Valley Club Director of Golf Warren “Stoney” Brown is one of three inductees into the inaugural Rocky Mountain Section PGA Hall of Fame.
Others chosen for the new RMSPGA shrine are the late Paul Allen, 47-year head golf professional at the Yellowstone Country Club in Billings, Mt., and the late Don Hamblin, former head professional at Twin Falls Municipal Golf Course.
Brown, Allen and Hamblin distinguished themselves during their professional careers as PGA of America members within the Rocky Mountain Section and were selected by virtue of their career achievements, according to a press release from the RMSPGA.
The induction of the inaugural class will occur as part of the annual meeting of the Rocky Mountain Section PGA on Sunday, May 18 in Idaho Falls.
The RMSPGA Hall of Fame was established in 2013 by the Section Board of Directors to recognize members who have displayed exemplary service to the game of golf and the Rocky Mountain Section PGA.
Rocky Mountain Section PGA golf professionals were nominated and selected by a committee composed of the current president and the past presidents of the Section still residing within its borders.
The Rocky Mountain Section PGA is composed of southern Idaho, eastern Montana, western Wyoming, northern Nevada and Ontario, Oregon. The Section, founded in 1935, is dedicated to elevating the standards of the PGA Member's vocation and growing interest and participation in the game of golf.
Stoney Brown
Stoney Brown was elected to PGA of America membership in August of 1972 while serving as an assistant professional at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colorado.
In 1976 he moved to Boise and assumed the duties of head professional at Crane Creek Country Club. Brown held that post until leaving it to become the present director of golf at The Valley Club in in April 2004.
During his career, Stoney has won 19 Rocky Mountain Section PGA awards and was nationally recognized in 1997 as the PGA of America Horton Smith Award recipient. The Horton Smith Award represents and recognizes those dedicated to furthering the education of PGA members.
Brown has held all the offices in the Rocky Mountain Section.
While serving as its president in 1987 and 1988, Brown oversaw the drawing of the present boundaries of the Section and the establishment of the current Snake River and Yellowstone Chapters.
He served on the PGA of America Board of Directors as the elected representative of District 9 (Colorado, Rocky Mountain and Utah Sections) from 1990-93. Brown has also served on many PGA of America and Rocky Mountain Section committees and attended, conducted or coordinated over 20 national educational workshops.
He served as a rules official at two Ryder Cups, 10 PGA Championships and served on the PGA of America Rules Committee for 11 years.
Brown commented several years ago how nice it was for him to see his former apprentices rise to prominence as leaders and award winners in the PGA. He continues to mentor young people in a business that is continually changing and challenging.
Among his many awards, he was twice recognized as RMSPGA Golf Professional of the Year.
Paul Allen
Paul Allen (1929-2012), former longtime head professional at Yellowstone Country Club in Billings, Montana, was a fixture within the Club, the Yellowstone Chapter, the Rocky Mountain Section and to golfers in Montana.
In the mid-1950s Allen was working at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, Nev., when Archie Cochrane, an automobile dealer in Billings took notice of him and mentioned that Hilands Golf Club was looking for a head professional.
Allen pursued and secured the job, and after two years moved in Nov. 1957 to the not-yet-completed Yellowstone Country Club. He then spent the next 47 years as head professional at Yellowstone.
Fittingly, Bob Eames, a former assistant under Allen, followed him as head professional and is currently serving in that capacity at Yellowstone. Paul’s daughter Pam Allen, a former LPGA Tour member, is currently working there as an assistant professional and instructor. Chad Dillon, a grandson of Allen, is currently the first assistant at the club.
Allen was a tireless promoter of golf in Montana and hosted many events, both amateur and professional, while at Yellowstone.
In 2003 the Montana State Women's Golf Association named a statewide award in his honor for his efforts to promote and enhance the game of golf for women in the state and he was named the first recipient of that award.
The Paul Allen 65 Roses Classic was an event founded by Allen and held at Yellowstone to raise money for the cure for Cystic Fibrosis. The disease claimed the life of his ten year old son Mark in 1970.
As a young man Allen played the PGA Tour and also won several regional events and played in the 1973 Australian Open. He maintained his playing ability until reaching an advanced age and never lost his love for the playing of the game.
Don Hamblin
Don Hamblin (1932-2010), a native Idahoan and former Ben Hogan and Senior PGA TOUR official, enjoyed a long and productive career in golf that has seen his son, Michael, and grandson, Jordan, continue. Don Hamblin was the head professional at what was then known as Twin Falls Municipal Golf Course from 1976 to 1987.
Born in 1932, Hamblin gravitated to a career in golf after graduating from the College of Idaho in 1955. He served as an English teacher and baseball and basketball coach at Pa ma (Idaho) High School.
In 1959, he obtained employment at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, Nev., as an assistant and teaching professional. He served as head professional there from 1962-1964.
Hamblin moved to the Dunes Emerald Green Country Club and served as the director of golf and sports from 1965-1975. Following his time at Twin Falls, he worked as the assistant tournament director of the Senior (now Champions) PGA Tour from 1987-1989 and again from 1991-1994. He served in that same capacity for the Ben Hogan (now Web.com) Tour in 1990.
Hamblin was instrumental in forming the Nevada Junior Golf Association and the Idaho Junior Golf Association. His work with the younger generation did not end there as he was also active in teaching young people at the PGA of America Business Schools.
Hamblin lent his teaching and professional qualifications to PGA/USGA Rules of Golf workshops as an administrator.
He also served as a Section officer and served as executive director of the Rocky Mountain Section during the time it included Las Vegas within its borders. Hamblin served as President of the Rocky Mountain Section and as District Director from 1982-1984.
Hamblin hosted many high profile events including events for the football and baseball halls of fame as well as many Nevada and Idaho amateur, junior and professional events.
He was a tireless fundraiser and host for the Larry Malone Scholarship Pro-am, an event that this year celebrated its 40th anniversary. He was an accomplished teacher and was recognized four times in six years as the Rocky Mountain Section PGA Golf Professional of the Year.
