World Golf Hall of Fame
and Museum

Established	May 19, 1998 (May 19, 1998)
Location	St. Johns County, Florida
Type	Professional sports hall of fame
Visitors	350,000/year (2009)
Website	www.worldgolfhalloffame.org

The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 golf organizations from all over the world.^[1]

The Hall of Fame Museum Building is designed by the museum architecture specialist firm of E. Verner Johnson and Associates of Boston, Massachusetts. They also produced the museum master plan that established the overall size, mission and qualities of the overall museum and the surrounding facilities and site.

The Hall of Fame Museum features a permanent exhibition and a rolling program of temporary exhibitions. Designed by museum design firm Ralph Appelbaum Associates, the Hall of Fame and exhibition area contains exhibits on the game's history, heritage, and techniques; major players and organizations; golf course design, equipment, and dress; and new directions, such as ecological concerns in course management.^[2]

History[edit]

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.^[3] Initially 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. Johns County began in 1996 and the new facility opened on May 19, 1998.

Membership categories[edit]

Hall of Fame building at World Golf Village.

In October 2013, the Hall announced that it was reviewing its selection process and that there would be no induction ceremony in 2014.^[4][5] A new process was announced in March 2014.

Starting in 2014, members are inducted into the Hall of Fame in one of four categories: Male Competitor, Female Competitor, Veterans, and Lifetime Achievement categories. Elections are held every other year with induction ceremonies in odd number years beginning in 2015. The process has changed from that used from 1996 to 2013. The minimum qualifications for male and female competitors are: minimum of 40 years old, or five years removed from "active competition" and 15 or more wins on "approved tours" or two "major wins". The veterans category is primarily for those golfers whose careers ended before 1980 and includes both amateurs and professionals. The lifetime achievement category remains from the old system.^[6]

A 20-member selection sub-committee will choose from among the eligible candidates and select ballots for a selection committee. There will be five names each on the male and female ballots and three names each on the veterans and lifetime achievement ballots. A separate 16-member selection committee will then vote on all four ballots. Election to the Hall of Fame will require 75% of the vote and each year's election class is limited to two from each ballot and five total.^[6][7]

In 2016, the Hall announced that the age requirement would be raised to 50 from 40 years old.^[8]

Qualification details[edit]

A player must have turned 50 years old prior to January 1 of the year the ballots are constructed (2016 for the 2017 induction). The "active competition" requirement will be determined by each "approved tour" that the player is/was a member of.

Male[edit]

• Approved tours (15 wins total)
  
  • PGA Tour
  
  
  • European Tour
  
  
  • Japan Golf Tour
  
  
  • Sunshine Tour
  
  
  • Asian Tour
  
  
  • PGA Tour of Australasia
  
  


• Majors or Players Championship (two wins)
  
  • Masters Tournament
  
  
  • U.S. Open
  
  
  • The Open Championship
  
  
  • PGA Championship
  
  
  • The Players Championship
  
  

Female[edit]

• Approved tours (15 wins total)
  
  • LPGA Tour
  
  
  • Ladies European Tour
  
  
  • LPGA of Japan Tour
  
  
  • LPGA of Korea Tour
  
  
  • ALPG Tour
  
  


• Majors (two wins)
  
  • U.S. Women's Open
  
  
  • Women's PGA Championship
  
  
  • 
    Women's British Open (2001−current)
  
  
  • 
    ANA Inspiration (1983−current)
  
  
  • 
    The Evian Championship (2013−current)
  
  
  • 
    du Maurier Classic (1979−2000)
  
  
  • Titleholders Championship
  
  
  • Women's Western Open
  
  

Categories from 1996 to 2013[edit]

From 1996 to 2013, members were inducted into the Hall of Fame in one of five categories: PGA Tour/Champions Tour, LPGA Tour, International, Lifetime Achievement, and Veterans.

PGA Tour/Champions Tour ballot[edit]

Current and former PGA Tour and Champions Tour players were eligible for this ballot if they met the following requirements (beginning with 1996 election):

• PGA Tour
  
  • Minimum of 40 years old
  
  
  • PGA Tour member for 10 years
  
  
  • 10 PGA Tour wins or two wins in the majors or Players Championship
    
  
  


• Champions Tour
  
  • Champions Tour member for five years
  
  
  • 20 wins between PGA Tour and Champions Tour or five wins in the majors (regular or senior) or Players Championship
  
  

Election requirements:

Voters voted for up to 30% of the players on the ballot. If a player was named on less than 5% of the ballots for two consecutive years, they were dropped from the ballot. Players not elected could remain on the ballot indefinitely^[9] (prior to 2007 the limit was 10 years, from 2007 to 2009 the limit was 15 years).^[10]

LPGA point system[edit]

LPGA Tour golfers were eligible through a point system. Since 1999, LPGA members automatically qualified for World Golf Hall of Fame membership when they meet these three criteria:

1. Must be/have been an "active" LPGA Tour member for 10 years.


2. Must have won/been awarded at least one of the following - an LPGA major championship, the Vare Trophy or Player of the Year honors; and


3. Must have accumulated a total of 27 points, which are awarded as follows - one point for each LPGA official tournament win, two points for each LPGA major tournament win and one point for each Vare Trophy or Rolex Player of the Year honor earned.

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.

This point system is still used for selection to the LPGA Hall of Fame.^[11]

International ballot[edit]

Men and women golfers not fully eligible for PGA/Champions Tour ballot or the LPGA Tour point system were eligible for the International ballot if they met the following requirements^[12] (beginning with the 1996 election):

• Minimum of 40 years old


• Cumulative 50 points earned as follows:
  
  • Men
    
    • 6 points – Major victories
    
    
    • 4 points – Players Championship win
    
    
    • 3 points – Other PGA Tour win, European Tour win
    
    
    • 2 points – Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia, Champions Tour win
    
    
    • 1 point – Other national championship win; Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup participation
    
    
  
  
  • Women
    
    • 6 points – Major^[a] victories
    
    
    • 4 points – Other LPGA Tour win, Women's British Open win prior to 2001^[b]
    
    
    • 2 points – LPGA of Japan Tour win, Ladies European Tour win
    
    
    • 1 point – Other national championship win, Solheim Cup participation
    
    
  
  

Election requirements: same as PGA Tour ballot.

Lifetime Achievement category[edit]

There was also a "lifetime achievement" category through which anyone who had made a major contribution to the organization or promotion of the sport may be selected, for example, Bob Hope. These members were chosen by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors. Most played golf, in some cases with some competitive success, but it was not their play alone which won them a place in the Hall of Fame.

Veteran's category[edit]

The last category was created to honor professional or amateur players whose career concluded at least 30 years ago. These members were also chosen by the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors.

Membership[edit]

New members are inducted each year on the Monday before The Players Championship^[13] (previous to 2010 in October or November), and by May 2013 there were 146 members. Beginning in 2010, the ballots are due in July with the results announced later in the year. New entrants in the Lifetime Achievement and Veteran's categories are announced at irregular intervals. For example, Frank Chirkinian was elected in the Lifetime Achievement category in an emergency election in February 2011, with the vote presumably held because he was then terminally ill with lung cancer;^[14] when it became clear he would not live to attend his induction, he videotaped his acceptance speech in late February, less than two weeks before his death.^[15]

Men[edit]

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

• 1974 Walter Hagen
  


• 1974 Ben Hogan
  


• 1974 Bobby Jones
  


• 1974 Byron Nelson
  


• 1974 Jack Nicklaus
  


• 1974 Francis Ouimet
  


• 1974 Arnold Palmer
  


• 1974 Gary Player
  


• 1974 Gene Sarazen
  


• 1974 Sam Snead
  


• 1974 Harry Vardon
  


• 1975 Willie Anderson
  


• 1975 Fred Corcoran – many-faceted promoter and administrator


• 1975 Joseph Dey – executive director of the USGA and the first commissioner of the PGA Tour
  


• 1975 Chick Evans
  


• 1975 Young Tom Morris
  


• 1975 John Henry Taylor
  


• 1976 Tommy Armour
  


• 1976 James Braid
  


• 1976 Old Tom Morris
  


• 1976 Jerome Travers
  


• 1977 Bobby Locke
  


• 1977 John Ball
  


• 1977 Herb Graffis – golf writer and founder of the U.S. National Golf Foundation
  


• 1977 Donald Ross – golf course architect
  


• 1978 Billy Casper
  


• 1978 Harold Hilton
  


• 1978 Bing Crosby – celebrity friend of golf who founded his own PGA Tour event
  


• 1978 Clifford Roberts – co-founder of the Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament
  


• 1979 Walter Travis
  


• 1980 Henry Cotton
  


• 1980 Lawson Little
  


• 1981 Ralph Guldahl
  


• 1981 Lee Trevino
  


• 1982 Julius Boros
  


• 1983 Jimmy Demaret
  


• 1983 Bob Hope – celebrity friend of golf who founded his own PGA Tour event
  


• 1986 Cary Middlecoff
  


• 1987 Robert Trent Jones – golf course architect
  


• 1988 Bob Harlow – promoter who played a key role in the early development of the PGA Tour
  


• 1988 Peter Thomson
  


• 1988 Tom Watson
  


• 1989 Jim Barnes
  


• 1989 Roberto De Vicenzo
  


• 1989 Raymond Floyd
  


• 1990 William C. Campbell – two-time President of the USGA
  


• 1990 Gene Littler
  


• 1990 Paul Runyan
  


• 1990 Horton Smith
  


• 1992 Harry Cooper
  


• 1992 Hale Irwin
  


• 1992 Chi Chi Rodriguez
  


• 1992 Richard Tufts – ran Pinehurst and served as President of the USGA


• 1996 Johnny Miller
  


• 1997 Seve Ballesteros
  


• 1997 Nick Faldo
  


• 1998 Lloyd Mangrum
  


• 2000 Jack Burke, Jr.
  


• 2000 Deane Beman – Commissioner of the PGA Tour 1974-1994


• 2000 Michael Bonallack – British golf administrator


• 2000 Neil Coles – first Chairman of the PGA European Tour
  


• 2000 John Jacobs – first Tournament Director of the European Tour


• 2001 Bernhard Langer (inducted with 2002 class)^[16]


• 2001 Greg Norman
  


• 2001 Payne Stewart
  


• 2001 Allan Robertson
  


• 2001 Karsten Solheim – golf equipment manufacturer and founder of the Solheim Cup
  


• 2002 Ben Crenshaw
  


• 2002 Tony Jacklin
  


• 2002 Tommy Bolt
  


• 2002 Harvey Penick – golf instructor


• 2003 Nick Price
  


• 2003 Leo Diegel
  


• 2004 Charlie Sifford
  


• 2004 Isao Aoki
  


• 2004 Tom Kite
  


• 2005 Bernard Darwin – golf writer


• 2005 Alister MacKenzie – golf course architect
  


• 2005 Willie Park, Sr.
  


• 2005 Vijay Singh (inducted with 2006 class)^[17]


• 2006 Larry Nelson
  


• 2006 Henry Picard
  


• 2006 Mark McCormack – sports agent who represented many top golfers; the developer of golf's first world ranking system, adapted into today's Official World Golf Ranking
  


• 2007 Joe Carr
  


• 2007 Hubert Green
  


• 2007 Charles B. Macdonald – inaugural U.S. Amateur champion, founding Vice-President of the USGA and "Father of American Golf Architecture"


• 2007 Kel Nagle
  


• 2007 Curtis Strange
  


• 2008 Bob Charles
  


• 2008 Pete Dye – golf course architect
  


• 2008 Denny Shute
  


• 2008 Herbert Warren Wind – golf writer


• 2008 Craig Wood
  


• 2009 Christy O'Connor Snr
  


• 2009 José María Olazábal
  


• 2009 Lanny Wadkins
  


• 2009 Dwight D. Eisenhower – former U.S. President


• 2011 Ernie Els
  


• 2011 Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki
  


• 2011 Doug Ford
  


• 2011 Jock Hutchison
  


• 2011 Frank Chirkinian – television producer, known as the 'father of televised golf' for the impact he had on golf broadcasting.


• 2011 George H. W. Bush – former U.S. President


• 2012 Phil Mickelson^[18]


• 2012 Dan Jenkins – golf writer^[19]


• 2012 Sandy Lyle^[20]


• 2012 Peter Alliss^[20]


• 2013 Fred Couples^[21]


• 2013 Ken Venturi^[22]


• 2013 Willie Park, Jr.^[23]


• 2013 Colin Montgomerie^[24]


• 2013 Ken Schofield^[24]


• 2015 David Graham^[25]


• 2015 Mark O'Meara^[25]


• 2015 A. W. Tillinghast – golf course architect^[25]


• 2017 Henry Longhurst – golf writer and commentator


• 2017 Davis Love III
  


• 2017 Ian Woosnam
  

Women[edit]

The first five women on this list were grandfathered in 1998 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.

• 1951 Betty Jameson
  


• 1951 Patty Berg
  


• 1951 Louise Suggs
  


• 1951 Babe Zaharias
  


• 1960 Betsy Rawls
  


• 1964 Mickey Wright
  


• 1975 Glenna Collett-Vare
  


• 1975 Joyce Wethered
  


• 1975 Kathy Whitworth
  


• 1977 Sandra Haynie
  


• 1977 Carol Mann
  


• 1978 Dorothy Campbell Hurd Howe
  


• 1982 JoAnne Carner
  


• 1987 Nancy Lopez
  


• 1991 Pat Bradley
  


• 1993 Patty Sheehan
  


• 1994 Dinah Shore – celebrity friend of the LPGA; founded a tournament that eventually became a major
  


• 1995 Betsy King
  


• 1999 Amy Alcott
  


• 2000 Beth Daniel
  


• 2000 Juli Inkster
  


• 2000 Judy Rankin
  


• 2001 Donna Caponi
  


• 2001 Judy Bell – administrator; first female President of the USGA
  


• 2002 Marlene Bauer Hagge
  


• 2003 Hisako "Chako" Higuchi
  


• 2003 Annika Sörenstam
  


• 2004 Marlene Stewart Streit
  


• 2005 Ayako Okamoto
  


• 2005 Karrie Webb
  


• 2006 Marilynn Smith
  


• 2007 Pak Se-ri
  


• 2008 Carol Semple Thompson
  


• 2012 Hollis Stacy^[26]


• 2015 Laura Davies^[25]


• 2017 Meg Mallon
  


• 2017 Lorena Ochoa
  

See also[edit]

• List of Caddie Hall of Fame inductees

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official website

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Coordinates: 29°59′28″N 81°28′13″W / 29.99111°N 81.47028°W / 29.99111; -81.47028