Arizona Golf Hall of Fame Induction Videos
Arizona Golf Association October 2025
Client | AZ GOLF
Director of Photography | Alex Johnson
Executive Producer | Alex Johnson
Assistant Camera | Nick Tantillo
Color & Edit | Alex Johnson
First Assistant | Matthew Matusak
Drone | Josh Hanson
PGA TOUR Champion & U.S. Senior Open Winner
DON POOLEY
Faith. Family. Then Golf.
This is a story about how hard work beats talent. After high school, Don Pooley was winless as an amateur and without a single offer to play collegiate golf. Bravely, he jumped Sacramento for the University of Arizona on a mission to walk onto the notable golf team. And he did.
Years later, Pooley cut his teeth on mini-tours before earning his PGA TOUR card. That of which he inevitably lost a few times in his career as he tried to balance his Faith, Family & Golf.. And a slew of career threatening injuries that plagued him throughout his forty year professional career which featured:
A Byron Nelson Trophy. A win at The Memorial Tournament. A Million Dollar Hole-In-One at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. And a U.S. Senior Open title in 2002.
Don Pooley never wavered in his career, he’ll tell you he didn’t have a choice, that it was golf or nothin’.
Founder of Grayhawk Golf Club, Whisper Rock Golf Club & Papago Golf Club
GREGG TRYHUS
Grayhawk. Whisper Rock. Papago. The Bird.
Three of the most influential golf clubs in Arizona (some might say, the country) were either founded & developed or re-imagined by a humble, stoic man by the name of Gregg Tryhus. A South Dakotan transplant capitalized as first to market with one of Golf Digest’s perennial top 10 public golf courses, Grayhawk.
He then took the responsibility of turning Papago Golf Club, once a municipal money-pit, into a community outpost that re-designed the economics and viability of golf course restaurants.. All while building and developing a state-of-the-art practice facility for the Arizona State University Golf Teams.
Tryhus is a visionary of the golf business. Tryhus is also incredibly generous with his time and his knowledge. And most of all, Tryhus cares immensely about the game of Golf.
Former General Manager, TPC Scottsdale
BILL GROVE
“I rode a motorcycle to work everyday for cryin’ out loud, I never worked a day in my life.”
Bill Grove’s welcoming to Arizona was a bullet-sprayed entry to TPC Star Pass in the late 80’s, a scene that prompted Mrs. Grove to ask if they could return home, back to North Carolina, where they came from. In that moment, Grove stood strong in his faith, trusted the Lord’s plan and said, “No, honey. We’re moving to Arizona.” A relocation that would eventually flip PGA TOUR tournaments on their head.
The WM Phoenix Open. Already becoming a popular stop on the TOUR by the time Grove stepped into the saddle at TPC Scottsdale, the tournament was salaciously eager for somebody like Bill to get his hands on it. Grove was unafraid to experiment, to innovate, to try things. Aside from the Phoenix Open’s success, Grove spent much of his career on training his staff members, passing the torch alongside the generational knowledge.
Without Grove, Tom Beat, a former Special Project Manager for the city of Scottsdale, believes the WM Phoenix Open and TPC Scottsdale would not be what they are today.