Catching up with past Tapemark Champions

Tom Lehman
Tom Lehman from Alexandria, Minn., winner of the 1990 Tapemark Charity Pro-Am (-12): “I remember winning the Tapemark in ’90 very clearly. I won in a playoff on the second extra hole. I also remember the Pro-Am very specifically because it was just a few weeks after our first child was born. I remember her fitting into the little trophy I had won,” said Lehman.

Taking the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am trophy was one of Lehman’s first victories. He went on to become a major force on the professional circuit, compiling more than 23 professional wins, including five on the PGA Tour. In 1996, he won the British Open, the PGA Tour Championship and was named the PGA Player of the Year. He is currently 19th on the alltime PGA money list, with more than $20.3 million in overall winnings.

A Minnesota native, Lehman now resides in Arizona. He still plays several events on the PGA tour and is planning on playing in the PGA Champions tour. Of the Tapemark, he remembered, “It was always a tournament that those who were really serious about golf, especially the professionals, played in. People didn’t skip it. And they still don’t skip it. That says it all.”

Rives McBee
Rives McBee from Las Colinas, Texas, winner of the 1981 Tapemark (-10): “I played pretty well that year, but I have to admit that I had the tourna- ment handed to me when David Haberle missed a real short putt on the second playoff hole. I remember that missed putt, but what I really remember is all the great people up in Minnesota asso- ciated with the Tapemark. It really was a marvelous tournament, run by a bunch of people who all pitched in and ran a really first-class golf event,” said McBee.

McBee played in the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am three times in the late seventies. He took over The Sports Club in Irving, Texas in 1981, where the Byron Nelson PGA event was held in those days. “I left that club a few years later, then I joined the Senior PGA Tour,” he said. “I was fortunate, I played pretty well out there and I made enough money to put a few bucks away and eventually retire.” McBee actually won three times on the Senior Tour, in addition to three second-place finishes.

McBee is now retired, living in Irving. “I take care of my yard and my grandson now,” he said. “Say hello to all the Tapemark people for me.”

Joel Goldstrand
Joel Goldstrand from Worthington, Minn., winner of the 1980 Tapemark Charity Pro-Am (-7): “I played in the Tapemark every year, and I won it in 1980. My tee shot on the last hole landed about two feet from the hole and made birdie to win the tourna- ment,” said Goldstrand. “I remember the Tapemark was always well attended, a good test and a well-run tournament. It was one of the largest in the state.”

Goldstrand became a golf pro at Minneapolis Golf Club in 1973 after a year on the PGA tour. After winning the Tapemark, he went on to take the Minnesota State Open in 1986.

He left the club in 1990 to go into golf course design full-time, and has since designed courses in Minnesota, Wisconsin and North and South Dakota.

After taking some time off from golf in the ‘90s, Goldstrand now plays once or twice a week with a group of life-long friends, including a high school teammate and one he has known since age six.