Hollis Stacy has accomplished plenty in her golf career, but she didn’t see this one coming — at least not this year.
It was announced Thursday that the part-time resident of Lakewood will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame next spring. Stacy was selected through the veterans category.
She’ll be inducted, along with Phil Mickelson and possibly others, on May 7 in St. Augustine, Fla.
When LPGA commissioner Mike Whan and World Golf Hall of Fame chief operating officer Jack Peter called last week to tell Stacy the news, “I was so shocked because I never thought that my mom (age 83) would live to see me get in because of the politics of being elected to the Hall,” Stacy said at a press conference in Orlando, Fla., site of the LPGA Tour’s 2011 tournament finale. “I had conditioned myself not to think about it because I think (not being in) did bug me a little bit because I had won four majors. … But I was so shocked and overwhelmed when I got the call. It was quite exciting to say the least.
“To be part of the Hall of Fame is a dream come true.”
Stacy (pictured above last year at the Broadmoor with World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam) won 18 times on the LPGA Tour, but it was her USGA record that really set her apart. She claimed three U.S. Women’s Open titles — only Mickey Wright and Betsy Rawls, with four each, have won more — along with a record three U.S. Girls’ Junior championships.
Stacy, 57, will be just the fifth person with major Colorado connections to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Already in the Hall are former University of Colorado athlete Hale Irwin, a three-time U.S. Open champion; Colorado Springs resident Judy Bell, the only female to serve as president of the USGA; Paul Runyan, the director of golf at Green Gables Country Club from 1972 until the early 1980s; and former Colorado resident Babe Zaharias, who like Stacy won three U.S. Women’s Opens.
Stacy, who moved to Lakewood in 1995, splits her time pretty evenly each year between residences in Colorado and Florida.
“The lack of humidity makes it so beautiful here,” the Savannah, Ga., native said in an interview with COgolf.org this year.
Stacy notched all 18 of her LPGA Tour victories between 1977 and 1991, and she posted 82 top-10 finishes from ’77 to ’83. All four of her victories in major championships came in a seven-year stretch starting in 1977. She claimed U.S. Women’s Open titles in 1977, ’78 and ’84, and the Peter Jackson Classic in 1983.
Stacy outdueled some of the greats of the game to win her majors. Nancy Lopez was runner-up in the Women’s Open in 1977, while JoAnne Carner was second in the ’78 Open and the ’83 Peter Jackson. And in the last of her three consecutive U.S. Girls’ Junior titles — all won 1-up — she overcame Amy Alcott (another World Golf Hall of Famer) in a 19-hole final match in 1971. Stacy was 4 under par in that finale against Alcott.
USGA events “have been a huge part of my life,” Stacy said over the summer while officiating a U.S. Girls’ Junior qualifier in Aurora. “Back in Georgia in the ’60s, the only golf tournaments a little girl could play were events on a national level. There were four tournaments I could play in every year, and one of them was the U.S. (Girls’) Junior.
“Those tournaments have always been a part of my life. I was never intimidated by the USGA because I grew up with them. I think that’s why I did so well in USGA championships.”
All told, Stacy has one of the best records in USGA history. Only six players have won more USGA titles than Stacy’s half-dozen: Tiger Woods (9), Bobby Jones (9), Jack Nicklaus (8), Carner (8), Carol Semple Thompson (7) and Anne Quast Sander (7).
Stacy has fond memories of all her victories, but the two that really stand out among her USGA titles are the 1969 U.S. Girls’ Junior and the 1977 U.S. Women’s Open.
“The first in both the Juniors and the Open were probably the highlights,” Stacy said. “I had worked so hard as a junior and played against so many of my now-friends. My first win in Dallas stands out and my win at Hazeltine (in 1977) does too. You always dream about winning a U.S. Open, and when you do that …”
Stacy plays an active role in the USGA to this day. She’s served on the USGA Girls’ Junior Committee for the last nine years, and she played an active role — both officially and unofficially– this year when the U.S. Women’s Open was contested at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.
“Hollis was always known as an extremely competitive player with an impeccable short game and one of the most creative golf minds of her time,” Whan said. “More importantly, she will long be remembered as a truly nice person with a passion for golf and life. She is an ambassador for women’s golf and we could not be more proud of her.”
