The region’s golf community will have a unique opportunity to spend an evening with women’s golf icon Sandra Palmer and celebrate her recent induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Palmer served as the teaching professional at Sahalee Country Club from 2004-2008. She is the club’s second professional to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, after Paul Runyan, who served as Sahalee’s first head professional when it opened in 1969 and was inducted in 1990.

The evening honoring Palmer will be held at Sahalee Country Club on Tuesday, October 29, from 5:30-9:00pm. The event is open to the public.

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“I’m overcome with emotion and very grateful,” said Sandra Palmer about her induction. “It gave me an opportunity to thank the people who have helped me along the way.  I just couldn’t believe it when I got the call. This was my sixth time to be nominated. What an incredible group of women that I played with over the years. It’s one of those times that you sit down and your whole career comes before you. I think about the people along the way that I’d like to thank.”

The 2024 World Golf Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony was held June 10 at the Carolina Hotel, which is part of Pinehurst Resort & Country Club in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C. The Induction Ceremony was aired live on Golf Channel, helping to kick off the week of the 124th U.S. Open, held at Pinehurst.

Along with Palmer, other inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame this year included Padraig Harrington, Johnny Farrell, Beverly Hanson, Tom Weiskopf and the 13 Founders of the LPGA.

The 2024 event also marked a return to Pinehurst for the World Golf Hall of Fame, which 50 years ago opened at Pinehurst before moving to St. Augustine, Fla., in 1998. Last month, the World Golf Hall of Fame opened its new location as part of USGA’s Golf House Pinehurst, a seven-acre campus located footsteps from the Pinehurst Resort & Country Club main clubhouse. The new World Golf Hall of Fame location now sits alongside USGA’s equipment-testing and research facility, the visitor-friendly USGA Experience and an outdoor educational landscape feature.

Palmer was born in Fort Worth, Texas, but grew up (and first played golf) in Bangor, Maine. She started playing golf at age 13, and worked as a caddie. She attended North Texas State University where she was a cheerleader and Homecoming Queen. Palmer was runner-up in the 1961 National Collegiate Championship, was a four-time winner of the West Texas Amateur, and won the Texas State Amateur in 1963.

In 1964, Palmer turned professional and became a member of the LPGA Tour. Standing just 5’1” tall, Palmer carved a name for herself as a fierce competitor, winning 19 events on the Tour, and also several other professional events, including some as a senior. Her two wins in major championships came at the 1972 Titleholders Championship and the 1975 U.S. Women’s Open. Palmer almost won back-to-back U.S. Women’s Open titles, but in 1976 she lost in an 18-hole playoff to Northwest native, and fellow World Golf Hall of Famer, JoAnne Carner.

Palmer topped the money list for 1975 and was named the LPGA Player of the Year that year. Her 10 top-10 finishes on the money list came in 10 straight years from 1968 to 1977. She played her last event on the Tour in 1997.

She is a Class A member of the LPGA Teaching & Club Professional (T&CP) membership; served as co-chair of the 1999 Colorado Women’s Open; and was recognized during the LPGA’s 50th Anniversary in 2000 as one of the LPGA’s top-50 players and teachers.

She has also been inducted into the Texas State Golf Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Hall of Fame.

Click here for more information about Sandra Palmer’s career.