MN PGA & MGA Announce 2009 Hall of Fame Inductees

The Minnesota Section PGA and the Minnesota Golf Association (MGA) have selected six inductees for the Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame in 2009. They are:

Don Berry, Nancy (Harris) Blanchard, John Cook, Bill Israelson, Mike Schultz and Dick Tollette.

The group will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at Minnesota Section PGA and MGA events throughout the remainder of the year.

Don Berry
In addition to his post as head professional at Edinburgh USA for more than 14 years, Berry is one of Minnesota’s most decorated golfers – participating in four PGA championships and the U.S. Open.  He also has won various tournaments within the state, including the 1982 Minnesota State Public Links, the 1992 and 1999 Minnesota State Open, four Minnesota Golf Champions tournaments, five Minnesota PGA Match Play championships, six Tapemark Charity Pro-Ams and seven Minnesota PGA Championships.  He was named the Minnesota Section’s Player of the Year a record thirteen consecutive years from 1995-2007 and was named the 2002 PGA of America Club Professional Player of the Year.

Nancy (Harris) Blanchard
A former player and coach for the University of Minnesota golf team, Blanchard was Big Ten runner-up in 1984 and Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1989.  Blanchard, also one of the most accomplished female golfers in the state, is a six-time champion and four-time runner-up of the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Championship, as well as a three-time champion and two-time runner-up of the Minnesota Women’s Match Play Championship.  She also competed in the USGA Women’s Public Links and Women’s Amateur Championships and was named the Minnesota Women’s Golf Association (MWGA) Player of the Year in 1994.

John Cook
A member of the Minnesota Section PGA for more than 40 years, Cook holds numerous championship titles.  He qualified for ten PGA Championships and eight PGA Professional Championships.  In 1960, Cook won the Minnesota State Open, followed by the Minnesota PGA Stroke Play Championship in 1961 and 1962.  He won that tournament two more times in the 1970s, as well as two Minnesota PGA Match Play Championship titles, four Minnesota Senior Stroke Play titles, the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am in 1971 and the Minnesota Senior Open in 1987.

Bill Israelson
The head PGA professional at The Vintage and a member of the Minnesota Section PGA for more than 18 years, Israelson has many championships under his belt.  He won the Minnesota State Open in 1991 and has placed in the top 10 an additional seven times.  He also won the Minnesota PGA Championship back-to-back in 1992-1993 and placed in the top 10 on eight other occasions.  In addition to his State Open and Minnesota PGA Championship titles, Israelson won the Minnesota PGA Match Play Championship four times, the MGA Amateur Championship three times and the Minnesota Golf Association Junior Championship twice, as well as the Minnesota Golf Champions and the Minnesota PGA Senior Championship tournament.  On the national stage, Israelson played on the PGA Tour and also competed in the PGA Championship, U.S. Open, U.S. Senior Open, and the Asian Tour where he won the Hong Kong Open.

Mike Schultz
Schultz has been the head professional at Hazeltine National Golf Club since 1977, and in that time has overseen the club through more major championships than anyone in the state including the U.S. Open, U.S. Senior Open, Women’s U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, PGA Championship, U.S. Mid-Amateur, the NCAA Men’s Championship and the U.S.G.A Men’s State Team Championship.  In addition to his work with Hazeltine, Schultz has also served the Minnesota Section PGA, as its president from 1987-88 and as a member of the PGA Rules Committee.  A winner of the Steve Weidner Outstanding Service Award, he was also named the Minnesota Section PGA Professional of the Year in 1988 and the Minnesota Section PGA Facility Promoter of the Year Award winner in 2002.  Further, Schultz was instrumental in developing the MGA/PGA Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame.

Dick Tollette
Beginning his career as a high school teacher, Tollette went on to become a vital member of the Minnesota Section PGA, helping to grow junior golf programs across the state.  Among his many awards, he was the first member of the Minnesota Section PGA to achieve Master Professional status, and was recognized for his efforts in junior golf by being named the PGA of America Junior Golf Leader in 1993. In addition to the national award, Tollette has been named the Minnesota Section’s Junior Golf Leader three times.  He was involved in the original plan, design and construction of Bunker Hills Golf Course, the course where he has been the head golf professional for 41 years.  Tollette was named the Minnesota Section’s Professional of the Year in 1981 and 1994, and received the Steve Weidner Outstanding Service Award in 2008.  He was instrumental to the Minnesota Section PGA’s leadership, serving as Section president from 1993-94, and like Schultz, was involved in developing the MGA/PGA Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame.

Tags: Bill Israelson, Dick Tollette, don berry, edinburgh USA, John Cook, Mike Schultz, Minnesota Golf Association, Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame, Minnesota PGA, mn pga, Nancy Harris Blanchard, Tapemark Charity Pro Am

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