Inductees

She grew up in a golf family and, even when they moved from Iowa to Briarbrook Golf Course in the southwest Missouri town of Carl Junction during her college years in the late 1970s, she was still a few years away from taking up the sport.

Truth be told, when the game found Tammy Thomas, she fell in love with it. In fact, in 1991, she competed against more than 80 golfers trying to earn the 40 spots on Joplin’s Horton Smith Team.

“(At Briarbrook), I became acquainted with many of the women who played on the Horton Smith team, and I was encouraged to try out for the team,” Thomas said. “I was a long ball hitter off the tee (not always in the fairway) so they thought qualified me to try out.”

Turned out, she made the team, kick-starting what has become a 35-year run with Horton Smith Golf and a key promoter of the sport in the Joplin area. Which is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Thomas with the Class of 2026.

Thomas was captain several years in the 1990s and 2000s, and has played a key role in helping the team reach its 92^nd anniversary this year.

Additionally, she joined the Briarbrook Women’s Golf Association in 1988 and has been an active member since, serving on its Board of Directors from 1988 to 1994. Since 2015, she has been President of the Briarbrook Community Improvement District.

From 1994 to 2015, she among the founding members of the Greater Joplin Women’s Golf Association.

Overall, her organizations have grown the sport, by helping several charities, and supporting girls golf at Carl Junction High School and Missouri Southern State University.

In reality, it’s been a second job. You see, Thomas worked for the Webb City School District from 1981 to 2012, serving as principal from 1999 to retirement.

“I found out a great deal of the history of Horton Smith from the longevity of being on the team but also because my mother-in-law, Joan Thomas, who was one of the greatest golfers in the Joplin area,” Thomas said. “She knew the history and lived it. I observed her grace on and off the golf course, encouraging young female golfers and taking them under her wing. I was one of them. She and my father-in-law, Jimmy, had a passion for giving in various ways to Junior golf and young golfers in the area.”

Thomas had played some golf in Iowa but nothing serious until after her dad relocated the family so that he could work a manufacturing job in Joplin.

When she took up golf in earnest, Loma Linda golf pro Ben Pell helped shave her handicap from 40 to 20. In 1991, she and her sister-in-law, Traci, were co-captains of the Horton Smith team.

Over the years, Thomas has ensured that the Joplin Horton Smith team soldiers on.

In her role as president since 2014, she secures dates and courses willing to host its events, sets up lunches both days, and reaches out to all 22 Joplin golfers to make sure they can play both days. She then builds the team by the lowest to the highest handicaps, since the event no longer has qualifying. Securing rosters from the Springfield captain, booking hotel rooms … it’s become a labor of love.

To keep it going – and for the team’s future – she’s also reached out to Missouri Southern’s women’s golfers to be a part of it all.

“Over the years, women’s golf has dwindled,” Thomas said. “I believe families have changed somewhat with more moms working and kids being involved in more sporting, academic, and other school activity opportunities than were offered 20 years ago.”

That said …

“It has been fun watching our team come together, the younger girls and those more seasoned players,” Thomas said. “They all have the same goal – win their matches and bring home the trophy!” Thomas said.

She also is the president of the Briarbrook Community Improvement District, which oversees the golf course, pool, restaurant and political subdivision. To grow new members, the club has held Friday couples nights, as well as Tuesday morning and evening women’s groups.

Along the way, she has had the support of her husband, Steve, daughter Micah and son Tyler (wife Devin), and grandkids Kynlee, Elaina and Barrett.

“It is my hope to preserve the tradition of the Horton Smith Cup team while creating opportunities for the next generation of golfers,” Thomas said.