CT Golf Hall of Fame Members

1956: Charles C. Clare (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut State Amateur champion 1931, 1933, 1935; New England Amateur champion 1934; President, CSGA, 1952-53; State Team captain 1934-39.

1957: Wilton W. Sherman (Distinguished Service)
Industrialist, sportsman, philanthropist. Major benefactor of Connecticut golf and golfers who brought world-class players to this state in exhibitions and tournaments at his storied Rockledge Country. A primary major supporter of the original Insurance City Open.

1958: Frank D. Ross (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connnecticut State Amateur champion 1926, 1930; New England Amateur champion 1933; U.S. Senior Amateur Association champion 1953; President, CSGA, 1938-39; State Team captain 1932-33, 1958-61.

1959: Georgiana M. Bishop (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
U.S. Women's Amateur champion 1904, medalist 1914, co-medalist 1905; Connecticut Women's Amateur champion 1920-22, 1927.

1960: H. H. Mandly, Jr. (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut State Amateur champion 1940, 1947, 1949; Connecticut Open champion 1940; New England Amateur champion 1935, 1939; State Team captain 1952-57.

1961: Julius N. Boros (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
U.S. Open champion 1952, 1963; National PGA champion 1968; National Senior PGA champion 1971, 1977; U.S. Ryder Cup team 1959, 1963, 1965, 1967; National PGA Player-of-the-Year 1952; winner of 15 other PGA Tour events.

1962: Gene Sarazen (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
U.S. Open champion 1922, 1932; National PGA champion 1922-23, 1933; British Open champion 1932; Masters champion 1935; National Senior PGA champion 1958; U.S. Ryder Cup team 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1937.

1963: William Burke (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
U.S. Open champion 1931; U.S. Ryder Cup team 1931; North & South Open champion 1928.

1964: Anthony Manero (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
U.S. Open champion 1936; U.S. Ryder Cup team 1937.

1965: Felice J. Torza (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut Open champion 1946; Rhode Island Open champion 1947; finalist, National PGA championship 1953; semifinalist, U.S. Amateur championship 1947; Illinois Open champion 1950, 1958; twice Illinois PGA champion.

1966 John Reardon, Ph.D (Distinguished Service)
Co-architect of the CSGA Caddie Scholarship program and dedicated member of that program's selection committee for almost 20 years.

1967: Pat O'Sullivan Lucey (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
CWGA champion 1947, 1949-53, 1959-60, 1963, 1968; CWGA Senior champion 1977, 1980-82; U.S. Curtis Cup team 1952; Member of LPGA Tour; winner, Women's Titleholders 1951; 5-time Endicott Cup champion; 3-time New England Women's Amateur champion; 3-time Women's North & South Amateur champion.

1968: Dr. Ted Lenczyk (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut Open champion 1954; Connecticut State Amateur champion 1961; Semifinalist, U.S. Amateur championship 1954.

1969: Grace Lenczyk Cronin (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
U.S. Women's Amateur champion 1948; Canadian Women's Amateur champion 1947-48; CWGA Match-Play champion 1946, 1957, 1961-62; Endicott Cup champion 1946; National Women's Intercollegiate champion 1948; U.S. Curtis Cup team 1948, 1950.

1970: William H. Neale (Distinguished Service)
CSGA executive director 1946-85; President, CSGA, 1968; CSGA Senior champion 1946-47, 1955.

1971: Edward Burke (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut Open champion 1938; Connecticut Section PGA champion 1940, 1947.

1972: Douglas M. Ford, Sr. (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
National PGA champion 1955; Masters champion 1956; Canadian Open champion 1959, 1963; National PGA Play-of-the-Year 1955; U.S. Ryder Cup team 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961; National PGA Hall of Fame (1978); Winner of 15 other PGA Tour events.

1973: Harry Nettelbladt (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut Open champion 1950-51; Connecticut Section PGA champion 1948, 1954; Connecticut Section PGA Professional-of-the-Year 1963; President, Connecticut Section PGA.

1974: Richard L. Siderowf (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut State Amateur champion 1955, 1960, 1965, 1984-85; Connecticut Open champion 1958-59, 1973; New England Amateur champion 1961; British Amateur champion 1973, 1976; Canadian Amateur champion 1972; U.S. Walker Cup team 1969, 1973, 1975, 1977, non-playing captain 1979; 5-time Metropolitan Amateur champion; winner of the Azalea, Northeast, and Sunnehanna Amateur championships.

1975: Jerry Courville Sr. (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut Open champion 1965; Connecticut State Amateur champion 1968, runner-up 1959, 1963-64, 1967, medalist 1961, 1964, 1968-69; Connecticut State Senior champion 1991-92; Metropolitan (NY) Amateur champion 1973, 1979, runner-up 1969, 1971-72, 1977; Metropolitan (NY) Open champion 1967; Northeast Amateur champion 1964.

1976: Marcia Dolan (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
CWGA Match-Play champion 1966-67, 1969-70, 1972, 1975-77, 1979, 1981; Connecticut State Women's Amateur champion 1969, 1972-73.

1977: Charles Petrino (Distinguished Service)
Head professional, Brooklawn Country Club, who for some two decades honored in his everyday philosophy and practice the indispensable virtues of a model club professional.

1978: Charles Baskin (Distinguished Service)
Outstanding grounds superintendent at the Donald Ross-designed Country Club of Waterbury; National Superintendent-of-the-Year 1977.

1979: Walter Lowell (Distinguished Service)
National Club Professional-of-the-Year 1978; Connecticut Section PGA Professional-of-the-Year 1978; President, Connecticut Section PGA 1978; Co-founder of Connecticut PGA/CSGA Julius Boros Challenge Cup.

1980: Carol Patton (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
CWGA Match-Play champion 1948, runner-up 1938, 1946, 1949, 1950-51, 1964; President, CWGA.

1981: Donald Hoenig (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut State Amateur champion 1957; Connecticut Open champion 1956-57; Connecticut Section PGA champion 1969, 1984; Connecticut Section PGA Senior champion.

1982: Robert L. Kay (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut Open champion 1964; Connecticut Section PGA champion 1953, 1956, 1959-60, 1963, 1977; Connecticut Section PGA Professional-of-the-Year 1965; 11-time qualifier for National PGA championship.

1983: Ernest J. Gerardi (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut State Amateur champion 1953, runner-up 1948, 1952, 1955; New England Amateur champion 1949.

1984 - 1990: No Selections

1991: Martin J. Moraghan (Distinguished Service)
CSGA tournament director for many years. Rules official for USGA competitions; President, CSGA 1977-78.

1992: James H. Killington (Distinguished Service)
Co-architect and first chairman of the CSGA Caddie Scholarship program; President, CSGA 1962-63.

1993: Robert N. Shea (Distinguished Service)
Executive Director, Connecticut Section PGA, 1979-93. At the local and national levels of the PGA, Bob Shea was duly recognized for having led the Connecticut Section into a new era of growth, responsibility, and sponsored activity.

1994: Terry B. Calabrese (Distinguished Service)
Assistant to the CSGA executive director, 1959-1999. For her dedicated, diligent, all-knowing, always congenial, ever-faithful behind-the-scoreboard effort for more than a quarter-century.

1995: Fred Kask (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut State Amateur champion 1970, 1977, 1980, 1987; Connecticut State Senior Amateur champion 1995; New England Amateur champion 1971.

1996: Alpheus P. Winter IV (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Connecticut State Amateur champion 1948, 1956, 4-time semifinalist; runner-up, Connecticut State Senior Amateur championship 1975; President, CSGA.

1996: Dennis Coscina (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Record 8-time Connecticut Section PGA champion; Western Mass Open champion; Manchester Open champion; member Senior PGA Tour.

1997: Lida Kinnicutt (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Won record-tying 13 Connecticut state titles; 5-time Connecticut Women's Golf Association champion; New England Women's Golf Association champion 1987-88.

1997: Russell C. Palmer (Distinguished Service)
Executive Director, Connecticut State Golf Association 1986-95; Established USGA's GHIN handicap system at state clubs; Served on three USGA committees; Rules officials at USGA major championships; Initiated construction of Connecticut Golf House bringing together the CSGA and Connecticut Section PGA; President of the International Association of Golf Administrators (IAGA) 1994.

1998: Owen Griffith (Distinguished Service)
Griffith is the first sports writer to be inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame. He began writing golf in the Hartford Courant in 1950 and was among those who covered the first ICO at Wethersfield CC in 1952. Griffith was a life member of the Golf Writers Association of America, the Cape Cod Turf Managers Association and numerous other golf organizations.

1998:  Anthony Patricelli (Distinguished Service)
The first Executive Director of the Connecticut Section PGA. He recognized the need for more sophisticated educational opportunities for club professionals, which lead him to devise a plan for a PGA business school. Patricelli also started junior clinics at the GHO and encouraged club pros to donate used equipment to underprivileged children.

1998: Herbert L. Emanuelson Jr. (Distinguished Service)
An active participant in golf organizations, Emanuelson served on the CSGA Executive Committee from 1961-72. He was legal counsel for the CSGA since 1974 and Chairman of the CSGA’s Widdy Neale Scholarship Committee from 1970 - 2003.

1999: Robert D. Pryde (Distinguished Service)
Pryde designed such courses as Alling Memorial GC in New Haven, Pine Orchard CC in Branford, Wethersfield CC  in Wethersfield and Race Brook CC in Orange. He served as a golf coach at Yale and was the first Secretary-Treasurer of the CSGA from 1922 to 1946. He was a pioneer in the manufacture of clubs using hickory shafts.

1999: Caroline Keggi (Distinguished Golf Achievement)
Keggi won eight Connecticut and three New England championships as an amateur. She was an All-American at the University of New Mexico and won the NCAA Championship in 1988. As a professional, she finished in the top-20 on the LPGA money list two years running. 

1999: Dr. Philip T. Sehl (Distinguished Service)
As president of the Greater Hartford Jaycees from 1951 to ’52, Dr. Sehl he was co-founder, with Edward H. May Jr., of the Insurance City Open. He is a former secretary, vice president and president of the CSGA and has served on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors.

2000: Johnny Golden (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Golden was 3-0 on two US Ryder Cup Teams, two of those wins were with his foursomes partner Walter Hagen. He was a semifinalist in the PGA Championship three times, won four consecutive Connecticut Open Championships and won three New Jersey Open Championships. In 1934 and 35 he played the Masters and tied for 21^st and 35^th. 

2000: James Grant III (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Jim played in the ICO and GHO 15 times, tying for second as an amateur a stroke behind Ken Venturi and was fourth in 1970 as a pro. His wins included the Connecticut, New England and Middle Atlantic Amateur Championships. His father, Robert M. Grant was the first HOF inductee in 1955 and they are the first father son tandem among the members. He was a member of the winning U.S. Walker Cup team at Royal St. George’s, England in 1967. He played on the PGA tour from 1967-74 and was low amateur at the Masters in 1966.

2000: Walter ‘Bud’ Smith (Distinguished Service)
Smith spent half a century building and operating one of the most successful privately owned public golf courses and clubs in Connecticut- Orange Hills CC. 

2000: John J. Murphy (Distinguished Service)
Murphy, described as “ the pros pro”, is the Director of Golf at CC of Farmington. He has served on the PGA’s Employment and Club Relations committee for more than 30 years and was awarded the Bill Strausbaugh Award for community relations.

2001: Charles G. Arnold (Distinguished Service)

Arnold was a fixture of Connecticut golf for five decades.  He served on various CSGA committees for 50 years and became the organization’s youngest president at age 44 in 1969.

2001: Richard D. Chapman (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Chapman, whose career spanned more than 37 years, won the national amateur championships of the United States (1940), Britain (1951), Canada (1949), France (1939 and 1952), and Italy (1960). He is the only golfer ever to accomplish that feat.  He won the Connecticut State Amateur twice (1936 and 1938), the New England Amateur (1951), and also state amateur titles in Massachusetts, New York, and the Carolinas.  He played for the U.S. in the Walker Cup competitions of 1947, 1951, and 1953, all American victories. 

2001: Glenna Collett Vare (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Vare's dominance of the national golf scene in the 1920s and 1930s elevated her to a star status no American woman golfer had previously enjoyed. She won the U.S. Amateur Championship a record six times, the Canadian Ladies Open twice, the French Ladies Open once.  She earned seven Eastern and six North and South Amateur titles, and played on or captained six Curtis Cup teams.  In 1924, she won 56 of 57 competitive matches.  Although, she never turned professional, the LPGA honored her in 1953 by naming its award for the lowest per-round average score on tour as the Vare Trophy.  She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1975.

2001: James T. Healey, Sr. (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Healey won two Connecticut State Amateur Championships in 1951 and 1958, the CSGA Junior Amateur in 1947, and five CSGA Four Ball titles from 1951 to1962.  He also was a two time semifinalist in the New England Amateur Championship and in 1951 and 1965 advanced to match play in the U.S. Amateur Championship. He served on the CSGA Executive Committee from 1963-83.

 2001: Everett Fisher (Distinguished Service)

Fisher has been a Director and past President of the Round Hill Club, Governor and Secretary of the U.S. Seniors’ Golf Association, a Director and Secretary of the Connecticut Golf Foundation, and Senior Advisor to the CSGA. He served for many years as a special intermediary in the U.S. for the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and has worked tirelessly for the benefit of the game for over 40 years.

2002: Harry V. Keefe, Jr. (Distinguished Service)

Keefe, co-chairman of the inaugural Insurance City Open (now the Buick Championship) in 1952, was invaluable in launching this PGA Tour stop.  Keefe, who became a successful investment banker on Wall Street, donated millions of dollars to various educational institutions.

2002: Edwin H. May, Jr. (Distinguished Service)

May's name is synonymous with the PGA in Connecticut. He was co-chairman in 1952 of the inaugural Insurance City Open (now the Buick Championship) at Wethersfield CC. With just $100 in seed money from the Greater Hartford Jaycees, May worked tirelessly for more than a year organizing committees, raising funds and signing up volunteers for the inaugural tournament.

2002: Allan Breed (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Breed won the Connecticut Open in 1960 and the Connecticut Amateur in 1963 to become one of only four to win both titles as an amateur. He won the Manchester Open in 1966, the Bermuda Mid-Ocean Invitational in 1975, the Hop Meadow Invitational in 1981 and the Wethersfield Club Championship nine times over five decades.

2003: John A. Gentile (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Gentile won his first significant tournament in 1969 when he beat another Hall of Famer, Fred Kask, for the Connecticut Amateur Championship at Hartford GC. The following year he won the Connecticut Open by a comfortable six strokes.  “My greatest thrill in Connecticut golf was winning the Open for the second time 25 years later,” Gentile said. That win came in 1995 at Woodway CC where he won by seven shots. John won   the PGA National Club Pro Championship at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA, and the PGA Stroke Play Championship at Disney World in Florida in the same year 1978. His other wins include the Met Senior Open in 1997, the New England Senior Open in 1998 and the Connecticut Senior Open in 2003.

2004: Sanford P. Young (Distinguished Service)

Young was a consequential president of the CSGA. He was a driving force behind the creation of the Connecticut Golf Foundation in 1998. He served as a committee member of the U.S. Golf Association and qualified for two U.S. Amateur Championships. He reorganized the CSGA with the establishment of the Club Representative System.

2005: Doug Dalziel (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Dalziel came to Connecticut in 1969 and worked at Aspetuck Valley CC in Weston, Mill River CC in Stratford, and Grassy Hill CC in Orange.  Dalziel won the Connecticut Open twice (1979 and '80) and the Connecticut Section PGA Championship three times (1980, '81 and '86).  He has won many other championships including three Bermuda Opens, a PGA of America Senior Series, a Connecticut Senior Open, and was a member of both the Vantage Cup and Chrysler Cup teams.

2005: Skip Henderson (Distinguished Service)

Henderson was one of the most respected golf writers for more than four decades at the defunct Hartford Times.  He was described as "a student of the game" which gained him the respect of the greatest players of that era including Bobby Jones, Tommy Armour, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, and Sam Snead.  In November 1954, Henderson, a single digit handicapper who played out of Rockledge GC suggested a Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame to the Hartford Jaycees.  Though he never claimed to be the founder the Jaycees began the Hall of Fame the following year with Bobby Grant as the first inductee.

2006: Richard M. 'Dick' Tettelbach (Distinguished Service)

Dick Tettelbach served the CSGA with much distinction for over twenty-fives years.  He joined the CSGA in 1968 as assistant secretary-treasurer and went on to become president from 1991-1992.  After he completed his term as president he continued to work as assistant tournament director for another two years.  Dick's tremendous influence on the CSGA over the years is evident by the annual Player of the Year Trophy being named in his honor.

2006: Ken Green (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Ken Green is a two time Connecticut Open Champion (1985 and 1992).  Ken turned professional in 1980 and went on to win five times on the PGA Tour.  He was a member of the 1989 Ryder Cup team that tied with Europe at The Belfry Golf & Country Club in Sutton Coldfield, England.  Throughout his career, Ken has raised hundreds of thousand of dollars for Connecticut charities.

2007: William Hadden III (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Bill Hadden grew up playing the game at New Haven Country Club.  He is a two time Connecticut Amateur winner (1982 and 1983) and five time CSGA major winner.  Bill won the New England Amateur twice (1988 and 1993) and the prestigious Northeast Amateur in 1982.  He has participated in twenty-three national championships including the 1984 US Open at Winged Foot and was runner-up in the 1989 US Mid-Amateur Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club.

2007: Leslie Shannon Stewart (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Although Leslie began golf later in her life she enjoyed a marvelous amateur career.  Just three years after beginning golf she won the Connecticut Women's Amateur.  She would go on to win three CWGA Championships in 1978, 1980 and 1982.  She was a three time member of the United States Curtis Cup team and was named captain in 1990.  Golf Digest recognized Leslie's accomplishments by naming her the Female Amateur Player of the Year in 1986.

2007: Frank Selva (Distinguished Service)

Frank Selva began at Race Brook Country Club as a caddie.  After serving in the US Army, Frank returned to Race Brook as the Assistant Golf Professional and has remained at the club ever since.  Frank has been recognized several times for his outstanding service by the Connecticut PGA.  He has been awarded the Assistant Professional of the Year (1971), the Horton Smith Trophy (1989), Junior Golf Leader (1999) and Professional of the Year (1983).  In January of 2007 the PGA of America honored Frank as the PGA Junior Golf Leader of the Year.

2008: William T. "Bill" Lee (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Bill Lee's love of golf is an article of faith.  He was a schoolboy star in his native Texas and later in Chicago, and an All-American at Augustana College before attending the Yale Divinity School.  His golf career began in earnest in the 1970s. From 1974-1979 he was a quarterfinalist, finalist, and two-time Champion of the Connecticut Amateur, Runner-up in the New England Amateur and played in five U.S. Amateurs, four U.S. Mid-Amateurs and three British Amateurs.  in 1990 Bill won his third CT Amateur Championship and the Player of the Year Award.  He returned to golf in 2001, after an 11 year hiatus, and has since won the Connecticut Senior Amateur, played in two U.S. Senior Amateurs and served as CSGA Team Captain in 2007 and 2008.

2008: Dick Mayer (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Stamford native Dick Mayer won his first PGA Tour event in 1953 and his last in 1965.  Mayer won twice in 1957 making him one of golf's greats.  He became the 1957 U.S. Open champion at Inverness Club, OH ($7,200) and later won the 1957 World Championship of Golf at Tam O'Shanter, IL ($50,000).  He topped the PGA Tour money list with $65,835, was named PGA Player of the Year an played on the 1957 Ryder Cup team at the Lindrick Club in Yorkshire, England.  Mayer won seven PGA Tour titles:  The Eastern Open; The Miami Beach International Four-Ball (with Tommy Bolt); The Kansas City Open; the Philadelphia Daily News Open; the U.S. Open Championship; The World Championship of Golf; and the Greater New Orleans Open.

2008: E.B. "Pete" Broadbent (Distinguished Service)

Pete Broadbent has played and promoted the game he loves since joining the New Haven Country Club in 1950.  Broadbent has an extensive record of serving on various boards and committees at New Haven CC, the CSGA, the USGA and other golf organizations.  He was president of NHCC, the CSGA and the Junior-Senior Golf Association.  He remains a member of NHCC, the CSGA Board of Directors, the Connecticut Senior Golf Association and the U.S. Senior Golf Association.  For 18 years he has served on the USGA Senior Amateur Championship committee and has been an official and referee at the championship.  He has long been an on-course official for the New Haven CC, the CSGA, the Florida State GA, The Connecticut Women's GA and others.  Pete Broadbent is a model for those who love and give back to the game of golf.

2009: Fran Marrello (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

In 1984, Fran Marrello's name topped the leader board late in the first round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot CC. “A friend took a picture of the leader board with my name on top,” Marrello said. “I was ahead of guys like Jack Nicklaus, Seve Ballesteros, Hale Irwin and Tom Watson.”   His election to the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame places his name indelibly on a list of the state’s greatest men and women golfers of all time.

At 55, Marrello is still adding to his record. He carded a 5-under 208 at Wethersfield CC in August to win his second Connecticut PGA Championship by four shots. He also won in 2001. He has 15 Connecticut Section championships to his credit, including seven Match Play titles (1990, ’92, ’94-97, 2008), the Tournament of Champions twice (1992, 2007), the Assistant Professional Championship three times (1985, ’87, ’92), and the Walter Lowell Tournament twice.

He earned the Section Player of the Year award six times, including five years in a row from 1992-96. He also won in 2007. He was Senior Player of the Year in 2005, ’07 and ’08.

Fran has played in 11 majors, three PGAs, four US Opens, three U.S. Amateurs and one US Senior Open. He has played in 15 National Club Pro championships and five National Senior Club Pro championships.  In 1984, he placed second in six tournaments, including the Connecticut Open, Vermont Open and New Hampshire Classic, a Tournament Players Series event, forerunner of the Nationwide Tour.

2009: Barbara Young (Distinguished Golf Achievement)

Barbara Young began playing golf at the age of 30 and she still plays regularly at 76, even after surgical replacements in both knees. When the Young family moved to Westport, she developed into a golf champion and now, some three decades later, she joins the state’s most accomplished players as a member of the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame.

Playing at Westport Longshore, then at Aspetuck Valley CC, Young eventually won the Connecticut Women’s Golf Association championship in 1988 and ’91, and took the Connecticut Women’s Amateur title six times. Before moving to North Carolina, Young won the New England WGA championship twice (1986 and ’91), and has since captured the New England Senior Women’s Amateur title nine times.  Two highlights of Young’s career were a second-place finish in the 1986 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at Lakewood GC in Alabama, and a victory in the 1992 Canadian Senior Amateur in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.  Among other titles, she has won the CWGA Seniors three times, the Connecticut Women’s Senior Amateur eight times, the Women’s Eastern GA Seniors (1992), the Metropolitan (NY) Golf Association Seniors (1989), the North and South Seniors six times, the North Carolina Seniors twice (1994, ’99), the Carolinas Seniors (1998) and the Women’s Eastern Super Seniors three times (1999-2001).

Long before she took up golf, Young had an interesting athletic career as a shortstop for the Kenosha, WI, Comets of the All-American Girls Baseball League, made famous by the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own,” starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Madonna. “I was still in high school when 12 of us from New England traveled to South Bend (Indiana) for tryouts,” Young said. “The league was popular because it filled a void with a lot of the men off at war. It was fun while it lasted. We even played in Yankee Stadium.”

Young’s athletic talent was not limited to golf and baseball. In tennis, she was New England Junior champion in 1948, played on the Junior Girls Whiteman Cup team in 1949, and lost to Maureen Connolly in the National Juniors in 1949. She also was an All-State field hockey player at Brookline (MA) High, and won the New England Platform Tennis doubles title in 1976. She received a Connecticut Sports Writers Alliance Gold Key in 1994.

2009: Bruce Berlet (Distinguished Service to Golf)

Bruce Berlet was the pulse beat of Connecticut’s golf community as he chronicled the sport for all of the 38 years he worked at the Hartford Courant. Few reporters immerse themselves in their beat the way Berlet did with golf on the state and national scenes. He did it because he loved it. His passion for the game and for those who play it was evident in his writing. Because his work informed state golfers and enhanced their enjoyment of the game for so long, he belongs in the Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame.  Berlet, 61, covered the Greater Hartford Open 39 times as it changed names and courses. He filed stories from 30 Masters, 15 U.S. Opens, three PGA Championships and three Ryder Cup matches. More importantly, perhaps, he wrote stories about the people who play the game at the state and regional level. He stood just off the green as the final putts were struck at hundreds of CSGA, Connecticut Section PGA, Connecticut Women’s Golf Association and Southern New England Women’s Golf Association championships. Over time, Berlet became the ultimate insider as scores of players he wrote about became his friends.

“I’m particularly honored by this because of my affiliation with the CSGA, which goes back to the 1960s when I received a Widdy Neale Scholarship,” Berlet said.

Berlet also covered the Hartford Whalers and Wolf Pack hockey teams, UConn men’s and women’s basketball, Yale football and various other sports. He has written articles for Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, Golf World, the New England Journal of Golf and other publications. He was co-host, with Bob Samek, of Connecticut Golfer on Radio for eight years. He has helped promote several charity golf tournaments and served on the Hall of Fame selection committee for 15 years. He was a golfer with a single-digit handicap for many years. 

Return to Home Page

Copyright © 1999-2009 Connecticut State Golf Association
Designed and Maintained by HyperActive PC, L.L.C.