Our History
The Beginning
Conceived by course designer Jack Miller and Houston sportswriter, Jack Agness, the Texas Golf Hall of Fame was first opened in 1978 at The Texas National Golf Club located outside of Willis, Texas. The first class of inductees was comprised of eight of the greatest names in golf, including Jimmy Demaret, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Babe Zaharias and Lee Trevino. In the succeeding years, others were inducted, including Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, Joe Black, Betsy Rawls, Bruce Crampton, and Kathy Whitworth. As compared to any other state golf hall of fame, Texas boasts the greatest “who’s – who” list in golf. 15% of the World Golf Hall of Fame, 10 of the 31 U.S. Ryder Captains, 85 major winners, nine U.S. Amateur champions and six PGA Golf Professionals of the Year are all in the Texas Golf Hall of Fame.
The Torch is Passed
In 1988, the Woodlands Corporation bought the rights to the Hall of Fame and carried on the torch.
Houston Golf Association Takes Over
In 1992, The Houston Golf Association took over operations and continued the inductions until 1996. 77 individuals and one golf course, Brackenridge Park Golf Course in San Antonio, were inducted during those years. Ms. Frances Trimble was the director and curator of the Hall of Fame during this time period.
Original Hall of Fame is Dissolved
After moving the Shell Houston Open and its operations from The Woodlands to Redstone Country Club, the Houston Golf Association mothballed the Hall of Fame in 1997. The original Texas Golf Hall of Fame was later dissolved.
Relocation to Brackenridge Park
In 2008, as part of the restoration efforts of the historic Brackenridge Park Golf Course, designed by famed golf course architect A.W. Tillinghast, inductee and former President of the PGA of America, Joe Black, contacted San Antonio golf officials about reconstituting the Texas Golf Hall of Fame at Brackenridge Park, the birthplace of public golf in Texas. To avoid what had happened in the past and to help the new Hall of Fame endure, Black recommended that it should be governed by a board of directors comprised of the major golf organizations of the state of Texas, not any one golf organization, developer or locality.
Expanding Our Mission
Today, the Texas Golf Hall of Fame boasts 156 individual members and fifteen Registry of Historic Golf Courses facilities. It has a full-time executive director, a board of directors with representatives from six partner associations, and a Walk of Fame at Brackenridge Park Golf Course in San Antonio. In the fall of 2023, the Texas Golf Hall of Fame added a physical anchor site on the Northern Texas PGA campus at PGA Frisco.
