Fairways • March 2011
Blake, Forsman and Barker
Join the Utah Hall of Fame

by Kurt Kragthorpe

The Utah Golf Hall of Fame's Class of 2011 grew out of a nine-hole golf course in St. George, a country club in Provo and an alfalfa field in Taylorsville.

When they are inducted during a dinner and ceremony May 11 at Hidden Valley Country Club, Jay Don Blake, Dan Forsman and Todd Barker will have unique, personal stories to tell about their development as golfers, their love of the state where they live and the support they've received along the way.

Blake is likely speaking for the threesome when he forecasts "a very emotional experience" that night, considering their deep roots in the game. Forsman was involved in the ceremony when fellow Champions Tour player Mike Reid was inducted in 2007, and he's sure to be swept up in the sentiment of the evening. So will Barker, a second-generation amateur golf star in Utah.


Jay Don Blake
Blake is proud of being by far the most successful Utah native ever to play the PGA Tour. Few members of the Utah Golf Hall of Fame have been enshrined strictly for their playing abilities, and even fewer are native sons. In that sense, U.S. Amateur champion George Von Elm and Blake would have to make up their own exclusive group of inductees.

Blake, 52, grew up in a different St. George than everybody knows now. In his day, the nine-hole Dixie Red Hills was the town's home of golf, and young Jay Don basically lived there, developing into a great golfer. Yet not much was known about him outside of St. George until 1977, when he reached the finals of the State Amateur before losing to Arlen Peacock.

That event at the Logan Golf & Country Club led to his joining Utah State's golf team. As an Aggie, Blake won the NCAA's individual championship in 1980 at Columbus, Ohio, and followed that with a runner-up finish the next year in Palo Alto, Calif. In becoming established as a pro golfer, Blake won the Utah Open in 1988.

After a typical struggle to become a PGA Tour fixture, Blake succeeded. He played 17 full seasons on the tour, perennially finishing among the top 125 money-winners. The highlight was his 1991 victory at Torrey Pines in the San Diego event that has undergone many name changes, then known for a brief time as the Shearson Lehman Brothers Open. That came during a year when Blake was at the top of his game, posting five other top-10 finishes, including a second-place showing.

Problems with his back short-circuited his PGA Tour career in his late 40s, but Blake left with $5.5 million in earnings. Physically rejuvenated, he has made a comeback on the Champions Tour, taking advantage of limited playing opportunities. Blake recorded six top-10 finishes in 2010, including two major tournaments, the Senior PGA Championship and the Senior British Open.


Dan Forsman
Forsman is a transplanted Utahn, but the roots are growing deeper all the time. Having met his wife, Trudy, as college golfer competing in the 1979 Pacific Coast Amateur at Riverside Country Club, he has lived nearby for nearly 25 years while raising his family. So having been born in Wisconsin, grown up in northern California and played collegiately at Arizona State, Forsman is well-established as a Utahn.

Forsman, 52, is the most accomplished golfer with Utah ties of his generation. He's a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, highlighting a career that also included 17 top-three finishes and 64 top-10s. He earned $8.6 million on the tour, managing to extend his career on nearly a full-time basis right up until his 50th birthday in July 2008. Health was an issue for Forsman during his career, but he was able to regroup and keep playing at a high level. In two-plus seasons on the Champions Tour, Forsman has posted two victories and earned $2.6 million, ranking among the top 10 money-winners in both 2009 and '10. He has contended frequently in tournaments, with several near-misses.

"What's changed for me out here is I'm way more relaxed," Forsman said.

Todd Barker
Before detailing Barker's exploits as a golfer, it is important to note that he'll become the first golf course superintendent inducted into the Utah Golf Hall of Fame. That group's contribution to the game in this state deserves to be recognized. Barker, 57, could have become a golf professional at his family's Fore Lakes facility, but chose the outdoor job description. That fits with his farming roots. Fore Lakes was built in the early 1970s when Barker's father, Vaughn, and grandfather, Abram, turned sugar beet and alfalfa fields into fairways, creating an 18-hole, executive/par-3 course and driving range. Barker followed his father as the superintendent.

Having watched his father compete with the likes of Jack Ridd and Garth Ford in Utah events made the concept of remaining a lifelong amateur appealing to Barker. He would dominate the local circuit as few players ever have.

A late bloomer as a golfer, Barker emerged at about age 30. Known for his smooth putting stroke and great temperament on the course, he once beat his father in a State Amateur match. In 1992, he won eight tournaments, besides being the low amateur in the Utah Open. His breakthrough in the State Am came in 1997 when he won at Alpine Country Club. Before then, he had won five Salt Lake City Amateur titles in a nine-year span and was a five-time UGA Player of the Year over 12 seasons.

Barker also won the Golf Course Superintendents National Championship twice.

Kurt Kragthorpe is a Salt Lake Tribune sportswriter and frequent contributor to Fairways.