This is the sixth in a series profiling the inductees

Having been a member of the Jackson Touchdown Club for more than 25 years, Canton’s Joe Iupe Jr. knows all about the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and its annual induction banquet.

In 1986, Iupe was in charge of running the induction ceremony. On Friday, Iupe will be one of the guests – as a member of the 2005 Hall of Fame induction class.

“Mike Robbins actually told me that I would be in the 2005 class back last May, that seems so long ago,” said Iupe. “I’ve been a member of the Jackson Touchdown Club for the last 25 years and I’ve been a director for the Hall of Fame ceremony.

“I always knew it was a possibility, but then again it’s such a great honor going into a Hall of Fame with my idols like Archie Manning and Walter Payton.”

While he may have dreamed of becoming a football star like Manning or Payton, Iupe earned his creditinals to the Hall of Fame as being one of Mississippi’s best all-time amateur golfers. He won a record-tying five Mississippi Professional Golf Association titles, a tournament that includes the states’ best amateurs and club pros.

Iupe credits longtime golf teacher Robbie Webb with developing his game. Webb, the club pro at the Canton Country Club, begs to differ.

“Actually, my best contribution to Joe’s game was convincing his father to get him out of football before they killed him,” Webb said. “Joe was a little bitty fellow, but he had a lot of talent. I really didn’t teach him much. He learned to teach himself. But Joe was always real sharp.”

Iupe started golf as a hobby when he was 6 years old. Under Webb’s guidance, it didn’t take long before he was beating everyone at the club.

“Back in the 60s, I played a lot of age-group events. It seemed like I was beating everybody at 12 and then at 13 or 14, I started winning on a statewide basis,” Iupe said.

All the while, Iupe kept Webb’s rules in mind.

“He taught me the rules of golf, my golf swing and most of all to finish what you start. And when you were done, to always smile when you turn in your scorecard, whether you had a good round or not,” Iupe said.

After leading Canton Academy to two state team titles in the Mississippi Private School Association, winning the 1973 Mississippi Insurance Classic at the Jackson Country Club and a third place finish at 1974 MPGA Invitational, it was time for Iupe to decide on where to go to college.

“I had offers to go a to big-tme programs like Texas or LSU and golf at the state schools was not very strong. But my love for Mississippi State won out, it was the school I knew. We didn’t have the resources the other schools did, but I don’t regret not going there,” Iupe said.

For four years, Iupe played in every competitive round with the Bulldogs. He led MSU to the 1977 Mississippi Intercollegiate team title with a co-medalist finish.

With his career at State done, Iupe faced his biggest decision. To go pro, or stay an amateur and go into the family business. The clothing store in Canton won out.

“Some of the best advice I got was if you can’t win in Mississippi, what makes you think you’d win on the PGA Tour,” Iupe said. “Well, I knew I was capable of going pro because I had done well in Mississippi. But unlike today, where they are so many opportunities like the Hooters Tour, the Nationwide Tour, I didn’t want to be that guy who spent several years until his mid 30s and golf would be the only thing they could do.”

What made it an easy decision for Iupe was the structure of the PGA Tour.

“Back then, the PGA Tour had what was called the rabbit system. Your tour card meant you were a member but you were not guaranteed a spot in that week’s tournament. You had to show up on Monday and qualify. If you did good, you played that week. It not, you had to wait until the next Monday at another tournament. It was a very uncertain thing,” he said.

“I won the state amateur in 1978 and then my first state open in 1979. I had planned a national tournament schedule in 1980 and then I’d go to Q School later that year. But during the summer, I took a week off. It turned into six months and I never went pro.”

Iupe three-peated the MPGA in 1981, 1982 and 1983. He then added his fifth title in 1986.

Iupe was instrumental in bringing the United States Golf Association’s Mid-Amateur to Mississippi. It marked the first time a USGA event had been held in Mississippi.

By that time, though, a rare eye disease known as kerataconus was beginning to effect Iupe’s play. Diagonised in 1983, the disorder changed the shape of his corneas.

For the next 10 years, he competed in four-ball and individual events throughout the state, winning as many as 200 championships.

Cleveland native Billy Nowell teamed up with Iupe for several four-ball events in Cleveland during this time.

“Joe really helped bring the best out of me,” Nowell said. “He’s a true gentleman and we had a good record here at the Cleveland Country Club.

“I think the best thing about Joe’s game was his ability to use his head.”

Iupe gave up competitive golf in 1996, but he is still active in the game.

For five years he was the general manager at Annadale and helped bring the state’s lone PGA Tour event to the Jackson Metro area.

After leaving the GM job in 1998, Iupe continues to help promote the Southern Farm Bureau Classic as a liason between the insurance company and the PGA.

“It’s still one fo 48 events on the PGA Tour and it keeps getting better,” Iupe said. “We’ve been able to keep Metro Jackson in the mix, even with the change of dates and purses.

“Right now, I think the late September date we have this year is the best we’ve had because that’s a time when we seemed to have Chamber of Commerce type weather here in Mississippi.”