Former Glenview Resident Elected to PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame

Former North Shore Country Club professional and former Glenview resident Bill Ogden will be inducted on March 12 into the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Ogden, who passed away in 2005 at age 78, will be honored at the PGA Education Center at PGA Village along with seven other inductees – Bob Toski, Michael Hebron, William Powell, Jimmie Devoe as well as PGA Honorary President Allen Wronowski, Chip Essig and Jim Mrva.

Ogden was a highly regarding teaching professional who also compiled an elite Illinois PGA Section playing record. After turning professional in 1950, Bill spent 40 years at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, which will host The Champions Tour and the Encompass Championship June 17-23.

The 1970 Section PGA Golf Professional of the Year, Ogden was inducted into the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame and the Chicago Sports Hall of Fame. He won the Illinois PGA Player of the Year title a record six times and competed in 31 major championships between 1953 and 1972. His final appearance in a major was at the 1972 PGA Championship at the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, which was won by Gary Player.

Ogden’s best finish in a PGA Tour event was a tie for third in the 1956 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, which was won by Cary Middlecoff. Throughout his career, Bill won 18 Illinois PGA titles and is the only Illinois golfer to win the Illinois Open, PGA Medal Play, PGA Match Play, and Assistants Championship.

“It is with a great deal of pride that The PGA of America welcomes a special eight-member class into the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame, who by their life’s work have made significant and lasting contributions to our Association and the game of golf,” said PGA of America President Ted Bishop. “This class features those who battled social injustice, renowned instructors, and leaders who exhibited a passion for serving others beyond their job description. Their names will be forever inscribed among those who have made golf the greatest game.”

Originated in 1940 at the suggestion of famed sportswriter Grantland Rice, the PGA Golf Professional Hall of Fame was relocated in 2005 at the PGA Museum of Golf at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The Hall of Fame recognizes all PGA members who have made significant and lasting contributions to the building of The PGA of America and the game of golf. The inductees include PGA Presidents, PGA Golf Professional of the Year award winners as well as those PGA Professionals who also distinguish themselves as competitors while in service to The PGA of America.

Ogden retired in 1994 and passed away on June 24, 2005, in Indian Wells, California. He is survived by his daughters, Lori Ogden Moore of San Francisco and Shelly Ogden Sage of Seattle, Washington.