Ohio Golf Journal October 2019

Shirley Spork to be Inducted into PGA Hall of Fame By Fred Altvater T he PGA of America announced last month that Annika Sorenstam, David Marr, Davis Love III, plus LPGA founding member and longtime teaching professional, Shirley Spork would be inducted into the PGA Hall of Fame. Sorenstam, Davis Love and even Dave Marr are familiar names in golf, but the most intriguing inductee, plus one with an Ohio connection, is Spork, who has been one of the most important ÚGURES IN GOLF FOR OVER YEARS Spork is a Detroit native, who played college golf at Eastern Michigan University and later was on the teaching staff at Bowling Green State University. The Eastern Michigan Women’s Golf Team annually hosts the Shirley Spork Invitational for top collegiate women golfers. She was one of the 13 original founders of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) in 1950. She also toiled on practice ranges, teaching the game and helped reorganize the LPGA Teaching & Club Professionals Association, which established the standards of excellence for aspiring young women professional golfers. In 1959, she was the driving force behind the creation of the LPGA Teaching Committee, which reorganized the LPGATeaching &Club Professionals division and currently boasts more than 1,750 members in all 50 states, as well as, 25 countries worldwide. Ohio Golf Journal