Bio

Bobby Nichols was placed in the Hall of Fame for his playing exploits, both as an undergraduate and later as a pro golfer for more than 25 years. Nichols was a three-year letterwinner on the Golden Eagle golf team, serving as team captain his senior year.

Nichols was in his 32nd season as coach of the Golden Eagles before losing his battle with cancer in March 2008. He guided the Golden Eagles to the 1990 Ohio Valley Conference championship, earning Coach of the Year honors, and had his team in contention nearly every year. He was elected to the Tech Sports Hall of Fame, coordinated and hosted numerous collegiate and regional golf tournaments, hosted several junior golf clinics, and had an active playing career.

Nichols' golfing roots were sunk deep into the Cookeville-area soil. He was one of the primary forces in developing and elevating the sport throughout the region. As a player, coach, teacher, and course architect, he was a strong promoter of the sport.

He hosted numerous youth clinics to help nurture the sport. In 1973 he established the Cookeville City Amateur Championship and the Putnam Junior Championship. That same year, he was co-founder of the Elm Hill Meats Open (now the NAPA Parade of Golf), the first pro event to be played at the new Ironwood Golf Course. In 1989 he established the Upper Cumberland Amateur Championship.

Born in Algood, he grew up as a caddie at the Cookeville Country Club. He attended Algood High School before enrolling at Tennessee Tech. Nichols was a four-year letter winner on the Golden Eagle golf team and captain of the squad as a senior in 1963. That year he posted his highest individual finish in the OVC tournament, capturing seventh place and led Tech to a third-place team standing.

That same year, shortly after graduating with a degree in health and physical education, Nichols turned professional. He served as club pro at Cookeville Country Club from 1964 to 1970 and as Tech golf coach from 1967 to 1970. In 1970, he won the first of two Tennessee PGA Player of the Year awards and began a three-year stint on the PGA Tour.

Nichols was named Tennessee Player of the Year in 1970 and 1976 and was runner-up in 1992 (second only to Craig King whom he coached at Tech). He played in the U.S. Senior Open in Birmingham, Mich., in 1991 and in Bethesda, MD., in 1995. He is still the only golfer--pro or amateur--to make every Tennessee Cup Team since 1968

In the winter of 1970-71, following his first year on Tour, he returned home to design a new golf course--Ironwood Golf Course--to be built on wooded, hilly farmland northwest of town.

Bobby served as pro at both Ironwood and the Cookeville Country Club, and in 1989 became owner of Ironwood. In the fall of 1979, he returned to his position as Tech's golf coach and painstakingly rebuilt the program after watching it sink to it's lowest point in the late 1970s. In addition to spending more than a decade developing the Golden Eagle program, he also established the Tech women's golf team in 1986.

In 1990, Nichols' Golden Eagle golfers captured their first OVC championship in 35 years and helped Tech clinch its first-ever OVC All-Sports Trophy.