A Shrine to the Game

The World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine most definitely hits the sweet spot for devotees of the sport’s legacy and legends.

Dr. Tony Parker’s passion is apparent in the sparkle in his eyes and the relish in his voice as he leads a private two-person tour of the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum.

“I am a storyteller,” says the Hall’s historian.

Entry into the Hall of Fame and Museum is through the Gallery of Greats, one of several exhibits Dr. Parker created since arriving in March 2014. Immediately upon taking the job, he asked, “How ‘World’ is the World Golf Hall of Fame?”

In answer comes in the form of six 12-foot photo banners of giants from the history of the game. Along with a list of members of the Hall of Fame, they dominate the Gallery of Greats. There’s one of Arnie, of course, and of The Golden Bear; Louise Suggs, one of the LPGA’s founders, and Annika Sorenstam, perhaps its greatest star; Spain’s dashing Seve Ballesteros; and South Africa’s Black Knight, Gary Player, who shared the stage with Arnie and Jack between 1960 and 1975.

“I want visitors to feel a sense of awe as soon as they enter,” Dr. Parker explains.  In a new strategic move, the WGHOF adopted a mission expressed in three words: “Preservation, Conservation and Education.” Under his direction the goal is to establish the Hall of Fame as the central repository for golf’s history and legacy, and to tell its countless stories through ever-changing special exhibits to complement the core of permanent displays.

Dr. Parker is “a Georgia boy,” he announces proudly, with undergraduate and master’s degrees in History from the 230-year-old state university in Athens. But he spent 21 years where the modern game of golf began, St. Andrews in Scotland, before returning to the U.S. as curator of golfdom’s most fabulous museum.

Parker earned his doctorate in history from the University of St. Andrews, and held administrative and teaching positions at the University of Dundee before eventually earning the position of Curator of Golf Collections at St. Andrews. Under Dr. Parker’s direction, the golf collection at the University of St. Andrews became a world-renowned archive. Until he came along, no one in the acknowledged birthplace of the sport had even asked if documents establishing the origination of the Royal and Ancient Club and golf’s earlier history might exist within their vast files. 

As displays on the origins of golf and its forerunners, early golf clubs, and the evolution of the golf ball collectively attest, Dr. Parker’s appreciation transcends fellow Georgia boy and American icon Bobby Jones and extends back – reverently – well beyond the legendary Scottish golf pioneer, Old Tom Morris.

The storyteller in Dr. Parker can hardly contain itself as he moves through the 35,000 square feet of golf history on display. Among his favorite stops:

  • The manual typewriter of iconic golf writer Herbert Warren Wind—the one on which he first coined the enduring moniker “Amen Corner” to describe the Masters crucible that awaits early on the back nine at Augusta National—along with  a copy of the April 21, 1958 issue of Sports Illustrated in which that now-common nickname first appeared.
  • Harvey Penick’s original, hand-written notebook of golf instruction – insightful, easily understood anecdotes from the legendary teaching pro, himself a Hall inductee and mentor to more than a foursome of Hall of Famers including Ben Crenshaw and Mickey Wright. Dr. Parker beams as he reminds that Penick’s Little Red Book, when finally published in 1992, became the highest selling golf book ever published.
  • A four-dollar check from Ben Hogan to Lanny Wadkins, dated June 12, 1981. It represents what Hogan owed Wadkins when a club member asked to join them on the 16th hole during a round at Hogan’s last club, Shady Oaks in Fort Worth, and   Hogan walked off. As Dr. Parker wryly tells it, Hogan sent the check, then called Wadkins a couple weeks later to ask when he was going to cash it. (“Are you kidding?” Wadkins wanted to say but didn’t.)

One of Dr. Parker’s proudest collaborations is called “Honoring The Legacy: A Tribute to African-Americans in Golf.” The exhibit includes a timeline divided into three sections – “From The Beginning,” “Breaking Through” and “Moving Forward” – that charts the struggles and successes of African-Americans in the annals of golf from the 19th century to the present. 

Also in this area is Mario Chiodo’s remarkable floor-to-ceiling, spiral sculpture titled “The DNA of the Golf Swing,” which serves as a metaphor for the step-by-step progress of African-Americans in the sport. At the bottom, addressing a shot, is John Shippen, the first African-American to play in the U.S. Open in 1896, and at the top, in his classic follow-through, is Tiger Woods – with an open rung above him, symbolizing the question: Who will be next?”

Among the historic contributors acknowledged in the timeline:

  • Dr. George Grant, a dentist who patented the first wooden golf tee in 1899;
  • Charlie Sifford, who broke the tournament color barrier in 1960;
  • Two-time Wimbledon singles champion Althea Gibson, winner of three other Grand Slam tennis titles, who became the first African-American on the LPGA tour at age 37 and played well for five years despite widespread racial discrimination;
  • One-time Vardon Trophy winner Calvin Peete, first black Ryder Cup player and most successful African-American golfer until Tiger Woods (12 tournament victories);

Dr. Parker can’t escort all visitors around the Hall of Fame for half a day. But even without his intimate commentary, the exhibits are well worth more than a quick walk-through. Actually, one could spend more than a day viewing the many exhibits. Fortunately, the admission is good for two days.

“Shanks For The Memories” is a play on the unforgettable Bob Hope theme song, and the title of an extensive exhibit that commemorates Hope’s involvement in golf as well as his dedication to U.S. troops during World War II and after.

“It’s one of the most popular parts of the museum for American veterans,” Dr. Parker notes.

Some of Old Ski-Slope Nose’s best quips about golf adorn large placards in the area, including: “I’ve always enjoyed playing golf with a President. The only problem is that there are so many Secret Service men around, there’s not much chance to cheat.”

There is so much to see that it’s virtually impossible to capture it all in one story. The Hall of Fame Tower, with its collection of trophies from golf’s most significant championships, overlooks the two Hall of Fame golf courses: Slammer & Squire (named for Snead and Sarazen) and King & Bear (the only course Palmer and Nicklaus jointly designed – and ever will, they said afterward, according to Dr. Parker).

The Members Gallery contains original paintings of all Hall of Fame inductees. Along the way from one exhibit to another, you’ll even see Ike’s golf cart, the one golf-loving President Dwight D. Eisenhower rode in.

The absolute “Don’t Miss” stop is the Members Locker Room.  “Every inductee has a locker,” Dr. Parker explains, “and THEY choose what goes in them.”

Take the time to stroll among them and peek inside. Here is just a snippet of what you’ll find:

  • In humanitarian Betsy King’s: A copy of The Bible, opened to the Book of Titus, with Chapter 3, Verses 5-7 underlined;
  • In Japanese star Jumbo Ozaki’s: a Samurai sword;
  • In crusty Louise Suggs’: A personalized Florida license plate that reads: TEED-OFF (“Her dog is named ‘Dammit,’” an amused Dr. Parker relates); 
  • In course architect Pete Dye’s: a pair of mud-caked boots (“What could be more appropriate?” asks the doctor);
  • In British two-time major champion Sandy Lyle’s: a Lego tractor, a can of WD-40 lubricant, and a roll of duct tape; (They represent his family’s farming heritage, says Dr. Parker.)

As part of an effort to make the World Golf Hall of Fame more “World,” as Dr. Parker says, the biennial induction ceremony was held this year during The Open Championship at St. Andrews. It will return to World Golf Village in 2017, then be held at Pebble Beach in 2019.

With the induction this summer of Majors winners Laura Davies, David Graham, and Mark O’Meara, and prolific course architect A.W. Tillinghast, the Hall of Fame now has 150 members.  Each is saluted with a plaque on the Wall of Fame in Shell Hall, a site to behold in itself.

Marquee exhibits relate the lives and careers of some of the biggest stars in greater detail.  In the past, the Hall of Fame has highlighted Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.  Special displays in 2015 feature Nancy Lopez and Gary Player.

More than 150 of Lopez’s personal items are part of “Nancy Lopez: Pride, Passion and Personality.”  Says Dr. Parker: “Nancy Lopez did for women’s golf what Arnold Palmer did for men’s golf.”

The Player exhibit opened February 27. “Gary has played such an integral role in globalizing the game of golf,” chief operating officer Jack Peter said in a statement. “The values he represents are what makes the Hall of Fame so proud to call him our Global Ambassador.” Player won 165 tournaments over five decades, including nine Majors. He is one of five players in history to win the career Grand Slam.

Curator with a cause: Tony Parker, who trained at St. Andrews, aims to make the Hall more “world.”

The World Golf Hall of Fame – where golf history dating to the Middle Ages is celebrated – was located in Pinehurst, N.C. until 1998. Then it relocated to idyllic World Golf Village – fittingly, it seems, near America’s oldest city, Florida’s 550-year-old St. Augustine.  Rich with history itself, St. Augustine is 30 minutes south of Jacksonville, and about 100 miles northeast of Orlando.

Besides the two championship golf courses, the WGHOF offers an 18-hole, natural-grass putting course that’s fun and quite challenging, and, reminiscent of No. 17 at the Stadium Course at Sawgrass, a 132-yard island Challenge Hole, surrounded by the World Golf Hall of Fame lake. A half-mile Walk of Champions, featuring inlaid tiles bearing the autographs of all Hall of Fame inductees, circles the lake.

The pristine grounds of World Golf Village are home to Renaissance Resort’s 300 guest rooms and suites and, along the pleasant drive to the Hall of Fame, the PGA TOUR Golf Academy, a state-of-the-art learning center. 

Actor Bill Murray, who starred in Caddyshack (among his 58 movie roles) and annually entertains galleries at the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, is a partner with his brothers, John, Joel and Brian, in Murray Bros. Caddy Shack, a pub-type restaurant that’s a short walk from the Hall of Fame.

For more information about the World Golf Hall of Fame, go to worldgolfhalloffame.org or call 904-940-4000 or 1-800-WGV-GOLF (948-4653).

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