Tiger Woods. Phil Mickelson. Jack Nicklaus.

They were all here that steamy August in 1991. All gathered at The Honors Course for the U.S. Amateur Championship, though Nicklaus was present as a proud papa Golden Bear watching son Gary rather than as a competitor.

And all of them were drawing all of the attention from Mitch Voges, who kept fending off questions from daughter Emily about when he’d finally be finished with this silly golf tournament so the family could visit the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, and the Tennessee Aquarium, and Rock City, which was surely why they were really here.

“I kept telling her, ‘Not yet, but probably in the morning,’” said Voges, a resident of Simi Valley, Calif. “But I just kept winning.”

Over its first 25 years, the Honors has hosted more than a few significant golf tournaments. The 1996 NCAA Championship. The 25 Mid-Am. The Curtis Cup. The Palmer Cup. Two state ams for both the men and the women.

It’s even hosted a few sports writers a time or two, and in my two visits there I’ve probably lost at least 25 golf balls.

But 17 years ago it hit its hosting high note when it welcomed the U.S. Amateur, its defending champion Mickelson and the kid phenom Woods.

Neither lasted until the weekend, but Voges — who had turned pro out of Brigham Young and later regained his amateur status — kept hanging around.

“I’d watch the scoreboard after every round,” he said. “I could almost envision my name in a L.A. Times headline.”

Nor was he the only one. After Voges defeated Mike Spoza in an early match-play round, Spoza — already on the Walker Cup team — told him, “You can win here.”

Voges said there were concrete reasons for Spoza’s sentiments.

“One of the things I most respect about the Honors is the layout itself,” he said. “There may be Death on one side of the fairway and Destruction on the other, but you never get sucker-punched. It’s just hard golf. It’s a course for thinkers and shot-makers, and I’m usually pretty good on those.”

Still, Voges was 41 and the heat was, in his own word, “oppressive.”

So as his son Christian turned 13 that week while serving as his caddie and wife Rickie and Emily went sightseeing, Voges tried to stay cool, even with the media turning up the heat around him.

“One of the things I’ll always remember is this radio duo,” Voges said. “One of the guys said that if anyone over 40 won the event, he’d eat a can of dog food on the air. I’ve still got the tape of him doing it. I’ll pull it out and watch it now and then. It’s still funny.”

That person was “Sport Talk” co-host Gary Haskew, who in those days was joined by his brother Jerre and current co-host Scott McMahen.

“We were interviewing Jay Sigel late one afternoon and he was dripping with sweat. The heat and humidity were awful,” Jerre recalled Tuesday. “Jack Lupton had graciously agreed to to be on the radio with us for a few minutes, and when Sigel left, Mr. Lupton said, ‘That guy looks like death eating a cracker.’”

Gary was back at WGOW that day while his brother and McMahen handled the live interviews. Knowing that Sigel (a two-time U.S. Amateur champ and current Senior Tour player) was over 40, Gary made the dog food remark.

Seventeen years later, he says, “I’m not even sure I knew who Mitch Voges was. But I couldn’t imagine one of the older guys holding up for 36 holes (in the final) in that heat.”

Still, when Voges reached Sunday’s final against 1990 runner-up Manny Zerman, Haskew went shopping.

“I went out to research dog food,” he said. “I found a can of Mighty Dog turkey dinner that was smaller than a regular dog food can. I decided if I could smear a cracker with enough Cheez Whiz and hot sauce that I could probably get it down.”

When Voges obliterated Zerman 7 and 6 (up seven holes with six to play), Gary was forced to swallow his Mighty Dog.

“You should have seen it,” Jerre said. “All three television stations were there. An Associated Press guy from Atlanta was driving through when the show came on, and he ended up finding the station and writing a story. It wound up in over 60 newspapers.”

Within a few weeks, John Madden’s Ace Hardware Sports Quiz segment picked up the video. More than 500 stations ran it.

“They still run it now and then,” Gary said. “And when they do, I usually hear about it.”

On the night he won, Voges and his family celebrated at a local T.G.I. Friday’s, where he autographed a visor for Jerre Haskew.

They went home to California on Monday without Mitch ever accompanying Emily to the Choo-Choo or Rock City.

“I had to rush home to get a passport, then fly to Ireland for the Walker Cup,” said Voges, who now runs Max Out Golf, a business that uses computer technology to improve your game.

Yet the flagstick and flag from the 12th green (where he clinched the final match) aren’t all that help Voges fondly recall The Honors Course.

“First of all, it’s just a special place,” he said. “I don’t like to single places out, but along with Augusta National and Pebble Beach it’s one of a handful of top courses nationally.

“But that win also earned me a spot in the Masters the next year and a spot on the Walker Cup team. Having my son there to caddie and my wife and daughter walk the course made it the most special memory of my golf career.”

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