Shirley Spork

Shirley G. Spork (born May 14, 1927) is an American professional golfer and one of the founders of the LPGA Tour. Spork finished second at the 1962 LPGA Championship. She worked as a teaching pro for many years and was recognized as LPGA Teacher of the Year in 1959 and 1984. Spork also taught golf with the National Golf Foundation and was an educator at Bowling Green State University. As a player, she started in her early teens and continues to play golf into her nineties.

Shirley Spork
Personal information
Born (1927-05-14) May 14, 1927
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Nationality United States
ResidencePalm Desert, California
Career
CollegeMichigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University)
Turned professional1950
Former tour(s)LPGA Tour (co-founder)
Best results in LPGA major championships
Women's PGA C'ship2nd: 1962
U.S. Women's OpenT8: 1962
Achievements and awards
Patty Berg Award2015

Biography

Spork was raised outside Detroit in Redford, Michigan and grew up across the street from an 18-hole golf course.[1][2] As a child, she began to collect, wash and resell golf balls and at age 13, used these funds to buy her own golf clubs.[1] She began to practice after hours.[1] She played in tournaments in Detroit as young as age 14 and the Detroit Free Press wrote in 1941 that she "appears to be one of the future stars of Detroit."[3] She went on to attend a golf school given by the Free Press.[4] One of her first major wins took place in 1944 at a Red Cross golf event.[2]

Spork wanted to play golf after high school, but was discouraged by her parents.[1] Instead, she started to attend Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University) in 1945.[5] She had "top honors" at the Women's District Golf Association tournament in June 1946.[6] At college, she won the 1947 national individual intercollegiate golf championship, playing in between final exams.[7][8] She was runner-up in the intercollegiate championship in 1948.[9] She graduated from college in 1949.[9] Soon after this, she went pro and began to play professional events in 1950.[10][11] In the fall of 1950, Spork was hired to work at the health and physical education department of Bowling Green State University.[12]

Spork was one of the thirteen founders of the LPGA in 1950.[13][14][15] In 1951, she toured the United Kingdom and France.[16] She also started teaching golf at Tamarisk Country Club in Palm Springs, California in 1954.[17] She was also involved with creating a teaching division in the LPGA which became the Teaching and Club Professional Membership.[13] In 1962, she came in second in the LPGA Championship.[11] For a few years in the mid to late 1970s, Spork worked as an educator for the National Golf Foundation.[17]

Spork has continued to golf into her 90s.[14] She was awarded the LPGA Teacher of the Year Award in 1959 and again in 1984.[17] In 1968, she joined the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame.[9] She was added to the Eastern Michigan University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981.[9] She received the Heritage Award from the SCPGA in 2017.[18] Spork was inducted into the PGA of America Hall of Fame in 2019.[13] Spork is also featured in a documentary about the LPGA, The Founders (2016).[14] She wrote about her career in her 2017 autobiography, From Green to Tee.[19]

Selected bibliography
  • Spork, Shirley (2017). From Green to Tee. CreateSpace. ISBN 9781541170988.
  • Spork, Shirley (1972). Golf Instructor's Guide. with Lorraine Abbott and Ellen Griffen. National Golf Foundation. OCLC 11226610.

References
  1. Vold 1999, p. 63.
  2. "Unsung Girl Golfer Steals Spotlight". Detroit Free Press. July 29, 1944. Retrieved September 10, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Ruling Keeps Young Star in MGA Play". Detroit Free Press. August 20, 1941. Retrieved September 9, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Shirley Spork Proves Value of Lessons". Detroit Free Press. June 4, 1942. Retrieved September 9, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Vold 1999, p. 63-64.
  6. "Shirley Spork Surprises Self With WDGA Victory". Detroit Free Press. June 12, 1946. Retrieved September 10, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Honoree Shirley Spork" (PDF). Michigan Women's Golf Association. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  8. Dann, Marshall (June 12, 1947). "Shirley Spork Keeps WDGA Medal Crown". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved September 7, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Hall of Fame Selects Spork". The Desert Sun. June 2, 1981. Retrieved September 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Vold 1999, p. 64.
  11. Swain, Glenn (March 19, 2011). "Past and Present Meet at L.P.G.A. Tour Event". The New York Times. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
  12. "Shirley Spork at B.G." Marysville Journal. October 13, 1950. Retrieved September 9, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. Lamport-Stokes, Mark (September 4, 2019). "Richly Deserved: Shirley Spork and Annika Sorenstam will be Inducted into the PGA of America Hall of Fame". LPGA. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  14. Meagher, Thomas (May 8, 2018). "Palm Desert's Shirley Spork Remains a Force in Women's Golf". Palm Springs Life. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  15. "About the LPGA - Our Founders". LPGA.
  16. "Shirley Spork Resigns Ukiah Golf Post". Ukiah Daily Journal. November 15, 1954. Retrieved September 9, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. Vold 1999, p. 69.
  18. Spicer, Judd (January 23, 2018). "Surely A Legend: Q&A With Shirley Spork". Fore Magazine. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  19. "LPGA Founder Shirley Spork Tells it All in her New Book "From Green to Tee"". LPGA Women's Network. August 14, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2019.

Sources
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