One was arguably the best golfer in the world during the early 1970s. Another beat Bobby Jones for the U.S. Amateur title. One is regarded as perhaps the best putter of all time. Another defeated legendary Babe Didrickson Zaharias in a match.
The aforementioned golfers will be among those inducted as charter members of the Utah Golf Hall of Fame. Ten people who have excelled in various golf capacities will be honored Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in ceremonies at the Marriott Hotel (tickets are available for the general public and can be obtained by calling the Utah Golf Association at 466-1132).The 10 inductees include five living and five deceased persons. Present at the banquet will be Johnny Miller, Billy Casper, Tee Branca, Billy Korns and George Marks. Those being honored posthumously include George Von Elm, Helen Hofmann Bertagnole, Steve Dunford, George Schneiter Sr., and Ernie Schneiter Sr.
Some of the inductees are being honored for their ability on the golf course, while others are being honored for their service to the game. And some are being honored for both.
That's the case with Branca, who has served as the head professional at The Country Club for 46 years. Although he is known by anyone associated with golf for his gentlemanly, classy demeanor, Branca was once one of the top golfers in the area.
He won the City Parks Open four times, the Rocky Mountain PGA Championship and tied for the Utah Open title before losing in a playoff. He was also the Utah Long Drive Champion in 1955.
Branca turned professional in 1929 at the age of 18 and became an assistant at the The Country Club. He left in 1936 to become the head professional at Fort Douglas Country Club. After serving in the army for a couple of years during World War II, he became the head pro at The Country Club.
Korns may be best known for winning the Utah State Amateur championship a record six times, a feat that may never be matched. But he also won the Salt Lake City Amateur five times and was the low amateur in the Utah Open several times, once losing in a playoff for the overall title.
He turned professional at the age of 32 and served as head pro in Idaho and Montana before settling a Riverside Country Club in Provo. He also served in several administrative capacities including president of the UGA, president of the Utah and Idaho chapters of the PGA and president of the Rocky Mountain Section of the PGA.
No one in Utah knows more about golf rules than George Marks. Not only is he the pre-eminent rules authority in Utah, he is recognized as one of the top rules experts in the country. He has served as an official at the U.S. Open for 20 years as well as many other USGA events. He also served in various capacities with the Utah Golf Association for two decades.
Marks was also instrumental in developing the handicap system in Utah. He also helped improve UGA programs such as the Utah Open, the State Amateur, the UGA Women's Tournament and the Four-Man Team competition. He received the UGA's Gold Club Award in 1988.
Former Utah residents Miller and Casper are famous not only among Utahns, but throughout the golfing world.
Miller at one time was the most dominating golfer anywhere. In 1974 he won eight PGA tournaments, a record that still stands and will likely never be broken. He made his first big splash by winning the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont where he shot a final-round 63. In 1976 he captured another major by winning the British Open.
Miller graduated from BYU in 1969 and lived in Utah throughout most of the 1980s with his wife and six children. Although he still plays in some PGA tournaments, Miller works for NBC-TV as a golf analyst. He has been instrumental in the growth of the junior golf program in Utah.
Casper is one of golf's all-time greats who may have been one of the best putters that ever lived. He won more than 50 PGA tournaments, including U.S. Opens in 1959 and 1966 and the Masters in 1970. Since joining the PGA Senior Tour he has won $1.5 million and several events including the Jeremy Ranch Showdown.
After joining the LDS Church, he moved to Utah in 1972 and raised his family on his ranch in Mapleton. He moved back to California in 1987.
Von Elm played alongside the legendary Bobby Jones as one of the top golfers some 60 years ago. Von Elm defeated Jones in the finals of the 1926 U.S. Amateur Championship after losing to him in the previous two amateurs. In 1931 he lost in a 72-hole playoff for the U.S. Open title after tying Billy Burke in the regulation 72 holes.
Bertagnole dominated women's golf in Utah in the 1930s and 40s. She won all the local events, but her greatest triumph came in 1938 when she defeated Babe Didrickson Zaharias in the semifinals of the Women's Western Open. In 1950 the Deseret News honred her as the Most Outstanding Woman Athlete in the 1850 to 1950 century.
Dunford is remembered for the organization he brought to the Utah golf scene in the 1950s and 60s. He helped incorporate the Utah Golf Association and served as president for 14 years before his untimely death in 1969.
Ernie Schneiter Sr., was known not only for his golfing ability, but as an administrator, superintendent and architect. He won the Rocky Mountain Section Seniors title four straight years and was head professional at Ogden Country Club for nearly 20 years.
George Schneiter Sr., played on the PGA Tour and later worked as the PGA Tour's tournament supervisor. He won the Utah Open three times and the Intermountain PGA title four times. In 1946, playing besides the likes of Sam Snead and Ben Hogan, Schneiter finished among the top-25 PGA money-winners. He was killed in an auto accident in 1964.