Clark joins local greats in Golf Hall of Fame
Monday, September 18, 2006
By Gary Kalahar
The Jackson Citizen Patriot

Shane Clark plays golf left-handed because his dad is a lefty in addition to being well thrifty.

"He had to use my clubs," Don Clark said about his son's start in the game. " I was too cheap to buy him his own."

Clark has long since tired of hearing comments about hitting from the wrong side of the ball. In the meantime, he has shown he knows how to play the game the right way. The city's finest left-handed golfer was inducted Sunday into the Jackson Golf Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Country Club of Jackson.

"I never thought of myself as left-handed," said Clark, who is not a natural southpaw. "I just never knew anything different. I was just another player trying to win tournaments out there."

That he did, racking up 15 major local titles and counting. His induction came in a year that has seen him add two victories to that total, capture the local Player of the Year honor and get married at - where else? - a golf course, Arcadia Bluffs in northern Michigan.

Jerry Lefere, a hall of fame inductee and a member of the hall of fame committee, said he always enjoyed a tournament pairing with Clark.

"I knew I was going to see good golf," Lefere said, "and I knew I was going to play with a gentleman."

Clark was inducted for his playing record in addition to that gentlemanly manner that has made him a respected player.

"You have to be nice to people - you're going to see them tomorrow," Clark said. "That's something I learned from golf. Golf has taught me a lot."

Clark, 42, took up the game as a youngster under the tutelage of his father and Dave Gilpin, then the pro at Deer Run Golf Course.

"They were always willing to help," Clark said. "They motivated me to get out there and play and practice."

Clark, a purchasing director at Alro Steel, has won the Spring Thaw a record five times and set the tournament scoring record this year. He has also won the Jackson Masters, Lyle Ambs Public Links and Tournament of Champions three times each and the City Championship once.

On Sunday, the Country Club of Jackson won the Hall of Fame men's tournament, with Tim Thayer of Arbor Hills Country Club taking medalist honors with a 1-under 71. Cascades won the women's tournament, led by the 77 of Andrea Clark.