Ohio Golf Journal October 2019

She graduated from Eastern Michigan University and was the 1947 Women’s National Collegiate Golf Champion. She was named the LPGA National Teacher of the Year twice, 1959 and again in 3HE ÚNISHED RUNNER UP IN THE ,0'! Championship, today called the KPMG Women’s Championship, a major on the LPGA Tour. 3HIRLEY WAS THE ÚRST WOMAN TO BE invited inside the Royal & Ancient clubhouse in St. Andrews, Scotland, to demonstrate wedge shots. In 1955, SHE BECAME THE ÚRST ,0'! 0ROFESSIONAL invited as guest speaker at the PGA Annual Meeting. Other accomplishments include: equipment design for Golfcraft Inc, co-authored the National Golf Foundation Teaching manual and instructional videos, and served as Head Professional and Manager at numerous golf courses. Highly respected for her ability to communicate the dynamics of the golf swing, she put that skill to use as an LPGA Master Teaching Professional. She helped write the book on how the game is taught today. She has received numerous awards over the years including, the 1994 Byron Nelson Award; the 1998 ,0'! %LLEN 'RIFÚN 2OLEX !WARD MEMBERSHIP IN the 2000 inaugural class of the LPGA Teaching &Club Professionals, and the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame (2002). She even authored, “From Green to Tee” in 2017, which chronicles her life and includes interactions with Babe Zaharias, Mickey Wright and Kathy Whitworth, along with celebrities that included Harpo Marx, who developed a comedy routine with Spork for special golf outings. Shirley Spork has lived a life in golf most people could only dream of. She has been at the center of playing and teaching the game since the 1940’s. This is truly an honor well deserved. Maybe a few more golfers will become acquainted with one of the true pioneers in the game of golf, Shirley Spork.