Hall of Fame Speech Final

Kay McMahon
November 14, 2011

Shirley . . .Thank you so much!

Thank for your kind words.

This is definitely an honor and an honor to be introduced by you.

Thank you for being here.

And for all of your support thru these years!

I want to start by congratulating my co - inductees in this Class for the Hall of Fame.

 “I’m honored and yet humbled to be in this class with people like 

Patti Benson, my best friend, a great leader, an outstanding president, always so gracious, and inclusive. . .always seeking to do the right thing

Jane Read, who put her hand up at the right time, a true pioneer who knew not what she got us in to and lead with vision and a plan.

Carol Johnson, a pillar of learning and education. . .always willing to share.

An amazing group of people who are all leaders working to make each generation better.

I also want to acknowledge and applaud all the previous Hall of Famers which makes this award ever so much more meaningful and a pinnacle of LPGA standards. 

When this Hall of Fame award was first announced. . .I was continuously asked  

         “ What does this mean to you?  How does it feel?”

Before I answered I had to ask myself, “How did I get here?”

As you saw, it started a couple of years ago . . .I mean alot of years ago....But then who is counting.

All I wanted to do was to play, and play, and then play some more.  It stills feels like I am playing, but somehow we now call it a career.  So whether you want to call it play or a career. . .It not work!  It’s what I do. . . And love the opportunity to be doing it.

One thing I know for sure about getting here. . .is that I did not get here alone.

This Hall of Fame is not about me, but about all of those people who have shared, encourage, pushed, supported, inspired, believed and even opposed.  

This Hall of Fame is about them and each of you.

The lessons I learned along the way from the many were not necessarily about golf but were lessons about sharing . . .The true soul of the LPGA is all about sharing.  . .the more they gave away the more we all gained. . .Sharing the information. . .Sharing the knowledge . . Sharing without question.. . never expecting anything in return.

  If it wasn’t for our Founding Mothers, and the next generation of leaders, and the next, who courageously established and have continued the living legacy. . . there would not be an LPGA or I should say the opportunity to be an LPGA member or then the opportunity to be in the Hall of Fame.   

So the Hall of Fame is really honoring you and what you each stand for.  Being the LPGA and expressing it every day with the passion and pride and professionalism.

#    #   #  #

When I was a child, we played a board game called LIFE.  The Game of Life is a game that simulates a person’s travels thru life. . .From childhood, to college, thru retirement, careers, marriage, money....all the things about life.

The board game had a road or path, a spinning wheel with which to move , “Life cards” that you are dealt, a colored car to travel. . .with “people pegs” in it . .  that you picked up along the way. . . as you land on different places . . seeking happiness, careers, fortune, and fame. It was about adventures and risks.. . .turns and decisions. . . choices and chance.  As you did good deeds you earned Life Tiles or Life credits which go toward winning the game.

How did I get here?  My road to the Hall of Fame. . .My Game of Life. . .

My Fortune is my colored car . . .full of lots people pegs willing to unselfishly share. . .full of experiences . . .the sum total of who we are.

 Allow me to share a little  . .   

Pat Lange - Always there. . . Thinker, creative, innovator, inventor, questioning, figuring it out, fun-loving  . . .dragging me along to do all those workshops. . .taught me how to share. . .Sharing what we know and don’t know to have it come back tenfold.  There are no secrets, just the ones left to be discovered.

Joanne Winter - my mentor, my friend, prompted me to speak. . . to speak in public and make it fun.  A brilliant mind and definitely in a League of Her Own in oh so many ways.

Betty Hicks - A true lesson in being everything you can be -  fiesty, tenacious, talented, player, writer, historian, and passionate about everything.

Virginia Nance - taught me how to write, and when I wrote it, she made me do it again. . .a lesson in the meaning striving for excellence

Jackie Pung, - who lost a US Open by signing an incorrect scorecard.  Oh ....the mistakes we make and yet go on to be gracious gentle ambassadors.

And speaking of great ambassadors . . .Marilynn Smith. . .another example of being a gracious ambassador about giving back thru the  game of golf.

Arnold Palmer - The King himself.  I had the opportunity to know, play, and learn many lessons. . .Go for it with all you have . . .every day!

Les Bolstadt - Coach at U of Minn. & coach of Anne Casey Johnstone & many more - Taught - Sound teaching principles - and sounder life principles -  Even if you are shooting 162, walk as if you are shooting 62.  The lesson....It’s all in the attitude. 

  Remember. . . Keep Your Head UP!

Then there are the countless friendships, golfers, non-golfers,  supporters, leaders, creatives. . .People like. . .

Jennie Hinkle, Lynn Ralston, Patty Synder, Kay Wheeler, Tauna McBee, Nora McGuire, Lucy Busch and many more above and beyond the radar. 

Included in my “people pegs” are the ones to who initially got me started, my family and extended family including my dear friend CC who supported my first efforts in golf . . .

And now to my immediate support system ...my best friend, my life partner and my spice. . . Eloise . . .who has influenced many of us in many ways.

Finally yet not the least . . like The Donald. . .there is. . .The Shirley. . .the one and only!

Fun- loving, always supporting, not only me but each of us to be the best in finding that strength of leadership and the true mark of professionalism. . .not only in playing the game of golf but in traveling this road together. . .Sharing our Game of LIFE.

      What’s not to love. . .

  The indomitable . . .the incredible  . . .The Shirley!  (need I say more!)

So back to the Game. . . My  car. . .now a Greyhound Bus . . . And starting to look more like a 747. . .full of people pegs . .  who have shared, and with those good deeds will keep collecting life credits or tiles giving credit to all of you.  This is your night to shine. . .the heart & soul of the LPGA!

The wheel is still spinning, life cards are being dealt. . . Landing on places of health, happiness, & fortune of the career that I passionately love.

Fortune does have it now . . .The wheel just stopped spinning. . . And guess what?

     I just landed on the Hall of Fame!

Thank you all so much!