A 12-time state senior player of the year, one of golf’s great historians, a key player in the formation of the Tennessee Golf Association in 1914 and the founder and first president of the Women’s Tennessee Golf Association (WTGA) comprise the impressive class of inductees for the 2015 Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame.
The foursome are senior player of the year Maggie Scott, historian Gene Pearce who will join posthumously the first leaders of the TGA (Horace Smith) and the WTGA (Edyth Duffied).and they will be inducted during 2015 at place and time to be announced at a later date.
EDYTH DUFFIELD – founder of the Women’s Tennessee Golf Association (WTGA) in 1916 … she organized the first Tennessee Women’s Amateur in 1916 … first champion was Marguerite Gaut … Duffield won the TWA in 1920 beating Gaut, 1-up, but Gaut edged Duffield, 2-up in the 1921 tourney.
HORACE F. SMITH – he was the driving force to form the first statewide amateur golf tournament in 1914 … original member and three-time president of the Nashville Golf and Country Club … the Mayfield, New York native enlisted in the U.S. Army at 16, Smith was In the 141st Illinois Infantry during the Civil War and based in Columbus, Ky., a Mississippi River port and terminal of the Mobile & Ohio Railroad … after the war he eventually worked for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad … served as director of the Western Golf Association (1907-1918) and president in 1910 … Southern Golf Assoc. president for 27 years, 1904-1930 … called the “Father of Southern Golf” at a banquet at Belle Meade Country Club in 1929 … In his book, Titans of the TGA, author Chris Dortch writes, “It’s ironic that golfers throughout the South and especially Tennessee, owe a debt to the Union Army Drummer boy from New York.”
GENE PEARCE … top historian of Tennessee golf … author of The History of Tennessee Golf … attended Lipscomb Univ. and Jackson (Tenn.) HS … in Titans of the TGA, author Chris Dortch writes, “If Gene Pearce’s only contribution was his definitive The History of Tennessee Golf, his place among the most influential people in TGA history would be secure. But since the book was published in 2002, Pearce has served an invaluable role as an historian, helping the TGA remember its past so it can keep evolving into the future.”
Pearce also wrote the history of the Southern Golf Assoc. and the history of Colonial Country Club in Memphis ... was a sports writer for the Jackson Sun and the Tennessean.
All in the Golfing Family: He is the fourth member of the Eller family to enter the TGA Hall of Fame following his wife, Beverly, sister-in-law Judy Eller Street and father-in-law Harold Eller.
MAGGIE SCOTT … 12-time women’s senior player of the year … women’s state amateur champ (1994) … finals 3 times …. Has played in all but three women’s state amateur tourneys since 1974 … 9-time senior women’s state amateur champ … captain, Ruth Eller Cup and led the Tennessee team to two wins against the Canadian teams … Cleveland city women’s champ (30) … Cleveland County Club champ (33) … played on three USGA Team competitions (2003-05-11) for the S.E. team … won a silver medal in 2011 ... member of three Southern Women Amateur Team Champions and played in 23 events … Halls of Fame (2) – Greater Chattanooga Sports HOF (2006) and Bradley County HOF (2009) … graduate of Brainerd HS (’67) and MTSU.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net