BOSTON, Aug. 21, 2018 – LPGA veterans Shelley Hamlin and Sherri Turner will enter the Legends Hall of Fame this fall as the newest inductees.
Hamlin, a native of San Mateo, Calif., and Turner, a native of Greenville, S.C., will be inducted into the Legends Hall of Fame during a tournament week, Oct. 13-17. Hamlin will be enshrined on Oct. 11, followed by Turner on Oct. 12.
The induction will be held in conjunction with the Senior LPGA Championship presented by Old National Bank at French Lick Resort in French Lick, Ind. The Legends Hall of Fame is a permanent exhibit featured at the resort.
“I think it’s a great honor,” said Hamlin, a three-time LPGA Tour winner who resides in Phoenix.
“When I was called about the honor, I was speechless,” added Turner, also a resident of Phoenix. “This is something that I never thought about or ever thought I could be a part of.”
An LPGA Tour member for 25 years, Hamlin joined the tour in 1972. She tied for second at the 1973 U.S. Women’s Open and recorded her first LPGA victory at the 1978 Patty Berg Classic.
In July 1991, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and returned for the final month of the LPGA season to post a tie for 26th at the Desert Inn LPGA International.
Hamlin won the LPGA’s 1992 Phar-Mor at Inverrary tournament seven months after undergoing a modified radical mastectomy. She earned her third career LPGA win at the 1993 Shop-Rite LPGA Classic.
Awarded the LPGA’s 1995 Heather Farr Perseverance Award by her peers, Hamlin was recognized for demonstrating “determination, perseverance and spirit in fulfilling her goals as a player.”
She also won the LPGA’s 1992 Bounceback Player of the Year Award, the 1992 William and Mousie Powell Award, and the Dr. DeDe Owens Spirit of Golf Award.
As an amateur, Hamlin won the 1971 AIAW National Collegiate Championship (preceding the NCAA Championship) while at Stanford University and was later voted into Stanford’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
She was runner-up to Catherine Lacoste at the 1969 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and was a four-time winner of the California Women’s Amateur. In addition, Hamlin was a member of two winning United States Curtis Cup teams (1968, 1970) and two winning U.S. Women’s World Amateur teams (1966, 1968).
A co-founder of The Legends Tour, Hamlin won the 2002 Fidelity Investments Classic on the Legends Tour and has posted six top-10 finishes. She has also earned two Legends Honors Division titles (age 63-over) -- with her most recent win coming at the 2017 Walgreens Charity Championship in Sun City West, Ariz.
Hamlin was The Legends Tour’s 2015 recipient of the Colleen Walker Spirit Award, which recognizes the player who best exhibits “tenacity, determination and a never-give-up attitude.”
“She was very proud to be able to win on the LPGA Tour after coming back from cancer,” said Legends Tour player and LPGA Tour veteran Anne Marie Palli. “This Legends Hall of Fame honor means a lot to her.”
Also one of the original 25 founding members of The Legends Tour, Turner joined the LPGA Tour in 1984 and earned the first of her three LPGA Tour victories at the 1988 Mazda LPGA Championship – then one of the LPGA’s majors.
She followed by winning the next week at the 1988 Corning Classic. Turner finished as the LPGA’s top money winner in 1988, posting 17 top-10 finishes and earning honors as the Golf Writers Association of America Player of the Year.
She added her third career victory at the 1989 Oryx Hawaiian Ladies Open and finished second to Juli Inkster at the 1999 U.S. Women’s Open Championship.
“Although I wanted to win and be successful, I am a quiet competitor,” said Turner, who was the LPGA’s 1997 William and Mousie Powell Award recipient, recognizing the player whose “behavior and deeds best exemplify the spirit, ideas and values of the LPGA.”
“Golf has really been the only sport that I could be competitive in because of my challenges with Type 1 diabetes,” added Turner, who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 15. “My biggest motivation has been to be successful in spite of diabetes and everything that comes with managing it.”
After retiring from the LPGA Tour in 2008, Turner focused on the LPGA’s senior tour, where she has won three tournaments. She partnered with Cindy Figg-Currier to win the 2008 BJ’s Charity Team Championship, and won the 2012 Hannaford Charity Classic and 2013 Legends Swing for the Cure for individual honors.
As an amateur, Turner was the 1974-1975 Carolinas Junior champion. She was the first female recruit for the women’s golf team at Furman University, where she was a member of the 1976 AIAW National Championship team that included LPGA Hall of Fame members Beth Daniel and Betsy King.
Turner won three collegiate tournaments and earned All-America honors at Furman. She was inducted into the Furman Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989, and is an honorary member of the South Carolina Hall of Fame.
Both women served on the LPGA’s player board during their respective careers. Hamlin served as the LPGA’s player president in 1980-1981, while Turner served on the LPGA’s Player Executive Committee from 1997-1999.
Annual inductions into the Legends Hall of Fame include one active member of The Legends Tour who is still regularly competing in official Legends Tour events and one semi-retired Legends Tour member who has made a significant impact on the game during her LPGA and Legends Tour careers.
Hamlin and Turner will join current Legends Tour Hall of Fame members Sandra Palmer and Nancy Scranton (inducted in 2017), Sandra Haynie and Elaine Crosby (2016), JoAnne Carner and Rosie Jones (2015), Nancy Lopez and Jane Blalock (2014), and Jan Stephenson and Kathy Whitworth (2013).
For more information about The Legends Tour, visit www.thelegendstour.com.
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