6 Amazing Artifacts from the All-New World Golf Hall of Fame in Pinehurst!
An exhibition at the World Golf Hall of Fame’s new home in Pinehurst is dedicated to artifacts from 165 Hall of Famers.
A teddy bear. A Girl Scout uniform. A Lego tractor.
For Donna Caponi, Nancy Lopez, and Sandy Lyle, respectively, these nostalgic objects take them back to their childhoods. The items featured in each of their World Golf Hall of Fame lockers are portals to their youth, meaningful and tangible connections to the years before they won major championships and signed autographs for adoring fans.
It’s not just World Golf Hall of Fame members going back to their roots this spring; the institution itself is returning to its original home. In May, the Hall officially began a new chapter in Pinehurst, N.C., a few hundred yards from where it held its inaugural induction ceremony in 1974 and was located for nearly two decades. After a quarter-century in St. Augustine, Fla., the Hall of Fame has returned home.
The focal point of the new experience is the Member Locker Room, a space dedicated to the 165 Hall of Famers that showcases significant artifacts from their careers and personal lives. Visitors will be able to see everything from Tiger Woods’ Havemeyer Trophy and the clubs Mark O’Meara used to win the Masters to Annika Sorenstam’s Swedish passport and Colin Montgomerie’s cricket bat.
Here, six World Golf Hall of Fame members discuss the stories behind objects they chose for their lockers.
**Curtis Strange’s U.S. Open driver**
My MacGregor driver that I used in the late 1980s is so much more than just a grip, shaft, and club head. It propelled me to do something that was life-changing.
**Beth Daniel’s gloves**
In 1976, I had the honor of representing the United States in the Curtis Cup Match at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Our entire team traveled to London early and was scheduled for tea at Buckingham Palace with Queen Elizabeth II.
**Tom Kite’s wedge**
Most people know this 60-degree wedge as the one that I used to pitch in on the seventh hole of the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, but what they may not realize is that I used it 10 other times that day.
**Larry Nelson’s jacket**
Both my father and my father-in-law served in the military during World War II, so it was something I expected to do.
**JoAnne Carter’s hat**
One of the highlights of my career was captaining the 1994 USA Solheim Cup Team.
**Ben Crenshaw’s shirt**
The Country Club [in Brookline, Mass.] is where my life in golf started.
Mike Trostel is the director of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
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