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 MINNESOTA PGA/MGA GOLF HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES |
MINNESOTA PGA/MINNESOTA GOLF ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCE GOLF HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
The Minnesota PGA and the Minnesota Golf Association selected four inductees for the Minnesota PGA/MGA Golf Hall of Fame in 2008.
Darlene Anderson, Ron Benson, Neil Croonquist and Jim Manthis will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at events hosted by the Minnesota PGA and Minnesota Golf Association throughout the remainder of the year.
DARLENE ANDERSON
The grand champion of Minnesota women’s golf between 1954 and 1971, Darlene Anderson was the only winner of all four Women Amateur tournaments during that time.
In the early 1960s, Anderson’s play was unsurpassed. She won the 1963 MWGA Stroke Play and the MWGA Match Play Championships, and followed with another MWGA Amateur in 1964. In the run up to that period of sustained dominance, Anderson captured three MWPGA Public Links titles, in 1959, 1960 and 1962. Anderson was also runner-up in the MWGA Match Play twice and MWPGA Public Links once.
RON BENSON
Learning golf from Hall of Fame member Ray Hill, Ron Benson developed a fine touch on the greens that helped him achieve an outstanding career in the game. As an amateur, Benson won the 1962 MGA Junior Boys title and finished runner-up in the 1969 MGA Amateur Championship.
Turning professional in 1971, Benson quickly established himself as one of the contenders in every event he entered. He won three Minnesota State Open titles in 1972, 1974 and 1977 and finished in the top 10, six more times. Benson also won three Minnesota Golf Champions titles in 1975, 1976, and 1993 and the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am title in 1976.
Benson also won the 1997 Minnesota Senior Open and qualified for the 1998 USGA Senior Open.
In addition to his accomplished playing career, Benson became a talented golf instructor and has spent more than three decades teaching the game at Maple Hills Golf Course and Indian Hills Golf Club.
NEIL CROONQUIST
Neil Croonquist made his mark in Minnesota golf for the first time in 1937, when he defeated former champion Carson Lee Herron on the 36th hole of a quarterfinal match in the State Amateur Championship. Only 20 years old at the time, Croonquist would remain a force in state and national tournaments for nearly half a century.
A protégé of Hall of Fame member Les Bolstad, Croonquist developed a golf game that bore a remarkable resemblance to his teacher's. Although considered a short hitter, Croonquist was exceedingly accurate and sensationally adept around the greens.
Croonquist won his first MGA State Amateur Championship in 1941 and won again in 1960, which ranks as the biggest spread between two championships in the tournament's history. In all, he made it to the MGA State Amateur Championship final seven times while it was a match-play event. Between 1946 and 1967 Croonquist finished in the top 10 at the Minnesota State Open 12 times.
On the national stage, Croonquist qualified for the USGA Open Championship twice and made it to the USGA Amateur Championship 19 times. And in 1985, he was still ranked among the top ten senior golfers in the country by Golf World magazine. Croonquist passed away in 2008 at the age of 91.
JIM MANTHIS
Like his mentor and friend Hall of Fame member Wally Mund, Jim Manthis has dedicated more than forty years to the game of golf and the PGA of America. As head golf professional at Midland Hills Country Club from 1967 to 1995, Manthis soon began his service to the Minnesota Section by founding the Assistant’s Association that still thrives today. Manthis also was the Minnesota Section PGA President in 1983-84, served on the PGA of America’s Board of Directors from 1987-1990, and was a member of the PGA of America’s Board of Control from 1993-1997.
Within the Minnesota Section PGA, Manthis has been honored with the 1984 Golf Professional of the Year, the 1992 Bill Strausbaugh Award winner for his efforts in employment, and the 2006 Teacher of the Year.
Also in 2006, the PGA of America recognized Manthis as its Golf Professional of the Year, the highest honor a PGA member can achieve.
Also an accomplished player, Manthis won the 1981 Minnesota Section PGA Match Play Championship, and in 1993, was named the Section Senior Player of the Year after winning both the Senior Stroke Play and Match Play. In 1999, Manthis added another championship to his collection, by winning the Wisconsin Section PGA Senior Championship.
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