World Golf Hall of Fame

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 History
2 Membership categories
3 Membership
- 3.1 Men
- 3.2 Women
4 Notes and references
5 External links

The World Golf Hall of Fame is located in St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site serves both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 golf organisations from all over the world. [1]

The Hall of Fame museum features a permanent exhibition which not only has galleries focusing on Hall of Famers, but all provides broad coverage of the history of golf. There is also a rolling program of temporary exhibitions.

[edit] History

The World Golf Hall of Fame was originally located in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and was privately operated by Diamondhead Corp., then owners of the Pinehurst Resort. It opened in September 1974 with an initial class of 13 members. [2] To start with it was a local project, but the PGA of America took over management in 1983 and acquired full ownership in 1986.

Two other halls of fame have been merged into the World Golf Hall of Fame. The PGA of America established one in 1940, which was merged into the Pinehurst Hall in the 1980s. The Hall of Fame of Women's Golf was established by the LPGA in 1951, with four charter members: Patty Berg, Betty Jameson, Louise Suggs, and Babe Zaharias. It was inactive for some years, but in 1967 it moved into its first physical premises, which were in Augusta, Georgia and was renamed the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame. In 1998 it merged into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

In 1994 the global golf industry established a non-profit making body called the World Golf Foundation to promote the sport, with the creation of an enhanced Hall of Fame as one of its main objectives. Construction at the new site in St. Augustine began in 1996 and the new facility opened on May 19, 1998.

[edit] Membership categories

Members are inducted into the Hall of Fame in one of five categories: PGA Tour/Champions Tour, LPGA Tour, International, Lifetime Achievement, Veterans

[edit] PGA Tour/Champions Tour ballot

Current and former PGA Tour and Champions Tour players are eligible for this ballot if they meet the following requirements (beginning with 1996 election):

PGA Tour
- Minimum of 40 years old
- PGA Tour member for 10 years
- 10 PGA Tour wins or two wins in the majors or Players Championship

Champions Tour
- Champions Tour member for five years
- 20 wins between PGA Tour and Champions Tour or five wins in the majors (regular or senior) or Players Championship

Election requirements:

Years	% of returned ballots needed for election
1996-2000	75%
2001-2003	65%
2004-	65%, in the event that no candidate receives 65%, the nominee receiving the most votes with at least 50% is elected

Voters may vote for up to 30% of the players on the ballot. If a player is named on less than 5% of the ballots for two consecutive years, they are dropped from the ballot. Players not elected can remain on the ballot for up to 15 years (prior to 2007 the limit was 10 years).[3]

[edit] LPGA point system

LPGA Tour golfers are eligible through a point system. Since 1999, LPGA members automatically qualify for World Golf Hall of Fame membership when they meet these three criteria:

Must be/have been an "active" LPGA Tour member for 10 years.
Must have won/been awarded at least one of the following - an LPGA major championship, the Vare Trophy or Player of the Year honors; and
Must have accumulated a total of 27 points, which are awarded as follows - one point for each LPGA official tournament win, two points for each LPGA major tournament win and one point for each Vare Trophy or Rolex Player of the Year honor earned.

Before 1999, players had to win 30 tournaments, including two majors; 35 tournaments with one major; or 40 tournaments in all to automatically qualify. At one time, players had to win two different majors to qualify with 30 wins, but this was changed earlier in the 1990s.

[edit] International ballot

Men and women golfers not fully eligible for PGA/Champions Tour ballot or the LPGA Tour point system are eligible for the International ballot if they meet the following requirements [4] (beginning with 1996 election):

Minimum of 40 years old

Cumulative 50 points earned as follows:

- Men
  - 6 points – Major victories
  - 4 points – Players Championship win
  - 3 points – Other PGA Tour win, European Tour win
  - 2 points – Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia, Champions Tour win
  - 1 point – Other national championship win; Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup participation

- Women
  - 6 points – Major^[1] victories
  - 4 points – Other LPGA Tour win, Women's British Open win prior to 2001^[2]
  - 2 points – LPGA of Japan Tour win, Ladies European Tour win
  - 1 point – Other national championship win, Solheim Cup participation

Election requirements: same as PGA Tour ballot.

[edit] Lifetime Achievement category

There is also a "lifetime achievement" category through which anyone who has made a major contribution to the organization or promotion of the sport may be selected, for example, Bob Hope. These members are chosen by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors. Naturally they all played golf, in some cases with some competitive success, but it wasn't their play which won them a place in the Hall of Fame.

[edit] Veteran's category

The last category was created to honor professional or amateur players whose career concluded at least 30 years ago. These members are also chosen by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors.

[edit] Membership

New members are inducted each October, and by October 2006 there were 114 members. The results of the annual ballots are announced each April.

[edit] Men

Unless stated otherwise these men were inducted mainly for their on-course success. The exceptions mostly correspond with the lifetime achievement category, but not quite. For example Charlie Sifford was notable as a player but was inducted for lifetime achievement.

(1974) Walter Hagen
(1974) Ben Hogan
(1974) Bobby Jones
(1974) Byron Nelson
(1974) Jack Nicklaus
(1974) Francis Ouimet
(1974) Arnold Palmer
(1974) Gary Player
(1974) Gene Sarazen
(1974) Sam Snead
(1974) Harry Vardon
(1975) Willie Anderson
(1975) Fred Corcoran - many-faceted promoter and administrator
(1975) Joseph Dey - executive director of the USGA and the first commissioner of the PGA Tour
(1975) Chick Evans
(1975) Young Tom Morris
(1975) John Henry Taylor
(1976) Tommy Armour
(1976) James Braid
(1976) Old Tom Morris
(1976) Jerome Travers
(1977) Bobby Locke
(1977) John Ball
(1977) Herb Graffis - golf writer and founder of the U.S. National Golf Foundation
(1977) Donald Ross - golf course architect
(1978) Billy Casper
(1978) Harold Hilton
(1978) Bing Crosby - celebrity friend of golf who founded his own PGA Tour event
(1978) Clifford Roberts - co-founder of the Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament
(1979) Walter Travis
(1980) Sir Henry Cotton
(1980) Lawson Little
(1981) Ralph Guldahl
(1981) Lee Trevino
(1982) Julius Boros
(1983) Jimmy Demaret
(1983) Bob Hope - celebrity friend of golf who founded his own PGA Tour event
(1986) Cary Middlecoff
(1987) Robert Trent Jones, Sr. - golf course architect
(1988) Bob Harlow - promoter who played a key role in the early development of the PGA Tour
(1988) Peter Thomson
(1988) Tom Watson
(1989) Jim Barnes
(1989) Roberto De Vicenzo
(1989) Raymond Floyd
(1990) William C. Campbell - two-time President of the USGA
(1990) Gene Littler
(1990) Paul Runyan
(1990) Horton Smith
(1992) Harry Cooper
(1992) Hale Irwin
(1992) Chi Chi Rodriguez
(1992) Richard Tufts - ran Pinehurst and served as President of the USGA
(1996) Johnny Miller
(1997) Seve Ballesteros
(1997) Nick Faldo
(1998) Lloyd Mangrum
(2000) Jack Burke, Jr.
(2000) Deane Beman - Commissioner of the PGA Tour 1974-1994
(2000) Sir Michael Bonallack - British golf administrator
(2000) Neil Coles first chairman of the PGA European Tour.
(2000) John Jacobs - first Tournament Director of the European Tour
(2001) Greg Norman
(2001) Payne Stewart
(2001) Bernhard Langer
(2001) Allan Robertson
(2001) Karsten Solheim - golf equipment manufacturer and founder of the Solheim Cup
(2002) Ben Crenshaw
(2002) Tony Jacklin
(2002) Tommy Bolt
(2002) Harvey Penick - golf instructor
(2003) Nick Price
(2003) Leo Diegel
(2004) Charlie Sifford
(2004) Isao Aoki
(2004) Tom Kite
(2005) Bernard Darwin - golf writer
(2005) Alister MacKenzie - golf course architect
(2005) Willie Park, Sr.
(2006) Vijay Singh
(2006) Larry Nelson
(2006) Henry Picard
(2006) Mark McCormack - sports agent

[edit] Women

The first five women on this list were grandfathered in from the Hall of Fame of Women's Golf, which was founded in 1951, via the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame, which was inaugurated in 1967. The list shows the years when they were originally inducted into the Hall of Fame of Women's Golf. Unless stated otherwise the women on the list were inducted primarily for their on-course achievements.

(1951) Betty Jameson
(1951) Patty Berg
(1951) Louise Suggs
(1951) Babe Zaharias
(1960) Betsy Rawls
(1964) Mickey Wright
(1975) Glenna Collett-Vare
(1975) Joyce Wethered
(1975) Kathy Whitworth
(1977) Sandra Haynie
(1977) Carol Mann
(1978) Dorothy Campbell Hurd Howe
(1982) JoAnne Carner
(1987) Nancy Lopez
(1991) Pat Bradley
(1993) Patty Sheehan
(1994) Dinah Shore - celebrity friend of the LPGA; founded a tournament that eventually became a major
(1995) Betsy King
(1999) Amy Alcott
(2000) Beth Daniel
(2000) Juli Inkster
(2000) Judy Rankin
(2001) Donna Caponi
(2001) Judy Bell - administrator; first female President of the USGA
(2002) Marlene Bauer Hagge
(2003) Hisako "Chako" Higuchi
(2003) Annika Sörenstam
(2004) Marlene Stewart Streit
(2005) Ayako Okamoto
(2005) Karrie Webb
(2006) Marilynn Smith

Future inductee:

(2007) Se Ri Pak - already qualified, but cannot be inducted until she has made 10 starts in each of 10 seasons on the LPGA Tour.

[edit] Notes and references

^ This specifically refers to events recognized as majors by the U.S. LPGA. The three richest women's tours each recognize a different set of majors, although the U.S. LPGA set is by far the most significant on a global scale. See women's major golf championships for a fuller discussion.
^ The Women's British Open was first recognized as a U.S. LPGA major in 2001.