IAGA Quick Hits – 4.10.25
Forsyth and McCord Headline SoCal Golf Hall of Fame Class
From the Southern California Golf Association
Watch Charles Barkley and Jim Nantz congratulate Gary
Listen to former players, including Lilia Vu, congratulate Carrie
The Southern California Golf Hall of Fame, a regional program managed by the SCGA and SoCal PGA, recently inducted its 2025 class. Legendary UCLA college coach, Carrie Forsyth and renowned broadcaster, Gary McCord, a SoCal native and UC Riverside alum, headlined a class of five luminaries. The event was hosted by golf course architect, historian and author, Geoff Shackelford.
ESF awards record number of caddie scholarships
A story from Western Golf Association Evans Scholars Foundation
A record 360 students from across the country have been awarded the Evans Scholarship, a prestigious full housing and tuition college grant offered to golf caddies.
This fall, they will begin college as Evans Scholars, attending a leading university nationwide. The Evans Scholarship is valued at more than $125,000 over four years. A full list of winners, including their awarded universities, can be found in the attachment.
In the fall, the first groups of Evans Scholars will attend two new partner universities
the University of Delaware and the University of South Carolina. The Western Golf Association (WGA), headquartered in Glenview, Ill., oversees the Evans Scholars Program. Recently recognized as the Scholarship Provider of the Year by the National Scholarship Providers Association, the Evans Scholars Foundation (ESF) is one of golf’s favorite charities and the nation’s largest scholarship program for caddies.
David Ingram, Mike Nixon to be inducted into the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame in May
A story from the Tennessee Golf Association
“We are pleased to have two tremendous gentlemen of the game make up the 2025 inductee class of the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame,” said Whit Turnbow, President of the Tennessee Golf Foundation. “David and Mike have both left, in their own way, an indelible mark on golf in Tennessee, and we look forward to honoring those accomplishments this spring.”
DAVID INGRAM, a Nashville native, has long been a staunch supporter of golf-related initiatives in Tennessee. He is the current president of The Golf Club of Tennessee, which was established in 1989 by his late father E. Bronson Ingram II and Toby Wilt, and is regarded as one of the premier courses in the country. David has continued the family legacy 35 years later with the recent addition of a second golf course at GCTN designed by noteworthy architect Gil Hanse.
MIKE NIXON of Nashville has a long, distinguished career, both as a competitor and as an industry professional. Nixon has the rare distinction of being the first, and currently only one of two, golfers who have competed in the U.S. Junior, the U.S Amateur, the U.S. Mid-Amateur, the U.S. Pub-Links, and the U.S. Senior Amateur. He completed this feat over the span of 52 years, attesting to the longevity of his superb playing ability.
VSGA partners with VT-STEM on 2024-25 online program
A story from the Virginia State Golf Association
The 2024-25 session of the Virginia Tech School of Turfgrass Ecology and Management (VT-STEM)—a 13-week training course in the principles of turfgrass ecology and management through both synchronous and asynchronous learning—was recently completed. The Virginia State Golf Association provided grants to over 30 students, each of whom were employees at VSGA member clubs, allowing for those interested in breaking into or advancing in the turfgrass industry to take the class free of charge.
VT-STEM is a comprehensive introductory turfgrass training program that works around busy work and family schedules. The program, held entirely online, is intended to primarily serve the educational needs of those without formal training in turfgrass science, but are either employed in or have interest in working in the turfgrass industry.
This was the fifth year that the program was held, but the first year that the VSGA grant allowed free access to staff members at VSGA member clubs. The course ran from November 1, 2024, through January 10, 2025.