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The World Golf Hall of Fame recently moved from St. Augustine, Florida to its new home at the Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina.
My wife and I visited the Florida location several years ago and had a terrific time – even though I failed to put a golf ball onto the floating island green on the lake adjacent to the facility. Though I played golf in high school decades ago in Louisiana, it was quite disappointing to miss the target that day.
What I didn’t realize at the time was a far more accomplished golfer hailing from my hometown had recently failed to hit a different target at the World Golf Hall of Fame.
In the fall of 2018, the finalists announced for the possible induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame included none other than Shreveport’s Hal Sutton. He was 60 years of age at the time.
The Hall of Fame Selection Committee for the Class of 2019 included the greatest player of all time, Jack Nicklaus.
For someone who had closely followed Hal Sutton’s career, I remember the 1983 PGA Championship. The tall blond-haired young man from northwest Louisiana did not falter down the stretch. He was being pursued on the final nine holes by none other than the Golden Bear himself. Jack Nicklaus would finish in second place one shot behind Hal Sutton at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.
Only 25 years old at the time, Hal Sutton’s win at the 1983 PGA was his first major championship. Jack Nicklaus, always gracious in defeat, told the press afterwards that Hal had enough talent to become one of the game’s best players.
“I think if there’s anybody coming along who is going to dominate the tour, Sutton has a head start on everybody else,” said Nicklaus. “Only time will determine whether he will.”
More than 35 years following Hal Sutton’s one and only major golf championship in 1983, one of the voters tasked with determining whether Hal would accepted into the World Golf Hall of Fame was none other than Jack Nicklaus.
Hal Sutton’s hometown newspaper interviewed him prior to the World Golf Hall of Fame’s final voting. Hopeful of garnering enough votes to gain membership in the distinguished group, Hal said, “That’s what a person works their whole career for, to be possibly considered for the Hall of Fame. I would be in awe if that’s the case.”
With 75% of the votes from the 20-person Selection Committee required for admission, Hal Sutton came up short for the Class of 2019.
In 2024, Hal Sutton is still not a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. At least, not yet!
Becoming Shreveport, Louisiana’s favorite golfer
Hal Sutton fell in love with golf as a youngster. Though he played youth football and basketball into junior high school, Sutton was a self-taught golfer who practiced hard and dedicated himself to becoming the best player he could be.
His father, Howard Sutton, owned a small regional oil company. Mr. Sutton was a former football player and a big supporter of his college alma mater, the University of Arkansas. By his own admission, Hal’s Dad (who didn’t play golf) pushed his son very hard to become the best in his declared sport.
Hal Sutton was a four-year letterman at Shreveport’s Northwood High School. His personal drive as a high school golfer propelled him into the upper echelon of a very talented pool of local amateur golfers. Sutton quickly ascended to become one of the top amateur golfers in the entire state of Louisiana prior to graduating from high school.
As a high school senior, Hal Sutton averaged nearly two strokes under par (or 70 shots per round). Several of the top college golf programs in the nation attempted to recruit him to come and play for them.
Instead, Hal Sutton surprised many by announcing that he was going to follow the lead of another very prominent local athlete and attend the smallest Division 1 school in the country at Centenary College in Shreveport.
“I’ll stay home and go to Centenary”, said Sutton. “I want to help the school.”
At the time, Centenary’s 7-foot basketball star Robert Parish was leading the small college into the AP Top 25 rankings for the first time in school history. Hal Sutton wanted to do the same thing with the school’s golf team.
“By staying here, he (Parish) did a lot for Centenary and a lot for Shreveport.”
From 1976-1980 at Centenary College, Hal Sutton won 14 college golf tournaments. During his time in college, he captured the prestigious Western Amateur (1979 and 1980) along with the 1980 North and South Amateur titles. Sutton was a member of the 1979 and 1981 US Walker Cup teams, too.
Named a college All-American, Hal Sutton led the Gentlemen (yes, that’s the nickname for the school’s sports teams) to the NCAA Tournament as the team finished ninth nationally. Hal was named the 1980 NCAA College Player of the Year and Golf Magazine’s College Player of the Year as a senior.
If that wasn’t enough for Hal Sutton’s 1980 golf season, the US Amateur was played in (ironically for this story) Pinehurst, North Carolina. At The Country Club of North Carolina, Hal Sutton defeated Bob Lewis 9 and 8 in the 36-hole championship match to claim the top title in amateur golf.
The low medalist for the opening two rounds of that event was none other than Fred Couples.
Yes, the same smooth-swinging Freddie Couples we have enjoyed watching over the years on the PGA Tour and the PGA Champions Tour played in the same tournament. Couples would be admitted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013 with very similar qualifications as the young man who actually won that 1980 US Amateur championship – Hal Sutton.
Hal Sutton‘s 25 year PGA Tour career
Upon college graduation, Hal Sutton gave serious thought to remaining a lifelong amateur (like Bobby Jones did) and entered the business world. A year later, he changed his mind and traveled to Florida to participate in the fall 1981 PGA Tour Qualifying School. Sutton finished in a tie for 18th place with another future PGA Championship winner, Paul Azinger. The two talented golfers had just earned their PGA Tour playing card for the 1982 season.
Hal Sutton’s 25-year PGA Tour career (1982-2006) featured three rather distinct periods.
During his first five years as a pro, Sutton won seven PGA events. He broke through in his rookie year of 1982 at the Walt Disney World Classic. In 1983, he won the Players Championship and the PGA Championship. After a winless 1984, Hal Sutton won twice in 1985 and matched that feat again in 1986.
Then, a nine-year drought began.
From May, 1986 (Memorial Tournament) through September, 1995 (B.C. Open), Hal Sutton was winless as his golf game began to waver. A self-taught player, he sought advice from a number of well-meaning experts on how to restore his golf swing. Eventually, Hal reunited with his college golf coach (Floyd Horgan) and began to return to top form once again starting in the mid-1990’s.
A rejuvenated 37-year old Hal Sutton won another seven PGA events during the ensuing five year period. Starting with the 1995 BC Open, Sutton added the 1998 Texas Open in San Antonio. He capped the 1998 season by winning the Tour Championship season finale in a playoff with Vijay Singh.
Hal Sutton’s winning streak continued in 1999 with a victory in the Canadian Open. In the year 2000, he won the Greater Greensboro Open. Sutton also added his second Players Championship by holding off Tiger Woods (much like he had done against Jack Nicklaus in the 1983 PGA).
His now-famous “Be the right club. Be the right club…TODAY!” call from the 18th fairway in the final round at TPC Sawgrass would become Hal’s signature moment. At 41 years of age, Hal Sutton had just taken down Tiger Woods during the same year (2000) in which Woods captured three consecutive major championships.
Ryder Cup Hal
Hal Sutton played on four Ryder Cup teams. He had two appearances during his younger days (1985 and 1986) and then twice more (1999 and 2002) during the latter portion of his PGA career. Sutton compiled a career record of 7-5-4 in his four appearances for Team USA.
In 2004, Hal Sutton was chosen to be captain of the US Ryder Cup team. The US team featured Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and several other top rated American golfers. Team USA was considered to be a solid favorite as the event was being played near Detroit at Oakland Hills. However, a fired-up European squad led by Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, and Padraig Harrington was nearly unbeatable that weekend as the Euros clobbered the US team 18 ½ to 9 ½.
Fellow Shreveporter David Toms played on the 2004 US squad (going 1-2) and later commented, “They (the European squad) play like they’re playing for a beer and it seems like we’re playing for everything to lose”.
It’s doubtful that anyone took that 2004 Ryder Cup loss harder than their team captain, Hal Sutton.
Hal Sutton loves Louisiana, and it loves him back!
After Sutton’s long-time business manager lost his 7-year old daughter to spinal meningitis, the golfer announced plans in 2001 for the creation of a specialized children’s hospital in his hometown of Shreveport.
The 2003 Independence Bowl awarded its annual General Omar Bradley Award to Hal Sutton. The award “symbolizes the spirit of freedom and independence on which our country was founded.”
During the late summer of 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita blasted the Louisiana and Gulf Coast regions within just a few weeks of each other. Hal Sutton teamed with fellow Shreveport PGA professional David Toms and New Orleans’ Kelly Gibson to raise more than $2 million for the hurricane relief efforts.
In 2006, the annual Charlie Bartlett Award was given to Sutton, Toms, and Gibson by the Golf Writers Association of America for their unselfish contributions to the betterment of society. In the same year, Shreveport’s Christus Schumpert Sutton Children’s Medical Center opened its 106-bed facility after more than $20 million had been raised to meet this community need.
The Centenary College Alumni Hall-of-Fame inducted Hal Sutton in 2006. The award “recognizes Centenary graduates who have distinguished themselves in both their profession and in service to others as well as the college”. The business major has hosted the annual Hal Sutton Invitational college golf tournament on behalf of Centenary College every year since the 1980’s.
The PGA Tour awarded Hal Sutton with the 2007 Payne Stewart Award. It is given annually to a player whose “values align with the character, charitable mindset, and sportsmanship that Stewart showed.”
The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inducted Hal Sutton as part of its 2009 class.
A hip replacement surgery in 2012 and a heart attack in 2014 limited Hal Sutton’s ability to compete at a high level after he moved into the PGA Champions Tour.
In recent years, Hal has become a popular golf instructor in southeast Texas. He has designed top-rated Texas golf courses such as Boot Ranch (52 miles north of San Antonio) and the new Darmor Club in Columbus, Texas (halfway between Houston and San Antonio).
Making the case for the World Golf Hall of Fame
Now 66 years of age, Hal Sutton checks all of the required boxes for induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame. His career total of 14 PGA Tour wins includes a major championship (1983 PGA Championship) plus two Player’s Championship titles. Let’s not forget his 1980 US Amateur title as well.
Hal Sutton would become the first golfer (male or female) from Louisiana to be admitted into the 150+ member World Golf Hall of Fame.
After being a finalist for this honor in 2019, it is time for the Nominations Committee to reward one of professional golf’s most recognizable and deserving players with another nomination to join this elite group.
With a lifetime of dedication to the game of golf, a long record of service to the community, and leadership as a four-time Ryder Cup participant and 2004 Ryder Cup captain, the spirited Hal Sutton would be a very popular and worthy addition to the next class of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
“Be the right ballots – today!”