Article Courtesy of Gary D’Amato and Wisconsin.Golf

DAVE SPENGLER

Dave Spengler was a match-play champion in his heyday.

Known by his nickname, “Sponge,” Spengler has a big, gregarious personality and, in his heyday, had a golf game to match it.

The 61-year-old head PGA professional at Northbrook Golf & Grill in Luxemburg was especially good at match play. He won the WSGA Match Play Championship in 1985 and, after turning professional, won the WPGA Match Play title three times (1993, 1996, 2004). He also was a three-time WPGA Assistant Match Play Champion (1991, 1998, 2003).

“Probably reckless stupidity,” he said with a laugh, when asked to explain his success in the format. “I could hit it long enough and generally handle deep rough and make a lot of pars from pretty much anywhere. Back then, I made a lot of birdies, too.

“My downfall in stroke play events was, generally, there would be a train wreck or two. Once I figured that out, that’s when I got my couple Section (stroke play) championships (in 1999 and 2002) and some high finishes in State Opens.”

Spengler played for Dennis Tiziani at Wisconsin and finished second in the 1985 Ray Fischer Amateur Championship. But it was as a professional that he made his mark.

He played in the Greater Milwaukee Open eight times, missing the cut by two shots in 1991 and by one shot in 2000. He also qualified nine times for the PGA Professional Championship and had one top-10 finish, and was a seven-time U.S. Open sectional qualifier.

He represented the WPGA Section in the Nelthorpe Cup matches 15 times and has the second-best winning percentage (.696) behind the late Manuel de la Torre (.710) among those with eight or more appearances. In singles, he went 3-0 against two-time State Amateur champion Bob Gregorski.

Spengler had shoulder surgery 15 years ago and has never quite reached the heights he attained earlier in his career.

“My game is awful now,” he said. “This getting old thing sucks. I enjoy playing a heck of a lot more now, just going out and not beating my brains in. I don’t go to the back tees very often anymore, either. Now, give me 6,600, 6,700 yards and I’m a lot more comfortable.”

Spengler said he became emotional when he learned he had been elected to the Wisconsin Golf Hall of Fame.

“I started crying a little bit,” he said. “It really was not something I ever thought about, or thought could happen. I was kind of in shock that it did happen. I’m still pretty stunned.”

MARIO TIZIANI

His playing career can be divided neatly into two chapters.

In the first chapter, he was a talented amateur and young professional. A three-time Madison City Tournament winner. Big Ten Freshman of the Year, playing for his father at UW. Wisconsin State Open champion. Two-time winner on the Canadian Tour. Thirty-eight starts on the PGA Tour.

“Nothing outstanding or super-noteworthy, but I had a lot of success,” Tiziani said. “I won a lot of tournaments at every level. I made it to the highest level and that’s pretty gratifying. I guess I would say I’m most proud of getting to the PGA Tour. It was a cup of coffee, right? I wasn’t there very long. So the first chapter, that would be it.”

About 15 years ago, though, Tiziani burned out on tournament golf.

“Toward the end of my first stint, I was pretty numb and calloused to what was happening,” he said. “I didn’t love it at all. It was a job. I was almost like a zombie. I got up, I hit balls, I practiced, I worked hard, I went to the tournament. It was a vicious cycle.”

He stepped away and for about a decade played no competitive golf and only a handful of recreational rounds a year. He became a sports agent, representing Stricker, among others, and worked behind the scenes to help launch the American Family Insurance Championship in 2016. The tournament, hosted by Stricker, has enjoyed a hugely successful run on the Champions tour.

In 2021, the AmFam gave him a sponsor’s invitation and a chance to compete again at the highest level.

“That was not something that I looked to do,” Tiziani said. “I talked to several guys out there who couldn’t wait to turn 50 and do it. Shoot, it was six months out and I still wasn’t planning on it.”

It wasn’t long, though, before he found himself enjoying a second act as a player. Within a span of 11 months in 2021-22, he won the Minnesota Senior Open, the Wisconsin Senior Open and the Arizona Senior Open.

“It was pretty immediate, the fire that got stoked once I got to competing again,” Tiziani said. “I didn’t appreciate that feeling, I don’t think, toward the end of my first stint. I feel like I got a bonus card. I kind of got another chance and not everybody gets that, so I’m trying to take advantage of it.”

Tiziani qualified for the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs in 2022 and 2023 — despite not having full-time status on the Champions tour — while he was still managing other players’ careers with MGC Sports and occasionally caddying for Stricker.

He has made 10 starts on the Champions tour this year and ranks 51st on the Charles Schwab Cup money list. He’ll be in the field at the AmFam Championship, June 7-9 at University Ridge GC. He also qualified for the U.S. Senior Open, June 27-30 at Newport Country Club in Newport, R.I.

“I feel like there’s more in there,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be elite on the Champions tour. I’m comfortable with that. I’ve seen elite and it’s probably not going to be me. But I think I’m a guy that could pick off a win here or there and be somewhat relevant.

“Hopefully, my proudest moment is ahead of me.”

MALINDA JOHNSON

Malinda Johnson, one of the best women golfers in Badgers history, won the Wisconsin State Women’s Open four times.

Photo courtesy of uwbadgers.com

Twenty years after leaving UW, the powerful left-hander from Eau Claire still ranks among the best woman golfers in program history.

Johnson helped lead the Badgers to their first-ever team berth in the NCAA tournament in 2003 and had three top-four finishes in the Big Ten Conference tournament, including a runner-up in 2002.

“One of the top couple players to play in our program,” current Wisconsin coach Todd Oehrlein said of Johnson in a story on uwbadgers.com. “Just unbelievably talented.”

Johnson won the Women’s Western Junior Championship in 1999 and was a three-time WPGA Junior champion. She had scholarship offers from five Big Ten schools but chose Wisconsin in large part because Dennis Tiziani was the coach and her close friend, Katie Connelly, was on the team.

“It was a blast,” Johnson said of playing for Tiziani. “He made me a better player. He was always so positive. He made my swing what it was. It was the best decision I made to go to college there, for my career.”

Johnson won the Wisconsin State Women’s Open title four times, the first time while she was still an amateur (2003) and then three in succession as a professional (2008-2010).

Her biggest moment was winning the York (Pa.) Newspaper Company Futures Classic in 2004 — the season-ending tournament on the Futures Tour (now Epson Tour) — which allowed her to finish in the fifth spot on the money list and lock up her LPGA card for 2005.

“I got in the fifth spot on the money list by like $252,” she said. “I also only played in 12 of the 18 events that year because the first six I was still in college. That was pretty epic. When I won, we didn’t know what the money situation was. It wasn’t until they announced it at the (trophy) ceremony and then I was just kind of like, ‘Holy cow, I just did that.’

“All that hard work I put in, all the summers I missed with my friends … it was probably one of the biggest moments of my life when I won that last tournament to earn my card. It was pretty awesome. It was that satisfaction that I knew I could do it.”

Johnson made eight of 15 cuts on the LPGA Tour in 2005 but injuries took a toll and she missed the 2006 season. She wound up having surgery to repair a torn labrum in her shoulder.

Now 42, Johnson lives in Phoenix and is a woodworker and graphic designer. She underwent spinal fusion surgery in January.

“I was hurting pretty bad,” she said. “Finally, I think this summer I’ll be able to play again and play pain-free, which will be awesome.”

Will she compete again?

“I don’t know yet,” she said. “I’ll kind of play it by ear and see how I feel. I would love to, but I also don’t want to go through pain again.”

Of her election to the Wisconsin Golf Hall of Fame, she said, “It’s really cool. I just got inducted into the Badger Hall of Fame last year. It’s been a whirlwind year.”

ROBERT W. MUREN

Muren, who died in 2017 at age 69, was an avid player and an attorney who donated thousands of hours of legal expertise and time as a volunteer to promote and support Wisconsin golf.

“Anything that he spent his time with would have to have meant a lot to him,” said his wife, Charlene. “He was just a remarkable, wonderful man. I was blessed to have been married to him.”

Bob Muren died in 2017.

Muren served the game selflessly in dozens of ways.

He was president of the Wisconsin State Golf Association, served on the Wisconsin PGA Section Board of Directors, was a president and Board member at Merrill Hills Country Club (now The Legend at Merrill Hills) and founded both the Wisconsin Country Club Association and the WSGA Foundation.

In addition, he was founder and co-chair for 17 years of the M-Club Golf Outing, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for golf and other non-revenue sports at Marquette University.

Muren earned MU’s Hy Popuch Award as “man of the year” in 1995 and was inducted into the Mukwonago High School Hall of Fame.

In his professional life, he was a co-founder and a shareholder at Niebler & Muren and then became a shareholder at the law firm of Davis & Kuelthau. He was instrumental in forming Sunset Bank & Savings and was a co-owner of Olde Highlander Golf Club and Olympia Ski Hill in Oconomowoc from 1995 to 2000.

Muren never sought credit for his many contributions to the game.

“Oh, no, no, no,” Charlene said. “That was all pro bono. He did it for the love of the game. He would not want that (credit). He had a lot of humility.”

She said her late husband’s induction into the Wisconsin Golf Hall of Fame would have meant the world to him.

“He would be so honored,” she said. “He would be humble. And he would be grateful. He loved, loved, loved golf.”