Winchester, Tennessee
1987, Honorary Category Member
Television, film and recording star Dinah Shore was the first person to become an Honorary Member of the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1994. A member of the Television Hall of Fame since 1991, Shore’s tv accomplishments include nine Emmys and a Peabody Award due to the successful Dinah Shore Show from 1951-1963, Dinah’s Place from 1970-74 and then Dinah! from 1974-1980. Dinah’s Place, a popular daytime talk show, was sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive, headed by David Foster. Foster and Shore later teamed up to start a women’s golf event in the Coachella Valley.
That golf event morphed into today’s The Chevron Championship, a storied event for 51 years and counting, and one that officially became a major championship for the LPGA Tour since 1983. Shore notably became a champion for women golfers and the LPGA Tour, becoming friends with many of the players and advocating for women’s golf and the Tour whenever she could. Upon her passing in 1994, then LPGA Commissioner Charlie Mechem announced that Shore would become the first non-player to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame, which remains one of the toughest sports halls of fame to qualify for.
Shore presented The Chevron Championship trophy to the winner of the event each year until her death. The trophy has officially been named the Dinah Shore Trophy, and the course at Mission Hills Country Club where the championship has been played is called the Dinah Shore Tournament Course, with a statue of Shore at the foot of the bridge at the 18th hole.
