Costner Tyson?s Top Chick-A-Tee

For a three-day weekend at least, Rob Costner was once again the dominant rooster at Tyson Foods Inc., even if it was confined to the golfing goings-on at Springdale Country Club.

Costner, a two-time defending champion, finished third in the Championship Flight of the prestigious Chick-A-Tee Invitational. But Costner, a fresh commodities sales manager, was 26 strokes better than the next Tyson employee in the Championship Flight. Jim Bob Spencer, a distribution and transportation specialist at Tyson, finished No. 21.

Actually, Tyson Chief Operating Officer Greg Lee’s three-round total of 224 was a stroke better than Costner, but Lee was playing in the President’s Flight. The Championship Flight played from the tips (gold tees) at SCC, while the President’s Flight played from the blue tees. Lee was runner-up in the President’s Flight.

President, Chairman and CEO John Tyson missed out on this year’s event, presumably to deal with a more pressing issue than four-foot putts. On the final day of the tournament, Tyson and other Tyson Foods officials were meeting IBP Inc. officials trying to reach another merger agreement. The final deal, including assumed debt, was worth $4.42 billion.

New Cleveland Browns head coach Butch Davis, a close friend of Tyson’s, was not able to play this year.