The New York State Golf Association has announced the 2018 inductees of the NYSGA Hall of Fame. Selected by a statewide panel of electors that included representatives from state regions, the elected individuals include: Walter Hagen, Dottie Pepper, Gene Sarazen, and Willie Turnesa.
“NYS Hall of Fame Chairman, Joe Enright, commented that, “the Committee selected this year’s class of honorees from a large pool of highly qualified living and deceased nominees. This pool includes individuals who have outstanding resumes in areas of competition, both amateur and professional, volunteerism, and lifetime accomplishments that have enhanced the game of golf in New York State. This year the Committee has selected two deceased World Golf Hall of Fame professionals, one of the finest amateur golfers in U.S. golf history, and a woman who has manifested the best of amateur youth and collegiate golf, excelled in LPGA competition, and who has established herself as a terrific golf commentator and supporter of youth golf.”” (via nysga)
Among Willie’s long list of Amateur accomplishments and contributions to the game of golf was, undoubtedly, the legacy he left when co-founding the WGA Caddie Scholarship Fund with Udo Reinach in 1956. To date, the Fund has awarded in excess of $21 million to more than 2,600 deserving youth caddies and young men and women who work in service to golf at Westchester area clubs.
The 2018 NYSGA Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony will be held at Brookhaven Golf Course in Porter Corners, NY on Friday, November 2, 2018.