Brian Tennyson is a former American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and later transitioned into corporate leadership and sports innovation. Born on July 10, 1962, in Evansville, Indiana, he achieved a high world ranking of 95th in 1990

High School

Tennyson, while a student at Mater Dei High School, was the Evansville City Golf Champion in 1980. Tennyson finished second in the Evansville City Tournament in 1981, but that event was held to 3 rounds due to rain.

College Career

Tennyson golfed for Ball State and was a semifinalist in the 1984 U.S. Amateur Public Links and a two-time participant in the U.S. Amateur (1982 and 1983).

Pro Career

As a professional Tennyson competed in more than 26 countries and produced several wins, including the 1983 Philippine Open and 1987 India Open.

During a 10-year period from 1987-97, the 50-year-old Tennyson qualified for five U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships and was invited to the 1991 Masters, where he finished T-22. He also was the runner-up at the 1990 Bob Hope Desert Classic (now Humana Challenge) and the 1998 Hardees Golf Classic (now John Deere Classic)

Outside of Golf

Tennyson was a college roommate of John Schnatter. Schnatter would go on to found Papa John’s Pizza, and after his first retirement from golf, Tennyson went from owner a few Papa John’s in Ohio to becoming the companies Vice-President for strategic planning. As Papa John’s went public in 1993, Tennyson became its first head of investor relations.