July 28, 2006 Colleyville
Colleyville’s media mogul preacher featured in Missouri newspaper covering his entry into the Hooters Buffalo Run Casino Classic at Peoria Ridge Golf Course as a professional golfer.
A LocalNewsOnly.com EXCLUSIVE
The Joplin Globe reported on July 27th that the Colleyville First Baptist Church’s Senior Pastor was entered in the Hooter’s Golf Tournament.
 Colleyville’s First Baptist pastor, Frank Harber, is entered into the Peoria Ridge, Hooters Tour, Buffalo Run Casino Classic this week. Should Harber “make the cut” he would be scheduled to play in the final round in Miami, Oklahoma instead of conducting services in Colleyville. |
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The Joplin newspaper described Harber as ” the pastor of a fast-growing Dallas-area Baptist church of 5,000 members, a former professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, a radio evangelist on 800-plus FM stations nationwide and an author of numerous books, including an insightful one on why he changed from an avowed atheist to a Christian.”Harber was the subject of a story first seen on Local News Only.com on March 03, 2006 when he orchestrated “kicking out” four prominent Colleyville citizens from the church after they disagreed with his plans to move the church from Colleyville. |
Of particular interest to some local detractors of Harber is what they called the ongoing “embellishment” of the church’s growing membership, while membership is actually declining.
The article continued; One thing that will set Harber apart from the competition is he will stroll to the first tee today with an entirely new swing as the result of a week of intensive work with Marshall Smith, the golf guru who has worked through the years with Chi Chi Rodriguez, Gary Player, Walt Zembriski, Craig Stadler and a host of developing young pros and top amateurs.
“I studied all the books written by famous instructors and tried to incorporate (their swing techniques) into my swing,” Harber said. “I worked on it. I even went to many of these instructors, scheduling one-on-one with them. But I never made any deep strides. I shot in the 60s several times, but it never lasted.”
Harber was quoted by the newspaper as saying that his church is attracting pro golfers and that he played in a Las Vegas Tournament and was in the money at 14th place.
When Harber says that he knows what a good swing sounds like, he’s not joking. Quite a few players from different golf tours belong to or have visited his First Baptist Church of Colleyville, Texas.
His closest buddy is former U.S. Open champion Lee Jansen. He also has played golf with Ben Crane and Rocco Mediate, made friends with Aaron Badderly, Tim Petrovic and quite a few other tour players through Bible studies on the PGA Tour, and has visited with Annika Sorenstam, Tim Simpson and others.
Twice, Harber has teed it up on the Tight Lies Tour and missed the cut both times. He also competed in the Butch Harmon Las Vegas Tour.
“The Harmon Tour was the best I ever did,” he said. “I made a check. I think I finished 14th. The check is on my wall. I’m sure Butch is waiting for me to cash it.”
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The NGA / Hooters Professional Golf Tour, formerly the Hooters/Jordan Tour, dates back to 1988 with T.C. “Rick” Jordan as its owner and founder. Jordan envisioned a golf tour that would provide professional golfers an opportunity to compete in a professional atmosphere as well as achieve financial success.
The Tour’s website states that; “it is no longer viewed as simply a training ground for the PGA Tour. With a total payout in 2003 of over 2.5 million dollars, the Hooters Tour under its sanctioning body, the National Golf Association, continues to grow and be recognized as one of the top professional tours in the world.”
As of 3:30 pm, the “Preacher Professional Golfer” was tied for 118th spot, out of 121 reporting, with a first round 83. It appears the Colleyville pastor will not be “in the money” at this Hooter’s Tournament, since he would have to turn in a 18 hole golf score around 56 today to make the cut.
To see the scoring at the Hooter’s Buffalo Run Casino Classic, Click Here.
Apparently Pastor Harber will not be playing the final round of the Hooter’s event, so should be available to conduct services at the Colleyville church, where it is rumored that he is paid in excess of $210,000 annually.
Qualifying round score as of 6:00 pm. The cut to make the tournament was a score of 144 for 36 holes.
| 116 | T118 | Frank Harber | Colleyville, TX | +26 | F | +15 | 83 | 87 | 170 |
