Bolstering the Ranks
VIRGINIA GOLF HALL OF FAME WELCOMES FIVE NEW MEMBERS
by ARTHUR UTLEY
The Virginia Golf Hall of Fame will expand by five members in 2019, the largest class inducted since the
Inaugural Class of 2016. The induction ceremony, which will be held May 9 at Charlottesville’s Farm-
ington Country Club, features a cross-section of important Virginia golf figures, from players, to an
administrator and one of the state’s greatest media voices. For information on purchasing tickets to the
2019 induction ceremony, visit virginiagolfhalloffame.com. A closer look at the 2019 class:
Harry Easterly Jr.
B
orn in Richmond in 1922, Easterly was
a solid golfer who won two Richmond
Golf Association Men’s Amateur titles,
finished runner-up in the 1956 VSGA Ama-
teur and qualified for several U.S. Amateur
Championships. But it was as an adminis-
trator that Easterly put his imprint on golf.
He graduated from St. Christopher’s
School in Richmond and Virginia Military
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A STORY TO TELL
Easterly became president of the USGA
in January 1976. He said at the time, “I
don’t think the golfing world at large has
the full appreciation of what the USGA
means to golf.”
His way to change that was to nurture the
Associates Program that had begun during
1975. “My theme was to bring the USGA out
of the shadows, bring it to the people, make
it more democratic. I was lucky in that the
climate was right for it.”
As vice president and chairman of the
rules committee, Easterly faced consider-
able criticism for spearheading the charge
to change the U.S. Amateur format back to
match play after eight years of stroke play.
“That was the amateur game, the way
it’s played, and that’s the best way I can
answer the question of why I was so
opposed to stroke play,” Easterly said
in an interview in 2003. “It’s tradition-
al, and I think it was a mistake to ever
have departed from it. I’m extremely
V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y 2 0 1 9
proud of having led the charge to get
that changed.”
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Easterly was a founder of the
Richmond Golf Association; was
a past president of the VSGA and
the United States Golf Associ-
ation, and served as executive
director of the USGA.
Was instrumental in bringing the
1955 and 1975 U.S. Amateur
Championships to the Country
Club of Virginia.
Was captain of the U.S. World
Amateur team, captain of the
U.S. Walker Cup team, and chair-
man of the USGA Championship
and USGA Rules of Golf commit-
tee. He was a guiding force in the
founding of Independence Golf
Course in Midlothian.
He was a member at Augusta
National, Pine Valley, St. Andrews
and Ballybunion.
vsga.org
Institute and was a World War II veteran.
He died at the age of 82 in 2005.