PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Membership in the PGA Golf Professional Hall
of Fame swelled to 150 Tuesday night, when eight contributors —
representing impactful teachers, mentors and black pioneers — earned
their respective niches on a wall of granite at the PGA Museum of Golf.
Golf instructors Bob Toski and Michael Hebron made their impact in
golf education from opposite ends of the sport’s “needle.” They were
joined by pioneers in diversity Jimmie DeVoe and William Powell; and by
PGA of America Honorary President Allen Wronowski, who championed the
launch of Golf 2.0, the industry-supported strategic plan to grow the
game.
The balance of the class featured the late Illinois PGA legend Bill
Ogden, Indiana’s Chip Essig and Western New York’s Jim Mrva. The
ceremony attracted an audience of 400 at the PGA Education Center,
including NFL Hall of Fame legend Franco Harris, who supported the late
Powell, and is a member of the Clearview Legacy Foundation of East
Canton, Ohio. NBC Sports’ Jimmy Roberts was master of ceremonies for the
gala event, held next to the PGA Museum of Golf, at the PGA Education
Center.
“We owe a deep debt of gratitude to these PGA Professionals for
caring about the game, and we are proud to celebrate the lives of those
who gave themselves so selflessly,” said Roberts.
Bob Toski added Tuesday’s honor to his previous perch in the World
Golf Teachers Hall of Fame (1990). At age 30 he quit his Tour
competitive career to be closer to his family. He was praised by Jack
Nicklaus on a video, who said, “Bob’s greatest gift to golf was Bob.”
Toski won 11 events between the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, and
competed in 21 majors. His animated style and showmanship, coupled with
challenging his students, made him a premier instructor. His notable
students include Tom Kite, Bruce Crampton, Judy Rankin, and Ken Duke,
who attended Tuesday night.
“I look back and feel like I had an angel on my shoulder,” said
Toski, 86, who a month ago proudly recorded a 73 for a casual 18-hole
round. Toski said that his advice for young professionals is simply
“Love.”
“Love what you do, love your family, love your profession, love your
job, love your nation,” he said. “Only in America does this happen.”
Mike Hebron of St. James, N.Y., was the catalyst for the largest
educational forum in the golf industry — the PGA Teaching & Coaching
Summit. Hebron earned the 1991 PGA Teacher of the Year Award and in
2008 was inducted into the Metropolitan PGA Section Hall of Fame. Hebron
was asked why he made a major shift in his career after receiving The
PGA’s highest teaching honor.
“I’m curious,” said Hebron, who embarked on a scientific journey as a
means to golf instruction featuring how the brain processes
information. “I wanted to understand why people were not reaching their
potential. I have been learning about the nature of learning over the
past 20-plus years.”
The late DeVoe and Powell became the first African-American members
of the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame. Dr. Jeffrey Sammons, a New
York University history professor, presented DeVoe, the oldest (74) to
be elected to PGA membership after the rescinding of the
“Caucasian-only” clause in 1962. DeVoe passed away in 1979 at age 90,
and had no living descendants. DeVoe operated the first African-American
golf school in the 1930s in the basement of a pharmaceutical store in
Harlem. He would eventually settle in Los Angeles, becoming a skilled
player and popular teacher.
“Jimmie DeVoe found a way to make a living playing golf,” said
Sammons, whose championed DeVoe’s Hall of Fame application based upon
many examples of the golfer’s promoting and teaching the game. “He once
said that he could tell someone how to play the game, but couldn’t tell
them how well they would play it.”
In 1963, DeVoe was allowed to compete in the Southern California PGA
Championship due to the fact that he was employed at a recognized golf
club and under the tutelage of PGA Professional Harry Bassler.
Meanwhile, there were protests outside the course gates. “He had
incredible patience, and persevered to demonstrate respect for the game
and harbor no hard feelings,” Sammons said.
PGA/LPGA Professional Renee Powell accepted the honor on behalf of
her father, who passed away in December 2009, some four months after
receiving the PGA Distinguished Service Award. William Powell remains
the only African-American to build, own, and operate a golf course.
In 1946, Powell began breaking down barriers by building a “color
blind” course, Clearview Golf Club of East Canton, Ohio. Clearview is
among the National Register of Historic Places. Powell was 83 when he
was granted PGA Life Membership status, retroactive to 1962.
Renee Powell announced three tributes for her late father, featuring
resolutions by the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate, along
with a proclamation by Ohio Gov. Jim Kasich. Additionally, Roberts read a
letter from Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina.
“Bill Powell was a trailblazer who helped make the sport I love
accessible to all,” Clyburn wrote. “In 1946, when I was just six years
old growing up in the segregated South, he opened the first golf course
designed, built and operated by an African-American so people who looked
like me could enjoy the sport. It is extremely fitting that The PGA
honors him today for his lasting mark on golf and this nation.”
Renee Powell, the 2003 PGA First Lady of Golf, was the second
African-American to compete on the LPGA Tour. She was tutored by her
father and after her competitive career, would serve as PGA head
professional at Clearview Golf Club, and extend her father’s efforts for
growing the game.
“I’m very proud of how my father was viewed by many in this country
and around the world,” said Powell. “And, I am proud of his
contributions to American history. He paved the way for many and was a
living example of never giving up.”
Don “Chip” Essig IV of Westfield, Ind., the 2011 PGA Golf
Professional of the Year, completed the second father-son combination in
the Hall of Fame. He followed the lead of his father, Don, in becoming a
respected PGA Rules official and Indiana PGA Section leader.
Essig said his toughest “spot” as a PGA Rules official came on Friday
morning in the 2012 Ryder Cup on the second hole at Medinah (Ill.)
Country Club. Before the day was over, he would be involved in seven
rulings “As a Rules official, you don’t try to become part of the
story,” said Essig. “That was the toughest day ever for me in Rules.”
Jim Mrva, the 2010 PGA Golf Professional of the Year, mentored more
than 30 aspiring PGA Professionals while becoming one of the most
decorated members of the Western New York PGA Section.
A native of Endicott, N.Y., Mrva was introduced to golf by his
father, who worked for the Endicott Johnson Shoe Company. He began as a
caddie, and later became a club champion. Mrva went on to graduate from
Rutgers University in 1972. “I don’t remember starting the game, because
it was the way we lived — all around golf,” said Mrva.
The late Bill Ogden, formerly of Glenview, Ill., was one of the most
prolific player-instructors in Illinois PGA Section history. He mentored
43 PGA Professionals who went on to head professional positions.
“Bill brought out the best in all of us,” said PGA Master
Professional Tim O’Neal, also of Glenview, who represented Ogden. “We
enjoyed good fortune in our lives when we were chosen to work for Bill
Ogden.”
PGA Honorary President Allen Wronowski served as The PGA of America’s
37th president from November 2010-12. He is the PGA director of member
and player development at Hillendale Country Club in Phoenix, Md., a
facility that remains the only facility to have employed two PGA of
America presidents. The late PGA President, Bill Clarke, was a mentor to
Wronowski.
During Wronowski’s term as PGA president, the Association launched
and guided Golf 2.0, which is designed to broaden access and appeal to
diverse audiences, especially minorities, women, and junior golfers.
“I tried to represent the game the best that I could and make the
industry better,” said Wronowski. “The development of Golf 2.0 has been
very special, and is one of the great tools for our members.”
About the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame
Originated in 1940 at the suggestion of famed sportswriter Grantland
Rice, the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame was relocated in 2005 at
the PGA Museum of Golf at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The Hall
of Fame recognizes all PGA members who have made significant and lasting
contributions to the building of The PGA of America and the game of
golf. The inductees include PGA Presidents, PGA Golf Professional of the
Year award winners as well as those PGA Professionals who also
distinguish themselves as competitors while in service to The PGA of
America.
Story Credit: PGALinks