The Thendara Golf Club will host a 90th Anniversary Golf Exhibition on Saturday, June 18 featuring PGA Touring Professional, Barry Cheesman.

According to George Hilte-brant, president of the club’s board of directors, Cheesman, aka “The Big Cheese,” will be joined in the exhibition by Thendara Golf Pro Richard Chapman and Damon Kull and Colin Criss, the two top players of the Town of Webb School’s golf team.

Hiltebrant said that the club hasn’t hosted a PGA Touring Professional since the early ’70s.

He recalls that the first two pros invited were Arnold Palmer and Sammy Snead, but over the years the club had played host to a number of other pros, including Lee Trevino.

“If it works out well this year, we’re hoping that Barry will come back again and bring another pro with him-and we can start building on more exhibitions,” he said.

The Cheesman visit was arranged by Club Pro Chapman, who got to know him during a Florida visit.

“I went to see him about my game and we worked together a little and played quite a bit,” said Chapman.

“Then last year I thought it would be a good idea to try to get him to come up here to do an exhibition. He was really interested-especially after telling him about Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and all the other big boys that have played Thendara.”

Tim Foley, a member of the board of directors, thought the revival of the golf exhibitions was a great idea and a fitting way to celebrate the club’s 90th anniversary-especially because most of the older club members have fond memories of the pro outings.

The Thendara Golf Club was established in 1921 by the Town’s forefathers who believed it would become a tourist attraction and would give people another reason to visit the area, according to Foley.

“That’s why the club will always be open to the public. Those early exhibitions were also promoted to bring tourists to the area to support all of our businesses. That’s another reason why it’s important to bring them back. It’s another great tourist attraction for our great community,” Foley said.

Exhibition organizers are anxious to see what kind of score Cheesman will post next week as he is known to be one of the longest drivers on tour.

Cheesman is consistently in the top ten in driving distance. He has qualified for the final round in 82 PGA tournaments, with seven finishes in the top ten.

On the Nationwide Tour, he qualified for the final round 94 times, with 18 top ten finishes.

“He could probably drive holes #3, #6 and #7 which are all par 4, and he could possibly drive #11, and #15 depending on the wind’s direction. It will be fun for people to see that,” Chapman said.

Chapman is also looking forward to seeing young golfers Colin Criss and Damon Kull play along with the pro.

“I don’t think people truly understand what we have done with the junior golfers at our club. This is the smallest school out there and they’ve won their first sectional championship ever. It’s a great accomplishment,” he said.

The event is free to all spectators. It will begin at 11 a.m. with a clinic for spectators, followed by a noon Meet and Greet session with Barry Cheesman. Lunch will be available.

The 18-hole exhibition will begin at 1 p.m.

A complimentary party with hors d’oeuvres with a cash bar starts at 6 p.m.

More information is available by calling the Thendara Golf Club at (315) 369-3136.