Columnist Peter Benton: Local hall of fame honors inductees

Peter Benton

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2002 | 10:24 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

The annual awards banquet of the Southern Nevada Golf Association was held last week at Rio Secco Golf Club, with the evening highlighted by the announcement that there were three new inductees into the Association's Golf Hall of Fame.

The inductees -- PGA Senior Tour player Jim Colbert, PGA Tour player Robert Gamez and the 1998 NCAA championship UNLV Rebel golf team -- are worthy representatives of the sport. They join hall of fame members Charlie Teel, Clyde Cobb, Jim Cashman Jr., Pat Walker, Ernie Haupt, Jerry Belt and Stuart Reid.

Colbert, the only man on the Senior PGA Tour to be selected rookie of the year (1991), player of the year (1995-96) and comeback player of the year (1998), was also the Tour's recipient of the Arnold Palmer Award in 1995 and 1996 as the tour's leading money winner.

An eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, Colbert has 20 individual titles on the Senior Tour and is second only to Hale Irwin on the Senior career money list.

A native Las Vegan, Gamez was a standout with the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association and was selected its sportsman of the year in 1985. In 1986 he was an American Junior Golf Association All-American.

He was the Southern Nevada Amateur Player of the Year from 1985-88, a period in which he won just about everything possible.

Gamez won the 1989 Fred Haskins Award (U.S. amateur golf) and the Jack Nicklaus Award as collegiate player of the year.

He was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 1990 after winning his first official Tour event, the Tucson Open.

The hall's third inductee was the 1998 UNLV Rebel golf team. Led by 1999 coach of the year Dwaine Knight, the winning team consisted of Bill Lunde, Chris Berry, Charlie Hoffman, Jeremy Anderson and Scott Lander. Supporting team members that year were Daron Dorsey, Scott Wingfield, Christian Thornley and Morten Vilohoj.

Lou Oliver was the SNGA's selection as volunteer of the year while Rio Secco's director of golf, Eric Dutt, received the distinguished service award.

Player of the year for the fourth consecutive year and fifth time overall was Brady Exber. Senior player of the year honors went to Jim Saub, Jr.

Richard Lybbert was the net division player of the year.