Lorena Ochoa became eligible for the LPGA Hall of Fame after the tour revised the entry standards for the shrine.
The LPGA lifted the 10-year playing requirement to enter the hall, which allowed Ochoa, whose 27 LPGA victories include two major championships before she retired at age 28 in 2010, a clear path toward induction. Ochoa, a four-time LPGA player of the year from Mexico, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.
The tour also opted to induct the remaining eight of the LPGA’s 13 founders who are not already in the hall. That move gave Shirley Spork, who was integral in creating the LPGA Professionals in 1959, and seven late founders – Alice Bauer, Bettye Danoff, Helen Dettweiler, Helen Hicks, Opal Hill, Sally Sessions and Marilynn Smith – spots in the hall via the Honorary Category.
The LPGA Hall of Fame Committee also will award one point to the Olympic gold medalist, to be applied retroactively (READ MORE).
To read about Ochoa’s appearance this week at the Chevron Championship, see Steve Eubanks’ story on GGP+.
The Junior Presidents Cup will be played Sept. 19-20 at Myers Park Country Club in Charlotte, N.C., during the days preceding the Presidents Cup at nearby Quail Hollow Club, the American Junior Golf Association announced. The Junior Presidents Cup features 24 junior boys – 12 on the U.S. team captained by Notah Begay III against 12 on the International squad led by South Africa’s Tim Clark – in a match-play format. The Americans lead the series, 2-0. The Junior Presidents Cup had been played in odd-numbered years since its 2017 inception but moved with the Presidents Cup to even-numbered years when the 2020 Ryder Cup was postponed for a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic (READ MORE).
The Asian Tour announced the second stop on its International Series will be held June 2-5 at Slaley Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort in northern England.
The $2 million event will be the Asian Tour’s first tournament in the United Kingdom. The event had been scheduled to be played one week later at Centurion Club north of London but was moved to accommodate the LIV Golf Invitational at Centurion.
The Asian Tour will award eight spots via its various rankings to the LIV Golf Invitational (READ MORE).
The Hero’s Handshake awards, first presented in 2019 to recognise and reward young people in golf who display dedication to the game and promote a positive image of the sport, is open for 2022 nominations.
Run by the Young Ambassadors, and supported by England Golf and the Golf Foundation, the scheme honours those who champion the sport rather than those who lift trophies. For example, 2021 winner Olivia Whittle encouraged fellow juniors to keep practicing in their gardens during COVID lockdown by creating motivational videos and training drills.
Ali Jodiyawalla of Young Ambassadors explains: “The project tells young golfers that we value not only winners, but also role models who show how fun the sport can be for young people from all backgrounds.â€
The programme aspires to provide juniors with the platform to have their voices heard throughout the golf industry and to inspire the next generation of golfers. Nominations can be made here.
The rate of golf participation in the United Kingdom and Ireland hit a near-record high in 2021, according to research conducted by the R&A.
Some 5.3 million adult golfers – the second-highest number since monitoring began 30-plus years ago – played a full-length course of nine or 18 holes in Great Britain and Ireland last year. Phil Anderton, the R&A’s chief development officer, called the results “extremely positive,†adding: “The vast majority of lapsed or non-golfers who took up golf during the pandemic have continued to play.â€
The research was conducted with input from England Golf, Golf Ireland, Scottish Golf and Wales Golf (READ MORE).
Diana Murphy and Pam Murray will captain the U.S. men’s and women’s teams, respectively, at the World Amateur Team Championship this summer in France, the USGA announced.
Murphy is a former USGA president, and Murray is a past chair of the USGA Women’s Committee.
The Women’s WATC will be played Aug. 24-27, followed by the Men’s WATC on Aug. 31-Sept. 3, both at Le Golf National’s Albatros Course and Golf de Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche’s Red Course near Paris.
The matches had been scheduled to be held in Singapore in 2020 but were canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic (READ MORE).
TAP-INS
Mike Davis, the former chief executive of the USGA, will receive the Metropolitan Golf Association’s Paul Dillon Distinguished Service Award, the MGA announced. The award, which recognizes contributions and service to the game, will be presented June 21 in Rye, New York. Davis retired in late 2021 after 32 years with the USGA (READ MORE). … Mary Ann Cowgur, the American Junior Golf Association’s executive assistant, received the AJGA’s 2021 Digger Smith Award, the association announced. The award, presented annually since 1991 and named for J.R. “Digger†Smith, is given to a supporter devoted to the AJGA mission and purpose of developing young men and women through competitive junior golf. Cowgur has been employed with the AJGA for 31 years (READ MORE). … Joan Joyce, who played the LPGA Tour for 19 years (1977-95) and won acclaim as a softball pitcher for having struck out legendary sluggers Ted Williams and Hank Aaron in an exhibition, died March 26. She was 81. Joyce, who recently won her 1,000th game as the founding coach of Florida Atlantic University’s women’s softball team, also played professional volleyball and softball (READ MORE). … The USGA has allocated $1.9 million in grants for more than 80 research projects to study sustainable research this year, the association announced. In the past four decades, the USGA has committed nearly $47 million to help advance sustainable-management practices for golf courses (READ MORE).
Staff and Wire Reports
