Hale Van Hoy

Van Hoy didn’t set out for a career in golf. A 1952 graduate of the University of North Carolina, He worked as a systems analyst at Western Electric in Winston-Salem until 1965. But sometime that year, he read in the newspaper that the executive directorship of the Carolinas Golf Association was open, applied for the job—and got it. Thus, an administrative giant was born.

When he took command of the CGA in 1965, it consisted of 136 member clubs, five championships and 7,046 handicap cards. When he departed after 26 years in 1991, the organization had grown to more than 550 member clubs, 14 major championships, more than 120,000 handicap cards. During his tenure the staff grew from one to four, which included the first agronomist employed by any sectional golf association in the country.

Other programs initiated under Van Hoy’s regime were the Carolinas Golf Foundation, which provides financial support to various universities and technical schools engaged in golf-oriented turf research; a group property-casualty insurance program; and seminars on the Rules of Golf for colleges and high schools.

Van Hoy served a term as President of the International Association of Golf Administrators in 1989.
Actually, Van Hoy didn’t retire from the CGA in 1991; he simply gave up the job of executive director to become director of a series of new one-day four-ball events for seniors conducted by the organization.

Hale B. Van Hoy was inducted into the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.