BATON ROUGE — Former LSU golfers Don Essig III and Eddie Merrins are among the 2009 class of PGA members that will be enshrined in the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame.
The inductees will be honored in a ceremony, May 5, in conjunction with the PGA Leadership Conference, at the PGA Education Center at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Essig, who lettered at LSU from 1958-60, is from Indianapolis and is a PGA Master Professional, a PGA director of golf at South Grove Golf Course in Indianapolis, Ind., and an officer of Essig Golf Management. A 1961 graduate of LSU, Essig enjoyed a prolific amateur golf career before becoming one of the country’s most respected and well-traveled PGA Rules officials.
Essig has officiated at more than 300 events, including all of golf’s major championships and five Ryder Cups, including as chief referee in 2004. Among his many amateur titles was the 1957 U.S. Public Link Championship. After his LSU days, he tried his skills on the PGA Tour for two years in 1962 and 1963 before getting PGA membership in 1967 and he also became a multi-talented professional in instruction, as a course owner, merchandiser and operations consultant.
Merrins was a three-time All-American for the LSU men’s golf team between 1952 and 1954. Nicknamed “The Little Pro”, Merrins is one of only 16 members of the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame. A 1955 LSU graduate, Merrins has taught more than 48,000 lessons ? to a group of students that span the Hollywood stars as well as many of today’s foremost Tour professionals during a 44-year span as PGA head professional at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles.
During his time at Bel-Air, Merrins served for 14 seasons (1975-89) as head coach of the UCLA men’s golf team, guiding the Bruins to 60 tournament victories, mentoring 16 NCAA All-Americans and a 1988 NCAA Championship. Among his students were current Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin and tour pro Duffy Waldorf.
Merrins competed in more than 200 professional events, including six PGA championships, eight U.S. Opens and six PGA Professional National Championships. He is the author of “Swing the Handle, Not the Clubhead” (1973), and “Playing a Round with the Little Pro: A Life in the Game” (2004).
The PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame originated in 1940 and recognizes all PGA members who have made significant and lasting contributions to the building of The PGA of American and the game of golf.