COURTESY VINNY GILES ( BLANKINSHIP ); VSGA ARCHIVES ( HARPER )
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
➤ Won Virginia PGA Open in 1949-50 , 1956 , 1958 and 1961 .
➤ Won the Maryland Open in 1949 , 1951 and 1952 .
➤ Won MAPGA Senior Championship three years in a row ( 1959-61 ).
➤ Won 1941 MAPGA Section Championship .
➤ Played in a combined 25 U . S . Opens and PGA Championships , 16 PGA Senior Championships , and two Masters .
➤ Qualified for three British Opens .
➤ Inducted into MAPGA Hall of Fame in 1996 .
➤ Served as president of the Virginia Association of Golf Professionals from 1951-1954 .
➤ Head PGA professional at Laurel Golf Club ( 1928 ), Chesterfield Golf Club , Old Dominion Club , Langley Air Force Base ( 1938- 1963 ), Tequesta CC in Florida , and retired from Willow Oaks CC ( 1965-1969 ).
H . M . “ BUNNY ” BLANKINSHIP
The winner of the Virginia State Golf Association Senior Amateur Championship receives the H . M . “ Bunny ” Blankinship Trophy . It honors Blankinship for his contributions to the growth and development of the VSGA in the years after World War II .
A member of Boonsboro Country Club in Lynchburg , Blankinship served as the eighth president of the VSGA ’ s allvolunteer board of directors in 1959-60 .
During that time , the VSGA Executive Committee , which consisted of some of the commonwealth ’ s better players , wanted to expand the organization ’ s services and outreach beyond just conducting its golf championships . Blankinship was chosen and given the title of Executive Secretary . “ The VSGA wasn ’ t much back then . It was a bunch of volunteers … some of the better players . They were the Executive Committee ,” said Vinny Giles ( inaugural Hall of Fame Class of 2016 ). “ He worked out of the trunk of his car . He would have sheets to put scores on . He would tack them up on a board and scribble the scores down . The only income was from club dues .”
JOB DESCRIPTION Blankinship held the position for 10 years .
He wrote a letter detailing the responsibilities of the executive secretary in 1972 . Among them were : Responsible for printing , mailing and receiving all entrance forms and collecting entry fees for VSGA tournaments ; conduct all VSGA tournaments along with other VSGA officials ; make pairings and starting times for all tournaments ; pay all bills and collect all club dues , handicap cards and VSGA Annual ads ; assemble pictures , articles , ads and organize with the printer the VSGA Annual ; inform the press of VSGA activities ; and other duties too numerous to mention .
Blankinship died in 1972 as did successor Jose Davila . Virginia Golf Hall of Fame member Wallace McDowell ( Class of 2017 ) became a paid executive secretary in 1973 and became the VSGA ’ s first full-time employee with the title of Executive Director in 1983 .
“[ Blankinship ] was as instrumental in the growth of the VSGA as Wallace [ who famously worked out of the trunk of his car ] was . He trained Wallace ,” Giles said .
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
➤ First executive secretary of the VSGA ( 1962-72 )
➤ VSGA president 1959-60
➤ The origin of the nickname “ Bunny ” remains a mystery .
➤ The Fox Puss Invitational , so named to honor Blankinship ( Fox ) and clubmate Charles Hancock ( Puss ), began in 1971 .
LILY HARPER MARTIN
Lily Harper Martin , the younger sister of Virginia Golf Hall of Fame member Chandler Harper ( inaugural class 2016 ), won four consecutive Women ’ s State Amateur titles from 1934 to 1937 .
She didn ’ t make the tournament final in 1938 , and naysayers said she wouldn ’ t win again . Proving them wrong , the petite woman known as the “ Tiny Typhoon of Portsmouth ” hoisted the Women ’ s Am winner ’ s hardware in 1939 , 1940 and 1941 .
Harper Martin ’ s tournament-record seven victories has stood for 80 years . Hall of Fame members Robbye Unger ( Class of 2018 ) and Mary Patton Janssen ( 2019 ) were six-time winners . Donna Andrews , the first woman inducted into the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame , is next on the list with five titles .
Harper Martin never played competitively again after her victory in 1941 . No state tournaments were held from 1942-45 because of World War II , and in 1945 her husband and biggest supporter , Carl Martin , died of a heart attack . He was 34 , and she was a widow at 28 . She never remarried , and according to her brother , she never picked up a club again .
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
➤ Holds record for most VSGA Women ’ s Amateur titles ( 7 ).
➤ Won seven Amateur championships ( 1934-37 and 1939-1941 )
➤ Won twice at the old Hermitage Country Club ( 1935 , 1941 ); Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club ( 1936 ); James River CC ( 1936 ); The Homestead Cascades ( 1937 ); Princess Anne CC ( 1939 ); and Chamberlin CC ( 1940 ).
➤ She and her older brother Chandler Harper are the second set of siblings to be inducted into the Virginia Golf Hall of Fame .
➤ Winner of the 1936 Mid-Atlantic Women ’ s Amateur championship in her only appearance in the tournament . She won her quarterfinal match on the 23rd hole and birdied the 19th hole to win in the semifinals .
➤ Inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 six years after she died at the age of 73 .
BEST SOCIAL GOLFER Unger recalls the only time she had a conversation with Chandler Harper about his sister :
“ I think I had just won a state title , and Chandler predicted I would win many others . I said that no one had won more than his sister Lily Harper Martin . He said , ‘ Oh , ladies golf was different back then [ the 1930s ]. Golf was less competitive , more social .’
“ I wish I had asked him more . Even if ladies golf was not as “ big ” back then as it has grown to be , she won seven VSGA titles and one Middle Atlantic . She was the best “ social golfer ” of her era .”
vsga . org M ARCH / A PRIL 2022 | V IRGINIA G OLFER
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