Dick Taylor was best known for his relationship of nearly 30 years with Golf World Magazine, which he joined in 1962. He was named editor in 1965 and from 1970 until 1989, when the magazine was purchased by The New York Times Company; he was editor-in-chief and vice president. 

 

Shortly thereafter, he became a freelance writer for an assortment of golf publications. Taylor was president of the Golf Writers Association of America from 1980 to 1982 after serving nine years as the group’s executive director. 

 

He also was a member of the Association of Golf Writers in Europe, the LPGA Advisory Board and the World Golf Hall of Fame and Ambassador of Golf selection committees. 

 

He was the first recipient of the PGA of America Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism (1991), was inducted into the Memorial Journalism Hall of Fame, received the Donald Ross Award from the American Society of Golf Courses Architects and the Joseph C. Dey Career Excellence Award. Three times he was a first-place winner of GWAA writing awards. 

 

In 1977 and ‘79, he was honored for news articles, while in 1991 he was cited for a column. Regarded as a very nice person with a great sense of humor, Taylor has been described as “a walking encyclopedia” of the sport of golf. 

 

He was also a promoter of the game, and is credited with bringing women’s golf into the spotlight through articles in Golf World.

 

Dick Taylor was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1996.

The hallmark of Jim Ferree’s career in professional golf has been courage.  In 1991, at age 60, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.  Three years later, he would beat the illness and receive the prestigious Ben Hogan Award, presented annually by the Golf Writers Association of America.

As a player, Ferree made his mark on three different fronts.  He was an outstanding collegian at the University of North Carolina and was the first Tar Heel golfer inducted into the UNC Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.  He played on the PGA Tour for 11 years and won the 1958 Vancouver Centennial, firing a 61 on his way to beating Billy Casper.  He served the game for years on the club level, nearly winning the 1978 PGA Club Professional Championship, losing in a playoff.

Ferree was born in Pinebluff, North Carolina, and grew up in Winston-Salem, where he attended Reynolds High School. He learned the game of golf from his father, Purvis, long-time pro at Winston-Salem's Old Town Golf Club. Jim attended the University of North Carolina and was a member of the golf team, and had but one PGA Tour win during his regular career years. He was regarded as one of the very best in the game in the tee-to-green ball-striking phase of the game, but putting was always his Achilles' heel. He spent most of his thirties and forties as the director of golf at Long Cove Club in Hilton Head, SC. His career reached full blossom in 1981 when he joined the Senior PGA Tour. He was chosen by PGA Commissioner Deane Beman to be the model for the knickers-wearing player on the Senior Tour's logo. He shares the Georgia-Pacific Grand Champions record for most victories (9) with two other golfers. He was the Senior PGA Tour's Comeback Player of the Year in 1993.  

He has won twice in 15 years and has been among the top 15 season money winner five times.  Now, as a Super Senior on the Vantage Classics series, he won nine titles in 1994, and won more than $255,000, the most money ever won by a Super Senior in a season. Jim, his wife Karen, and their young son, Purvis Jennings Ferree Jr., live on Hilton Head Island.

Jim Ferree was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1995.

As a 14 year old, Ellis Maples worked summers for his father, Frank Maples, who was the construction superintendent for Donald Ross and greenkeeper at Pinehurst Country Club. From that early experience blossomed young Ellis’ interest in golf course architecture.

Maples got his first taste of his new career in 1937 when he assisted renowned architects William S. Flynn and Dick Wilson with the construction on a nine-hole course in Plymouth, NC. Ten years later, he redesigned New Bern Country Club, where he was working as the professional. In 1948, he supervised construction of Ross’ last course, Raleigh Country Club. In 1953, he turned full-time to architecture and for the next 30 years, his firm built more than 70 courses.

 

Maples left his lasting imprint on Carolinas golf with such treasures as Grandfather Golf and Country Club; Bermuda Run Golf and Country Club, home of The Crosby Pro-Am, Forest Oaks Country Club, home of the K Mart Greater Greensboro Open since 1977, Gaston Country Club, Country Club of North Carolina (Dogwood); Pinehurst No. 5, Greensboro Country Club (Carlson Farms); and Cedar Rock Country Club.

Born in Charleston, SC, Beth Daniel had won 29 tournaments on the LPGA Tour in a 16 year career at the time of her induction.  She needed only one more win in a major championship, or six more victories of any type to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

 

Daniel was an All-American at Furman in the early 1970s and went on to win the US Women’s Amateur in 1975 and 1977.  She was a member of the US Curtis Cup Teams in 1976 and 1978.

 

Everyone was confident that Daniel would be a major success on the LPGA Tour, and she disappointed no one.

 

Turning professional in 1979, Daniel made an immediate impact on the LPGA Tour.  She won five events in 1980 and three in 1981, leading the tour’s money list in both of those years.  Again in 1990, she led the LPGA Tour in money winnings, capturing her only major victory to date, The LPGA Championship, in that same year.

 

Beth Daniel was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1994.

When Jimmy D’Angelo first saw Myrtle Beach in November 1937, as winter golf professional at the Ocean Forest Club—the Grand Strand had one golf course.  That was it.  Ocean Forest.

Now Ocean Forest is called Pine Lakes International; and the Grand Strand, at this time has many more courses.

 

It’s impossible, of course, to point a finger at any one person and say “This is the man responsible for the golf boom along the Grand Strand.”

 

But the name of Jimmy D’Angelo would be among those mentioned.

 

D’Angelo was involved in the creation of The Dunes Club in Myrtle Beach, which is considered one of the nation’s best courses.   He was the Dunes Club’s head professional from the club’s inception in 1949 until his retirement in 1968.  During that time D’Angelo helped promote and develop Myrtle Beach as a prime golf location.

 

D’Angelo was the first president of Golf Holiday, an organization that promotes the area to golfers all over the nation.  As a result, millions of golfers visit Myrtle Beach every year. 

 

Jimmy D’Angelo was inducted into the Carolinas PGA Hall of Fame in 1984 and the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame in 1985.

Ike Grainger’s playing record hardly deserves a second glance, with his major prize being the Lyons Trophy, which he received for posting low net in the US Seniors’ GA Championship in 1960. One other golf achievement was serving as non-playing captain of the US Team that won the World Amateur Team Championship in 1964.

As a golf administrator, however, he was without peer. A native of Wilmington, NC, he went on to become President of Chemical Bank in New York City. Ike Grainger played a significant role in the northeastern golf scene and eventually rose to the Presidency of the US Golf Association. After serving on various committees in the Metropolitan Golf Association, he served as that organization’s President from 1943 to 1945. With the USGA, he was Secretary from 1946 to 1949, Vice-President from 1950 to 1953 and President from 1954 to 1955. He was a member of numerous USGA committees during his long affiliation with the organization, including 11 years on the Executive Committee, 16 years on the Rules of Golf Committee and 16 years on the Bob Jones Award Committee.

In 1951, he was Chairman of the USGA Negotiating Committee that carved out the first uniform code of the Rules of Golf with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.

Although he lived in New York, Grainger maintained a second residence in Wilmington and was a member at Cape Fear Country Club. His other club affiliations included Augusta National, Pine Valley in Clinton, New Jersey and the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.

Ike Grainger was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1993.

While football was his main game in college—as a lineman under the legendary Wallace Wade at Duke University—it was in golf that Welch made his mark.  He not only was a fine player, but he also proved to be a great leader.

 

Welch teamed up with fellow Hall of Famer Dale Morey to win the Carolinas Senior Four-Ball Championship on eight occasions, including the first four times the championship was played, from 1969 to 1974.  He and Jack Crist won the Carolinas Four-Ball title in 1963 and he and son Charles captured the Carolinas Father-Son Championship in 1977.

 

His most satisfying golfing achievement, perhaps, was in the 1966 Carolinas Amateur Championship at Linville Golf Club, where he had a monumental struggle on the way to the title.  In the quarterfinals, he needed 21 holes to prevail over Dillard Traynham and in the semi-finals, he went to the 20th hole before toppling the legendary Billy Joe Patton.  In the championship match, he disposed of Joe Inman Jr., then a member of the Wake Forest University golf team, 5 and 4.

 

Additionally, Welch was medalist in the Carolinas Amateur in 1951 and ‘52 and reached the championship match in 1951, where he was defeated 2 & 1 by P.J. Boatwright Jr.

Welch, who served on the CGA’s Board of Directors for more than 40 years, was the organization’s President from 1959 to 1960.

 

Harry Welch was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1981.

 

Welch (L) pictured with PJ Boatwright.

Frank Ford Sr. started playing in his early teens near the end of World War I when he bought a 5-iron for 50 cents and two balls for a nickel, then dug some holes in the front yard to chip to. From that beginning, he became one of the most heralded golfers in South Carolina.

Ford’s accomplishments included winning seven South Carolina Amateur Championships, the first on his home course at the Country Club of Charleston in 1930, the last in 1955 at age 51. In 1935, he teamed with the great Henry Picard to win the International Four-Ball, beating the likes of Horton Smith, Denny Shute and Sam Snead. He won the Biltmore Forest Invitational, then a top amateur event, and was medalist in the Carolinas Amateur three times.

On the local scene, he won the Azalea Invitational four times, the Charleston City Championship 11 times and was club champion at the Country Club of Charleston 18 times. His accomplishments are made more remarkable considering that he gave up golf every August 15, when hunting season began.

Ford was the head of a family that produced four generations of accomplished players. His three sons were all fine golfers, with Billy once a captain of the University of North Carolina golf team. Grandson Frank Ford III won the Azalea Invitational six times and includes Charleston City titles, the Carolinas Amateur and the Carolinas Mid-Amateur among his victories. Great-grandson Frank (Cordes) IV also had an impressive record, with a Carolinas Amateur among his titles.

Ford was inducted into the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame in 1977 and the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1995.

Van Hoy didn’t set out for a career in golf. A 1952 graduate of the University of North Carolina, He worked as a systems analyst at Western Electric in Winston-Salem until 1965. But sometime that year, he read in the newspaper that the executive directorship of the Carolinas Golf Association was open, applied for the job—and got it. Thus, an administrative giant was born.

When he took command of the CGA in 1965, it consisted of 136 member clubs, five championships and 7,046 handicap cards. When he departed after 26 years in 1991, the organization had grown to more than 550 member clubs, 14 major championships, more than 120,000 handicap cards. During his tenure the staff grew from one to four, which included the first agronomist employed by any sectional golf association in the country.

Other programs initiated under Van Hoy’s regime were the Carolinas Golf Foundation, which provides financial support to various universities and technical schools engaged in golf-oriented turf research; a group property-casualty insurance program; and seminars on the Rules of Golf for colleges and high schools.

Van Hoy served a term as President of the International Association of Golf Administrators in 1989.

Actually, Van Hoy didn’t retire from the CGA in 1991; he simply gave up the job of executive director to become director of a series of new one-day four-ball events for seniors conducted by the organization.

 

Hale B. Van Hoy was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.

A native of Chicago who grew up in Memphis, TN, Orville White was a club professional at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro and at Forsyth Country Club in Winston-Salem.  At the time of his Hall of Fame induction, he was golf professional emeritus at Midland Valley Country Club in Aiken, SC.

 

White was inducted into the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Carolinas PGA Section Hall of Fame in 1985.

 

Described as “a big, rugged guy who was dynamite on the greens,” White won the Carolinas Open in 1938 and 1945, claimed the Carolinas PGA Section Championship in 1945 and took the South Carolina Open Championship three straight times from 1953-1955.

 

Outside the Carolinas, White played in five Masters and spent ten years on the pro tour.  He won the Southeastern PGA and the Mid-South Open at Pinehurst.  A fine teacher, his pupils included Clayton Heafner, Art Wall, Cary Middlecoff and Doug Ford.

 

At the time of his induction, White had been involved with the game, in some form, for over 65 years.

 

Orville White was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1991

Irwin Smallwood is a retired executive sports editor of the Greensboro News & Record.  He was managing editor of the Greensboro Daily News for 15 years and a founder of the Carolinas Golf Reporters Association.  Irwin served as the CGRA’s first president in 1957 and 1958.  His work has appeared in national publications, and he won three first place awards in Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA) competition.  Smallwood recruited players for and was a key advisor to the Greater Greensboro Open (GGO) over the years.  At his suggestion, the GGO first extended an invitation to Charlie Sifford to play.  He chaired GGO’s 50th anniversary program and celebration honoring Sam Snead.  One of the Carolinas greatest golf advocates.

 

Irwin Smallwood was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1991.

Randy Glover grew up in Cheraw, South Carolina where his father was a golf professional. He attended the University of Tennessee prior to joining the PGA Tour in 1962. He ranked among the circuit’s top 60 money winners from 1965 to 1968 and was a two-time tour winner: the Utah Open and the Azalea Open, both in 1967.

Although his career was interrupted by a stint in the U.S. Army in 1964, he finished 19th on the money list that year, which was named Most Improved Player for the year by Golf Digest. Noted for his velvet touch on the greens, Glover once shared the PGA Tour record for fewest putts in one round—19 in the fourth round of the 1965 St. Paul (MN) Open.

After injuries forced him off the tour, Glover became the dominant player among South Carolina professionals. He won the Carolinas Open in 1967 and 1977, won the South Carolina PGA Chapter Championship five times and the Carolinas PGA Pro-Pro Championship four times.

The South Carolina Open almost came to be known as the “Randy Glover Benefit” when he won the title for five straight years from 1969 through ‘73. After his youngest brother Russell broke his streak in 1974, Randy came back to win the title three more times (1977, ‘80 and ‘81).

Glover, who served as head professional at clubs in Charleston, Summerville, Johnsonville and Clinton, all in South Carolina, was named CPGA Player of the Year in 1978 and ‘81. He was inducted into the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame in 1978, the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982 and the Carolinas PGA Hall of Fame in 1993.