Hall of Fame honour for Hinton

Close House’s Sally Hinton has become a Hall of Famer at an American university.

The 30 year old, who hails from a family of PGA Professionals, was inducted into Missouri State University’s Hall of Fame.

She flew out to the States to attend a presentation and accept the award for her achievements while studying there in her early 20s.

Hinton, whose dad, Paul, and uncle, Phil, and late grandfather Ron were all PGA club pros, became the most accomplished player in the college’s history by winning her first two tournaments, the Hawkeye Intercollegiate and Chip-N-Club Invitational.

She finished runner-up in her third tournament, the ORU Shootout, but posting a then-college record 69 in the final round along the way.

Her efforts saw her named MVC player of the week after each of her first three tournaments and as co-captain of the Missouri State Bears women’s golf team from 2003-2007 she registered five of the top 10 spots on the college’s single-round scoring chart.

Hinton, who majored in geography during her four-year scholarship, was voted Outstanding Female Athlete during her final year.

She said: “It felt brilliant to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. I wasn’t expecting it so it was a great honour.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Missouri State University and loved going back for the induction.

“It was great to catch up with my team-mates and friends, some of which I hadn’t seen since I graduated in 2007.”

She added: “I liked playing golf at Missouri because we were able to play a different course each day of the week.

“We got to travel across the USA for tournaments and my favourite tournament was in Phoenix, Arizona.”

After graduating from Missouri, Hinton became assistant to current Bridgnorth professional Steve Russell, and completed her training and PGA foundation degree before moving to Newcastle in 2010.

Her duties at Close House as a golf-teaching professional include teaching and custom fitting a variety of clients aged from four right up to 83.

Hinton said: “Coaching takes up most of my time and I have very little time for my own game these days, unfortunately.

“However, I get the same enjoyment out of helping the players I teach improve.”

** For more information about becoming a PGA Professional click here.