He then defends titles in Huntington, W.Va., and Blacksburg the next two weekends.
``Sometimes, I miss playing the local tournaments a little bit,'' Linkous said. ``But I haven't regretted turning pro at all.''
In Linkous, the Hall of Fame gains a player who unquestionably ranks with the best to ever come out of Roanoke.
Linkous said he thinks he has taken a lot more from the game than he can possibly give back.
``As far as my service to the game, I can't really say I've done that much,'' he candidly noted. ``Mainly, I've just been a player, and that's all I've thought of myself as.
``That's what I enjoy doing. I enjoy the competition. As far as teaching and promoting the game, I'd say I'm pretty far down the list. I just want to stick the ball on the tee and rip it.''
SCHEDULING DILEMMA: This spring, Jake Allison wondered for a while if he'd get a shot at defending his Hall of Fame men's title.
At one point, Allison said he was torn between playing in the HOF or the State Four-Ball Championship, which wraps up today at the Golden Eagle Course in Irvington. Allison had a defender's stake in the Four-Ball, which he teamed with Waynesboro's Mark Teachey to win .
``It was a tough decision,'' Allison said. ``I was kind of 50-50. We talked a lot about it. Eventually, Mark talked me into playing here [in the HOF].''
Still, it was a difficult call for Allison, who shares the same birthday and roomed with Teachey during their college days at Virginia Tech. The two longtime friends teamed spectacularly in last year's Four-Ball, shooting 64-67 at Hidden Valley.
On the flip side, Allison said he felt like he couldn't turn his back on the HOF, of which he is a member of the board of directors.
``I think that was the deciding factor,'' he said.
Allison said he was disappointed that the VSGA elected to move the Four-Ball from its customary May date to the current weekend, putting it head-to-head against the Hall of Fame, Roanoke's biggest amateur event.
``Quite frankly,'' said Allison, ``most of the Roanoke contingent that would wish to play in that tournament was disappointed because I don't think they would have scheduled it over a big local event in Northern Virginia, Richmond or Tidewater.
``I don't think they had a problem scheduling it over ours. It kind of soured me a little bit. I think it soured a lot of the people around here who have played in the Four-Ball.''
WILD RIDE: After the trip he took in last Sunday's final round of the Kenridge Invitational, no one could convince Roanoker Dan Keffer there's no rollercoaster in Charlottesville.
From holes 7-13 at Farmington Country Club, the 56-year-old Keffer took the golfing ride of his life. Keffer played the stretch in birdie, par, birdie, hole-in-one (eagle), birdie, double bogey, birdie. Despite the brilliant seven-hole run of 4-under, Keffer still shot 2-over-par 72.
SAND BLASTS: Hanging Rock head professional Billy McBride has been nominated by the Middle Atlantic Section for the PGA's national merchandiser of the year-public award. ... Recent figures from the National Golf Foundation show that both the number of golfers and the number of rounds played increased in 1995. The number of players grew by nearly 3 percent to more than 25 million and the numbers of rounds played increased 5.5 percent to 490 million. professional following the U.S. Amateur in August. He's already filed entries to play post-U.S. Am PGA Tour stops in Milwaukee and Coal Valley, Ill.
LENGTH: Medium: 94 linesby CNB