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Bob Arnett
BOB ARNETT has spent a lifetime challenging the greens, fairways and bunkers in and around Terre Haute, Indiana. As a player, coach and columnist, his path was set in motion by his father, Robert E...ver maisBOB ARNETT has spent a lifetime challenging the greens, fairways and bunkers in and around Terre Haute, Indiana. As a player, coach and columnist, his path was set in motion by his father, Robert Erwin Arnett, who introduced him to softball games at Parson’s Field, baseball in the schoolyard and golf along the Locust Street railroad tracks near the stadium. Although Bob’s dad passed away when he was 11, he has remained a key influence in Bob’s attitude and accomplishments throughout his life.
The pattern has extended to Bob’s relationships with his own children and grandchildren, who learned from him how to transfer the passion and work ethic inherent in golf to their own activities and interests. Bob has been part of the Terre Haute golf community since he became a 12-year-old caddy at The Phoenix Club in 1946. Nearly seven decades later, he continues to chronicle the local golf scene in his column, Rub of the Green, published by the Terre Haute Tribune Star and collected into a book by the same name.
On and off the links, Bob has been a strong competitor and an even stronger friend to fellow aficionados of the game. He taught golf for beginners in grades 4 through 8 in Vigo County for five summers before he coached high school golf for 26 seasons, the past 24 at Terre Haute South where his boys finished second, third and fourth at the IHSAA State Finals and his girls claimed eighth in the 1988 finals. Bob’s students have gone on to display exceptional sportsmanship win championships and secure positions as golf pros and competitive professionals around the country. As a result, in 1994, Bob was inducted into the Terre Haute Golf Association Hall of Fame. He is also in the Indiana Golf Coaches Hall of Fame.
Bob’s competitive golf game was set in motion when he won the Terre Haute Junior title in 1949. He later played at Indiana State Teachers College, now Indiana State University (ISU), and was the No. 1 player for three seasons, winning three Indiana Collegiate Conference titles and two Little State Championships. He was named ISU’s Most Outstanding Athlete in 1954, the first golfer in the history of the institution to win the award.
He won three Casey Opens, the Spaghetti Open, the Roundup of Champions and the 1988 City Seniors Championship. Bob teamed with Art Blakely to win the Terre Haute Four Ball title in 1963 and was medalist in the 1971 Terre Haute Golf Association Interclub Tournament. He has also served as president of the Rea Park Men’s Club, Hulman Links Men’s Club and the Terre Haute Golf Association.
Bob’s five children, ten grandchildren and six great-grandchildren cheer his accomplishments and recognize his contributions as a mentor to countless young people throughout his career both on the links and in the classroom. Robert Erwin Arnett’s son went on to win golf tourneys in six different decades – eight club championships, four at Rea Park, three at the Elks Fort Harrison Country Club and one at Hulman Links.
Dad, you have made us all proud!
– Paula Brandon, Cleeta Thome, Robert Arnett, Mike Arnett, Erin Mendozaver menos