It’s no surprise that Chris Smith began playing golf at a very early age. Some might say it was in his blood. He began tagging along on the golf course with his father and two older brothers when he was just four years old.
He began competing shortly after and it was soon evident that he had the ability to become successful at golf. He was medalist at the 1985 IHSAA State Finals and also won the Indiana State Junior Championship that same year. In 1986 he repeated as State Junior Champion, only the fourth player in Indiana Golf history to win two State Junior Championships. Of the four, he will be the third to enter the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame joining Don Essig III and Joe Campbell. The fourth player to accomplish this feat is current PGA Tour member, Bo Van Pelt.
In 1988, he captured the prestigious Western Junior Championship title. Later that year, he began his collegiate career at Ohio State University and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
In 1990, Smith continued to achieve at Ohio State and was named the Big Ten Player of the Year. That same year, Smith was the recipient of the Big Ten’s Les Bolstad Award for the lowest stroke average, was an honorable mention NCAA All-American Selection and was the individual winner of the Big Ten Championship. Locally, he won Indiana’s most prestigious amateur event in ‘90, the Indiana Amateur Championship and was named the Indiana Golf Association John K. David Player of the Year.
In 1991, Smith’s Senior Year, he was named First Team All-American and upon his graduation from Ohio State turned professional and joined the Nike Tour (now the Web.com Tour). He captured two tournament titles in 1995 and added three more victories in 1997 to become the first player ever to receive the “battlefield promotion” and advance to the PGA Tour.
His dream of winning on the PGA Tour came true in 2002 at the Buick Classic at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, NY. Rounds of 66-69-67-70 gave him a 12-under-par total and a two shot victory over Loren Roberts, Pat Perez and David Gossett.
His professional career includes five Nike Tour victories, one PGA Tour victory, 17 top 10 finishes on the PGA Tour, 28 top 10 finishes on the Nike and Web.com Tours and over $5.6 million in career earnings.
Smith, 43, joins his brother, PGA Professional Todd Smith of Peru (2004), as the first brother combination in the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame.
Smith and his wife, Trish, reside in Peru. He has two children, Abigail and Cameron.
Ted Bishop
Ted Bishop of Franklin, Ind. made Indiana Golf history in the fall of 2012 after being elected to serve as the 38th President of the PGA of America. With his election, Bishop became only the third person from Indiana to be elected as President of the PGA of America, joining Don Padgett and Mickey Powell.
A native of Logansport, Ind., Bishop graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Agronomy in 1976. He began his career as a professional and superintendent at the Phil Harris Golf Course in Linton, Ind. He was elected to PGA membership in September 1985, and has served in a leadership capacity at either the Section or National levels since 1989. He was the 1991 recipient of the Horton Smith Award and a two-time (1996-97) Section Bill Strausbaugh Award recipient. From 1997-98, Bishop served as president of the Indiana PGA Section, and was the 1998 Indiana PGA Golf Professional of the Year.
He has twice been awarded the prestigious Sagamore of the Wabash by the Governor of Indiana for service to the communities in which he has resided.
Bishop is the General Manager at The Legends Golf Club in Franklin, Ind., where he oversaw construction and development of the facility in 1991. He was instrumental in the process that saw the Indiana Golf Office move to its current location which provided tangible space for the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame.
Well-versed in virtually every aspect of Association governance, Bishop has served on the PGA Board of Directors since 2006. Prior to joining the PGA of America Board of Directors, he served on the PGA Board of Control from 2002-05 where he evaluated hundreds of membership cases. He later served as Chairman of the BOC while Secretary of the PGA.
During his first year as President of the PGA, Bishop has spent many hours in the spotlight representing the 27,000 PGA Members and Apprentices across the country. Bishop oversaw the hiring of the PGA of America’s new CEO. He has worked tirelessly to build more of a team atmosphere both at the PGA of America headquarters as well as on the PGA Board of Directors, and has been the voice of the PGA in the recent anchoring debate with the USGA.
He and his wife, Cindy, live in Franklin, Ind., and are the parents of daughters, Ashely Davidson, the Membership Director at The Legends of Indiana Golf Club; and Ambry Bishop, a PGA Assistant Professional at St. Andrews Golf Club in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., and the head women’s golf coach at St. John’s University.
Ted and Cindy are proud grandparents to Reid and Remy Davidson.