VINNY GILES
Six-Man Inaugural Class
HOMETOWN: Lynchburg native/Richmond/
Jupiter, FL.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Won 1972 U.S. Amateur after finishing second
three straight years from 1967-69; won the 1975
British Amateur; won the 2009 U.S. Senior Amateur. He is the only player to have won those three
championships.
Won seven VSGA Amateur championships,
three Virginia Open titles and two VSGA Senior
Amateur crowns.
Played on four Walker Cup teams and was winning captain in 1993.
Was low amateur in the 1968 Masters, 1973 U.S.
Open and in three U.S. Senior Opens.
Past VSGA president and board member; inducted into Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1976.
HE SAID IT:
“I’m very honored to be part of the first class in
the company of the top names in Virginia golf.
Being considered in a class including Sam Snead,
in my mind perhaps the finest swinger of a golf
club ever, is very special…There is a long and
proud golf history in Virginia…this tradition
[Hall] is long overdue.”
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V I R G I N I A G O L F E R | M A R C H /A P R I L 2 0 1 6
CHANDLER HARPER
HOMETOWN: Born and raised
in Portsmouth; died at the age of
90 in 2004.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Won three VSGA Amateur
championships. He won for the
first time in 1930 at the age of
16 and is the youngest winner in
tournament history.
Won a record 11 Virginia State
Opens. The first came in 1932 as an
18-year-old amateur. The last was
the VPGA Open in 1970. He was
low pro in 1979 to amateur winner
Tony DeLuca in the VPGA Open.
Won seven times on the PGA
Tour including the 1950 PGA Championship, a year after fellow inductee Sam Snead
won in 1949; was a member of the 1955 Ryder Cup team; won 1968 PGA Seniors title.
Inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1973 in the same class with
Snead; selected to PGA Hall of Fame in 1968.
HE SAID IT:
“I wish Sam and Chandler were both with us. I love the fact that Chandler is being
remembered for his record and his place in Virginia golf…He helped me tremendously from 14 years old on.” —Curtis Strange on Harper, who became his teacher
and mentor after Strange’s father, Tom, died.
vsga.org
TOP: VSGA PHOTO; USGA DIGITAL ARCHIVES
VINNY GILES