By Dave Shedloski
Legends gathered July 13 in St Andrews, Scotland to welcome four of their peers into the greatest fraternity in golf. And what better place to celebrate the latest inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame than in the shadows of the Home of Golf, the Old Course at St Andrews and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club?
Indeed the setting was electric in historic Younger Hall at St Andrews University when Major Championship winners Dame Laura Davies, David Graham and Mark O’Meara, and the late golf course architect Albert Warren (A.W.) Tillinghast brought the number of figures enshrined in golf’s hall to a nice round number of 150.
“Tonight we celebrate a graduation to immortality,” said Sky Sports television personality Diana “Di” Dougherty, striking the right chord for the evening in her opening remarks and beginning the live broadcast of the Induction Ceremony carried in the United States by Golf Channel and in the UK by Sky.
During the 90-minute ceremony, the stories of the four new golf immortals were brought to life through their own words, through the eloquent and heartfelt thoughts of those who introduced each of them, and through the emotional energy that swirled throughout the grand cathedral that annually hosts the university’s graduation proceedings.
In addition to family and friends and many of the game’s dignitaries, 21 members of the Hall of Fame witnessed the momentous occasion. Arnold Palmer and Gary Player, who were members of the original class of 13 inductees in 1974, anchored the glitzy contingent of legends seated in the audience. Also on hand were Annika Sorenstam, Nancy Lopez, Amy Alcott, Pat Bradley, Carol Mann, Hollis Stacy, Judy Rankin, Donna Caponi, Tony Jacklin, Bernhard Langer, Curtis Strange, Sir Michael Bonallack, Ken Schofield, Isao Aoki, Sandy Lyle, Sir Bob Charles and Peter Thomson.
No one was more emotional or effusive at the podium than Graham, who spoke eloquently about his start in golf, his risky decision to leave his home in Australia to compete in the U.S., and about the honor of befriending each of the Big Three in golf – Palmer, Player (who introduced him) and Jack Nicklaus.
A two-time Major winner, who captured the 1979 PGA Championship and 1981 U.S. Open among eight PGA TOUR titles, Graham recalled receiving a phone call from then-World Golf Foundation Chairman Tim Finchem informing him of his selection, “On that afternoon I had a golf game with our friend, President George W. Bush. I told him of my selection… and on the first shot on the first tee, he said, ‘Nice shot Hall of Famer.’ That was the first time I had heard that,” Graham said, his voice cracking. “So coming from a President, that was pretty good.”“David has been such a thorough gentleman and an outstanding golfer, a man who has won golf tournaments all over the world,” Player said. “The thing that comes to mind with David is that he is so grateful. He and Charlie Sifford – I have never seen two people with such gratitude to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.”
John Hopkins, the former longtime golf correspondent for The Times of London and recipient of the 2013 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, reviewed the golfing life of Tillinghast, a visionary golf course architect and man of art, letters and antiques. Born in 1874 in Philadelphia, Tillinghast is credited with more than 100 layouts, and he was editor and a contributor to Golf Illustrated. He was among the original members of the PGA of America.
Hopkins referred to Tillinghast as “the forgotten genius of American golf course architecture,” but, of course, he was forgotten no more. “There is no argument that Tillinghast was exceptional, a man to whom all architects today owe a debt of gratitude,” Hopkins added later.
While England’s Davies was delayed in her arrival from Lancaster, Pa., where she had competed over the weekend in the U.S. Women’s Open, her presenter, former LPGA commissioner Charlie Mechem, used the opening to share heartfelt first-hand insights into one of the pioneering golfers of the women’s game.
In Davies’ pre-recorded acceptance speech, she used the opportunity to thank a range of people who helped her in her career, particularly her parents “who never pressured me, but always supported me.”
O’Meara, after a wonderful introduction from Golf Channel’s Dave Marr III, finished off the night with a profound speech that recounted his rise from U.S. Amateur champion to PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, to struggling pro after swing changes to a two-time Major Champion in 1998, when he won the Masters and Open Championship.
The highlight of his talk was recounting what has to be one of the more special victories recorded on the PGA TOUR, when he won the 1990 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with his father playing alongside as his amateur partner. “What was special was not only that my father and I made the cut, but on Sunday I was in the final group, leading the tournament playing alongside my father. There’s not many sports where you can have a moment like that.”
In addition to a new venue, the World Golf Hall of Fame selected its 2015 class with a new process. This was the first class elected by the Hall of Fame’s 16-member Selection Commission, created in 2014 to improve the process of identifying and enshrining worthy candidates. Co-chairing the Selection Commission were Hall of Fame members Lopez, Palmer, Player and Sorenstam. The Commission also included the members of the World Golf Foundation Board of Directors and an amalgam of notable institutional representatives.
