Among the list of 2010 inductees to the Texas Golf Hall of Fame, three will have a distinct Fort Worth flavor.
The list includes Fort Worth native Mark Brooks, a seven-time winner on the PGA Tour who still lives in Fort Worth; Fort Worth native Bill Eschenbrenner, who made his name as a club pro in El Paso (pupild include major champions Lee Trevino and Rich Beem) and the late Toni Wiesner, a TCU graduate and longtime Fort Worth resident who had a distinguished amateur career before her death in 2009.
Below is a biographical sketch on each member of the 2010 induction class, as provided by officials at the Texas Golf Hall of Fame. The 2010 class will be inducted Monday, Oct. 25 in San Antonio:
WILL SYMONS, Sr. ... SAN ANTONIO
Symons was the patriarch of the first family of San Antonio golf in the early 20th Century. He founded Laurel Heights GC located just north of downtown, which was opened in 1911. Symons gained valuable golf experience in the Midwest and put that to use running his privately owned daily-fee facility, the first in the state.
Laurel Heights attracted many of the top pros of the day from the Northeast who were down to play and visit during the winter months. Jack Burke, Sr., and his brothers Tom and Edmond all paid visits to Laurel Heights before 1920, and Boston’s Tom Lally was another regular visitor before becoming head pro at San Antonio Country Club. In 1913, San Antonio’s first city championship was held at Laurel Heights with the San Antonio Light reporting that Will Symons, Jr., slogged through wet weather to capture the first city title with clubs made by his father at the Symons Golf Shop
TONI WIESNER ... FORT WORTH
Toni Wiesner was a long time friend to the Women’s Texas Golf Association (WTGA), allies of the WTGA, as well as the game of golf as a whole. She was an accomplished amateur whose competitive record included five WTGA State Amateur Championships, the 1997 British Senior Women’s Amateur, the 1981 Women’s Southern Amateur and 3 time runner-up of the USGA Senior Women’s Amateur. She continued her strong and success competitive spirit late into her life and playing career, before recently passing away
BILL ESCHENBRENNER ... FORT WORTH/EL PASO
The Fort Worth native is a longtime golf pro in El Paso where he has helped dozen of players and assistant pros advance in the golf business, most notability golf legend Lee Trevino.
He was the 2005 PGA National Golf Professional of the Year and inducted in the PGA Hall of Fame in 2006. Eschenbrenner served as the head pro at El Paso Country Club from 1965-1990, where he once hired Trevino as an assistant and helped him get his PGA Tour card. He also oversaw the Lone Star Golf Range in El Paso where he has attempted to get more young people in the game of golf.
CAROLYN CREEKMORE ... DALLAS
The longtime Dallas resident has dominated women’s amateur golf for many decades, highlighted by victory in the 2004 U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur along with a national runner-up finish.
She captured two Texas Women’s Amateur titles, was runner-up another time and also won the Texas Women’s Open. She continues to play top-flight amateur golf as evidenced by 2009 U.S. Senior Amateur runner-up
MARK BROOKS ... FORT WORTH
The Fort Worth native, who first starred at the University of Texas, won the 1996 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club outside of Louisville, Kentucky in a playoff with Kenny Perry. It was one of seven PGA Tour victories. He also lost in a playoff to Retief Goosen at the 2001 U.S. Open as Southern Hills Country Club as part of a highly successful career, which saw him collect nearly $10 million dollars in prize money.
WARREN CANTRELL ... SAN ANTONIO
The former President of the PGA of America, Cantrell was largely responsible for attracting the 1968 PGA Championship to come to Pecan Valley Golf Course in San Antonio, the only one of golf’s four major championships to have been played in South Texas.
He began his career as a golf pro in West Texas, later became involved in course design, crafting courses in Lubbock and elsewhere and also served as head golf coach at Texas Tech University.
HARLESS WADE ... DALLAS
Harless Wade was a longtime sports and golf writer, first in Abilene and later in Dallas, serving for many decades with the Dallas Morning News. He was responsible for establishing the first statewide ranking of Texas courses and developed the idea of an annual golf section spotlighting the best of Texas Golf.
He covered hundreds of Texas golf events and was friends and chroniclers of Texas golf legends like Trevino, Brooks and hundreds more.
CAROL MANN ... THE WOODLANDS
Along with fellow Texan and Hall of Fame inductee Kathy Whitworth, Mann dominated women’s professional golf in the 1960s. She won the 1965 U.S. Women’s Open and the 1964 Western Open, when it was considered a women’s major championship.
In one LPGA season, 1968, she won 10 tournaments and captured 8 in 1969, as part of her 38 total professional victories. Mann had a term as LPGA President and also was president of the National Women’s Sports Foundation. She has long been involved in golf projects in the Southeast Texas area and all over the state.
FRANCIS TRIMBLE ... HOUSTON
Trimble is a longtime golf historian, writer and promoter of Texas Golf. She served as executive director of the Texas Golf Hall of Fame when it was located in The Woodlands. She has written extensively on Texas history and the author of several books. She currently lives in Houston where she is the historian of the reconstituted Texas Golf Hall of Fame in San Antonio.
_ Jimmy Burch
Recent Comments