top of page

Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame Members

Harold Eller (1914-2002)
Inducted in 1999

Harold Eller, golf professional and superintendent at Old Hickory Country Club for 35 years, was the patriarch of one of Tennessee’s leading golf families. In 1993, the Eller Family (wife Ruth, daughters Beverly Pearce and Judy Street and sons Richard and Mike) was honored as the Jack Nicklaus Golf Family of the Year by the National Golf Foundation. Harold and Ruth started the Tennessee Junior Golf Association and State Junior Championship for both boys and girls. Eller was named Professional of the Year by the Southeastern PGA Section in 1962 and the Tennessee PGA Section in 1979.

Harold Eller
Sarah Ingram (1966-  )
Inducted in 1999

From 1990 through 1996, Sarah Ingram of Nashville won more national championships and played on more international teams than any golfer in Tennessee history. She won three U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur titles (1991, 1993, and 1994) and competed for the U.S. in three Curtis Cup  and two World Amateur Team events. She won two Maryland State Women’s Amateur Championships (1986, 1987) before winning the TGA State  Women’s Amateur in 1991 and two Women’s Southern Amateurs (1993, 1994). Golf Digest, Golfweek, and Golf World named her either No. 1 Amateur or Amateur Player of the Year in 1993. 

Don Malarkey (1905-2006)
Inducted in 1999

Don Malarkey of South Pittsburg was the oldest living member of the Professional Golfers Association of America (PGA) when he passed away at the age of 101. He turned pro at the age of 18 in 1923 and became a member in 1926. He came to Tennessee from Texas to work for the golf manufacturer First Flight in 1954 and became the professional/green superintendent at Signal Mountain Golf and Country Club in 1956. He retired in 1973. He had shot his age over 700 times before finally losing count.

Pat Abbott (1912-1984)
Inducted in 2002

Pat Abbott, a native of Pasadena, CA, was named pro emeritus at Memphis Country Club in 1981 after 34 years on the job. Abbott won the TGA State Open in 1949, 1954, 1955, and 1962 and the TPGA Section Senior Championship in 1969, 1971, and 1974.  He was runner-up in the State Open four times.  His first major victory was in the 1935 Southern California Open, a PGA Tour tournament.  The following year he won the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship.  In 1938 and 1941 he won the Southern California Amateur and in 1942 won the Western Amateur.  

Pat Abbott
Ed Brantly (1935 -  )
Inducted in 2002

Ed Brantly of Signal Mountain won the TGA State Amateur three times (1957, 1961, and 1972). He also won the Southern Amateur in 1957. While in the U.S. Air Force, Brantly was twice the low amateur in the German Open and won the German Amateur in 1960. He won three TGA State Senior Amateur Championships (1985, 1986, and 1989) and is a director emeritus of the Tennessee Golf Association. 

bottom of page