Powers, Hallett to become members of Toledo golf hall

10/11/2010

A club professional from the golden era of Toledo golf and a club champion with a remarkable record at Valleywood are the 2010 inductees into the Toledo Golf Hall of Fame.

Walter Powers and Gary Hallett will be honored in a ceremony following the annual Hall of Fame Tournament, staged by the Toledo District Golf Association Wednesday at Toledo Country Club. The five-person team shambles tournament will have a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start; the induction ceremony is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Powers was a prominent player and professional in the 1930s and '40s, and his club jobs included stints at Valleywood, Defiance Kettenring, and Riverby Hills. He established several course records while competing against fellow club pros like Byron Nelson and Herman Lang and top amateur Frank Stranahan.

Powers, who died in 1969 at the age of 59, served as secretary of the Toledo Chapter of the PGA of America. His widow, Minnie, is 100 years old and living in Florida, according to biographical information released by the TDGA.

Hallett began his career at Valleywood by winning four caddie championships in a seven-year stretch and later won 16 club championships as a member at the Swanton course. In 1972, Hallett won the Toledo Open, primarily a pro tournament, as an amateur.

Hallett played collegiately at Bowling Green, where he was a member of the Mid-American Conference championship team in 1956 and team MVP in '58.

The TDGA also will honor Robert E. O'Brien as the 2010 winner of the Mel Harbaugh Humanitarian Award.

A member at Sylvania Country Club, O'Brien in 1967 assisted the agronomy school at Ohio State University in starting a commercial turf equipment show and educational curriculum. The Ohio Turfgrass Conference and Show has grown into the second largest of its kind in the United States and has raised more than $4.5 million for research grants and some $425,000 for educational scholarships during its run of more than four decades.