Indian Golf Talk

It came over a dish of delicious breadsticks -- by far the best thing to order at Papa John's -- the discussion on the connection between the American pizza company and the Indian Open. Oh yes, you read that right! Here's the story:

Unfortunately for him, an ill-timed neck injury followed soon after, as good as forcing him out of the sport. At Ball State University, Brian had roomed with a John Schnatter, who had now decided to begin a pizza chain. Schnatter asked his old friend to join him in the still-young enterprise. Tennyson began in 1992 with owning stores, and slowly made his way up till he was vice-president for strategic planning, and then head of investor relations. Clearly, the stable head and firm feet had followed him from the golf course to the Papa John's boardroom.

Brian quit entrepreneurship to attempt a golf comeback in 1995, but that didn't quite work out, and so he went back to business. These days Brian helps run a marketing company, a pet magazine, and a vehicle repair business.

Brian takes us back to his last-day runaway win in '87. "I was putting poorly coming into that week, even though I had a win and a couple of other top tens in the previous weeks," Brian tells us. "So I spent a lot of time on it and it paid off. Delhi golf club was very demanding and extremely tight off the tee which played right into my strength, which was ball striking. I loved the course and thought I could win. I was in the next to last group the final day and took the lead somewhere around the 12th or 13th hole. Information was all by word of mouth. A key shot was on, I believe, the 16th, a long par four where I hit a terrific 3-iron to about 15 feet. On the 18th fairway, a good friend at the time, European Tour player Jean Francois Remesy, came and told me I had a three-shot lead, and I relaxed," he says.

The story from the pro-am had us even more excited. Brian says, "In the pro-am, I played with a 14-year-old boy who was a very good young player. It turned out to be Daniel Chopra. In my first event on the 1995 circuit I was paired with him in the third round and he reminded me about it. It made me feel old!"

That was also a time when sports equipment import duty was a huge amount, and so good-quality golf balls and clubs were a scarce commodity. "I was very impressed with the Delhi Golf Club and thought it was one of the best we played on the tour that year. But I believe there was some sort of ban on imports and most of the Indian players were using old or second-hand equipment," says Brian.

Brian also remembers other players he played with on the Asian circuit back then, with the current Asian Tour chairman Kyi Hla Han being one of them. "Han was a good friend back then," Brian says. "We hung out and played a lot of rounds together. Some others on the tour then were Jeff Maggert, Billy Ray Brown, TC Chen and TM Chen. I also played with Isao Aoki and Jumbo Ozaki while on the Asian Tour in 1987 and subsequently on the US PGA Tour as well."

The win was special. "It was my second win in the first five Asian Tour events that year and it was a terrific thrill. The small metal trophy I received, sits on a shelf in my family room," Brian says.

We certainly do hope that our golfer-turned-entrepreneur is in India for the Silver Jubilee celebrations in three years from now.