'You have to wear a lot of hats here'

SANDPOINT — There isn’t much Tom Tharp  hasn’t done while running the Elks Golf Course for the past 29 years, a tenure that will come to an end this week as Tharp announced his retirement.

Tharp, 71, will leave some big shoes to fill, as the general manager of a small town, nine-hole course has plenty of responsibilities. He plans to continue working at the Outback at Schweitzer, his longtime winter job, plans to start a small lawn care business and will remain the coach the Sandpoint High School golf team in his retired life.

So what will Tharp miss most about the Elks?

“Dealing with the nice people around here. We have pretty good customers,” said Tharp, whose best round ever playing the course was a 68, back when he played more. “Lately, it’s been the junior golfers, seeing them progress and grow.”

Tharp’s first job, in 1972 when his military career finished, was running the Priest Lake Golf Course, which he did with success until 1986. That spring, Larry Tassie called him up and offered a job at the Elks, and he’s been here ever since.

From constructing the undulating No. 5 green, which he called a pile of mud when he arrived, to relocating the current lodge from Second Street to its current location, Tharp has seen the Elks transform in many ways during his stint as head pro, groundskeeper, mower, mechanic, burger cooker and too many other things to count.

“You have to wear a lot of hats here,” said Tharp, admitting he won’t miss having to come and turn the sprinklers on every night in the summer. “The golf part of it’s a small thing. It’s all the superintendent part, you have to take care of a golf course.”

Tharp has seen a lot of local hackers tee it up on No. 1 at the Elks, and listed Joe Bopp and Haven Burton as two of the best golfers he’s seen play at the Elks. He listed David Currie as the best high school player he has ever coached, as Tharp and Currie helped lead the Bulldog boys to state last spring.

When asked what the best tip that he would give to the average golfer, Tharp touched all five fingers while counting out the words in his answer.

“One shot at a time,” said Tharp of his golf mantra, which the team adopted last season. “I’m going to have it embroidered on the high school shirts. Once it’s done, it’s done, you can’t go back. They go into a bit of a slump, but need to stay in the moment.”

Whoever replaces Tharp will be tasked with helping replace nearly 15 trees that fell during the summer’s storms, with 20 new trees slated to be planted in the spring. The trees play an important role at the Elks, which can be deceiving to first-time golfers who wrongly judge a book by its cover.

“Every day people come in, look at it and say ‘this is easy,’” said Tharp, noting the small greens, tree-lined fairways and out-of-bounds. “Nobody ever scores like they think they will. They’ve always got an excuse. It looks so easy when you drive in here.”

Tharp wished to thank Jan Klinger, Carolyn Baker, Gary Mooney, Bill Adams, Mick Adams and everyone who helped him at the Elks through the years. For Tharp, it’s the simple things that he loves most about golf.

“Getting out and playing with your friends is fun,” he said. “It’s a challenge to be consistent. You really can’t blame anybody but yourself.”

Tharp will be missed by many at the Elks, including longtime member Carol Sanford.

“Tom has always been a very calm and wonderful presence here,” she said. “You could always rely on him to look into matters that need attention. We’ll miss him.”