The history of sports in Northern Kentucky goes back a long way. A very long way. Decades. Centuries.
We know you’ve seen these lists before, but this is a different and unique way of presenting our “50 sports icons in Northern Kentucky” as we’ll provide you one per day over the next 50 days.
Hall of Fames are everywhere in NKY, the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, High School Athletic Directors Hall of Fame, NKU, Thomas More and local high schools all have something to recognize their past.
We’ll preface this series by saying this, some of you may disagree with who should or shouldn’t be in the top 50 and that’s fine. Plenty are in the Hall of Very Good, but we feel these 50 are the one’s who stuck out to us.
Sports Editor Evan Dennison spoke and conferred with several local NKY sports history buffs to get their opinions and lists of their own and who should be “locks” for the 50 sports icons. We compiled each list and came up with the 50 of our own (maybe cheated a little by putting families in as one) to present over the next 50 days.
Hope you enjoy as summer time rolls on!
The 26th of the 50 sports icons is the Oldendick/Eberle family. We told you we cheated a little with families included! The Oldendick/Eberle clan is arguably Northern Kentucky’s first family of golf.
OLDENDICK/EBERLE FAMILY
It starts with Tom Oldendick. A Bellevue grad, Tom Oldendick is a long-time Northern Kentucky player, rules official and Kentucky Golf Association board member. He’s also a member of the Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame.
Tom’s son Bruce Oldendick is four-time Northern Kentucky Men’s Amateur champion and winner of five KPGA Senior events. He is a four-time KPGA senior player of the year. He won a KHSAA state championship at Boone County in 1982, one of just two ever to do so from NKY (St. Henry’s Ray Hoffman the other in 1945). He then went on to play at Eastern Kentucky University, from 1984-87 and was OVC Golfer of the Year in 1985 and ’86. He won the Northern Kentucky Amateur a record three years in a row from 1984-86. He’s currently the club pro at Pendleton Hills Golf Course in Butler. Bruce has won Kentucky PGA Player of the Year honors four times – including 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022. In 2022, he won eight tournaments – the Kentucky Senior Open, the Kentucky Senior Match Play event, the Kentucky Golf House Classic No. 2, the 2×2 Pro Am, the Titleist and Footjoy Team championships and the Kentucky Senior PGA Championship.
During his golf career beginning at the age of 15, Oldendick has won more than 140 tournaments, has set three course records and has recorded 19 holes in one.
Lori Oldendick Eberle, Bruce’ sister, is an eight-time Northern Kentucky Women’s Amateur champion. Eberle won her eighth Northern Kentucky Women’s Amateur in 2014 two weeks before leading the Beechwood girls golf team to its first-ever All “A” Classic regional crown.
Lori is a Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame member and won the 1984 KHSAA state championship when she was at Boone County and followed it with a stellar college career at Western Kentucky University. She’s one of just two females from NKY to ever win a state title (Notre Dame’s Bonnie Overman the other in 1980).
See the 50 sports icons on a day-to-day basis over the next 50 days
— Day 1: Dave Cowens
— Day 2: Shaun Alexander
— Day 3: Homer Rice
— Day 4: Dicky Beal
— Day 5: Jared Lorenzen
— Day 6: Jim Bunning
— Day 7: Tom Ellis
— Day 8: Nate Dusing
— Day 9: Jim Connor
— Day 10: Steve Cauthen
— Day 11: Irv Goode
— Day 12: Stan Steidel
— Day 13: Kenney Shields
— Day 14: David Justice
— Day 15: Morgan Hentz
— Day 16: Eddie Arcaro
— Day 17: Nancy Winstel
— Day 18: Steve Flesch
— Day 19: Donna Murphy
— Day 20: Randy Marsh
— Day 21: Mike Yeagle
— Day 22: Derrick Barnes
— Day 23: Dale Mueller
— Day 24: Dave Faust
— Day 25: Kirsten Allen
— Day 26: The Oldendick family
— Day 27: Martin “Mote” Hils
— Day 28: Nell Fookes
— Day 29: Owen Hauck
— Day 30: Becky Ruehl
— Day 31: Tom Thacker
— Day 32: Sydney Moss
— Day 33: Bob Schneider
— Day 34: The Walz family
— Day 35: John Toebben
— Day 36: Pat Scott
— Day 37: Bob Arnzen
— Day 38: Joan Mazzaro
— Day 39: Frank Jacobs
— Day 40: Adrienne Hundemer
— Day 41: The Draud family
— Day 42: Bill Krumpelbeck
— Day 43: The Molony family
— Day 44: Allen Feldhaus
— Day 45: The Maile family
— Day 46: Maureen Egan Corl
— Day 47: Bill Aker
— Day 48: Maureen Kaiser
— Day 49: John Brannen
— Day 50: Mike Bankemper
