Changes in the schedule and timing of the induction ceremony for the World Golf Hall of Fame in recent years has seen the ceremony moved away from the Hall’s facility in St. Augustine, Florida to be held at other notable venues in the world of golf.
This year, as the U.S. Open returned to Pebble Beach Golf Links for the sixth time, the Hall of Fame welcomed an auditorium full of golf’s luminaries to the Sunset Center, in nearby Carmel. Thirty-four Hall of Famers were in the audience on the Monday evening before the 119th U.S. Open—more than have ever been gathered in one room at the same time.
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| The 2019 Class of the World Golf Hall of Fame (clockwise from top right: Retief Goosen, Dennis Walters, Jan Stephenson, Billy Payne, and Peggy Kirk Bell) |
Five new members were inducted into the Hall on Monday evening: two for their playing records—Retief Goosen and Jan Stephenson, and three in the Lifetime Achievement category—club pro, trick-shot artist, and disabled golf advocate, Dennis Walters; talented amateur golfer and early LPGA member Peggy Kirk Bell; and former Augusta National Golf Club chairman Billy Payne.
Dennis Walters, who was a 24-year-old assistant club pro when he was paralyzed from the waist down as the result of a golf-cart accident in 1974, has been supporting the growth of the game of golf for over 40 years through trick-shot performances and playing clinics. Walters is one of 11 honorary lifetime members of the PGA of America, was awarded the Ben Hogan Award for courage in 1978, and the 2018 recipient of the USGA’s Bob Jones Award.
Walters has done over 3,000 performance and traveled three million miles since he started doing playing clinics and trick shot shows.
Jan Stephenson has won golf tournaments on five continents – over 20 in all, and has transitioned from a champion golfer into a champion supporter of golf-related charities.
Stephenson earned LPGA Rookie of the Year honors in 1974, and went on to win 16 tournaments on the LPGA Tour, including three major championships—the 1981 du Maurier, 1982 LPGA Championship, and the 1983 U.S. Women’s Open. She became the face of the LPGA Tour in the 1977 when she was featured in an ad campaign, the brainchild of then-LPGA Commissioner Ray Volpe. The use of a somewhat racy outtake photo on the cover of Sport magazine vaulted her into the spotlight, promulgating an image which has followed her throughout her career.
Stephenson was a founder of the Women’s Senior Golf Tour, now the Legends Tour.
Peggy Kirk Bell was an outstanding amateur star, a charter member of the LPGA, and a member of the winning 1950 United States Curtis Cup team. She was a lifetime teacher who lived to spread the word about the game of golf, which she did with relish at her resort, Pine Needles Lodge, in North Carolina. An enthusiastic aviator, Bell once organized a tournament at Pine Needles which required players to hold a valid pilot’s license.
Retief Goosen is a two-time U.S. Open champion, in 2001 and 2004; Euro Tour Order of Merit winner in 2001 and 2002; and played on six consecutive President’s Cup teams, from 2000 to 2011.
Goosen survived being struck by lightning on the golf course as a 15-year-old, yet continued in the game. Transitioning from an amateur career in South Africa, he moved on to the Sunshine Tour, the Asian Tour, and the European Tour, where he eventually racked up 14 wins, before moving on to the PGA Tour. His seven wins on the PGA Tour include two U.S. Opens; the 2001 U.S. Open was his first PGA Tour victory.
Billy Payne was the chairman of the Augusta National Golf Club for 11 years, from 2006 to 2017. He was the driving force behind the effort to bring the 1996 Summer Olympic Games to Atlanta, Georgia. During his tenure, many changes were implemented at ANGC, including the induction of the club’s first two female members—former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Atlanta-based financier and business executive, Darla Moore—and the nationwide Drive, Chip, and Putt competition for children aged seven to 15.
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