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World Golf Hall of Fame

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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 controlled 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

New members are inducted each October, and by October 2006 there were 114 members. Each year a number of inductees are selected from the eligible individuals by an annual ballot. Individuals become eligible based on a wide range of criteria focused mainly on multiple tournament victories. The results of the annual ballot are announced each April.

In practice most of the elected members are men because there is a separate procedure by which members of the LPGA tour can gain entry without going through the election process. 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. Since 1999, the automatic qualification criteria for LPGA members are:

  • Must have made at least 10 starts in each of 10 years on the LPGA tour.
  • Must have either won or been awarded:
    • A major championship,
    • The Vare Trophy for lowest scoring average, or
    • The Rolex Player of the Year Award.
  • Must accumulate 27 points, acquired as follows:
    • 2 points for each major championship win
    • 1 point for each other official LPGA tournament win
    • 1 point for each Vare Trophy
    • 1 point for each Player of the Year award

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 with won them a place in the Hall of Fame.

[edit] Men

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

[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.

Future inductee:

[edit] External links

ja:世界ゴルフ殿堂 no:Golfens æresgalleri sv:World Golf Hall of Fame

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