Farrell, Hoffman, Travers Are Distinguished Hall Of Fame Inductees

The NJSGA recently announced the formation of the NJSGA Hall of Fame. An induction ceremony is planned for May 1 at Galloping Hill Golf Course in Kenilworth.

Over the next three months, three inductees' biographies will be featured every two weeks as part of our handicap revision EBulletins.

Below are biographies of three distinguished inductees:

JOHNNY FARRELL (1901-1988), Baltusrol Golf Club

Johnny Farrell was the head professional at Baltusrol Golf Club for 33 years, beginning in 1934, and one of the leading pros of his era, winning 21 PGA events. Farrell, who won the U.S. Open in 1928 when he beat Bobby Jones by one shot in a 36-hole playoff, played in the first Masters tournament and was on the PGA Tour from 1919 until the mid-1930's. He finished second in the U.S. Open twice, second in the PGA Championship twice and second in the British Open once. He won the 1936 New Jersey State Open.

Starting in the spring of 1927, he won eight consecutive PGA Tour events, a run that was unequalled until Byron Nelson won eleven in a row in 1945. Farrell was voted Best Golf Professional in the United States in 1927 and ’28. He played for the United States in the first three Ryder Cups: 1927, 1929, and 1931. He taught golf to Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon and Ford, as well as Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Douglas Fairbanks, and the Duke of Windsor.

ARTHUR (RED) HOFFMAN (1918-2005), Plainfield Country Club

Red Hoffman was considered a walking encyclopedia of New Jersey golf. He covered the sport for more than 50 years - first with the Newark Evening News and then the Star Ledger. He was presented with the 1988 Lincoln Werden Award by the Met Golf Writers for his contributions to golf journalism, and the same year he was honored as “Sportswriter of the Year” by the N.J. Sportswriters’ Association.

In 2000, a caddie scholarship for journalism students was named in his honor by the NJSGA, and in 2004, the NJSGA and NJPGA presented Red with their first joint Distinguished Service Award (DSA). He also received the DSA from the Metropolitan Golf Association.

He served as president of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association, and as a board member of the Golf Writers Association of America. A member of Plainfield Country Club, he also served for many years as editor of the NJSGA Open program book. Today, the Hoffman Cup, an interclub team event, is played in his honor.

JEROME (Jerry) TRAVERS (1887-1951), Montclair G.C. & Upper Montclair C.C.

Jerry Travers, who was born in New York City, is considered not only the first great New Jersey amateur golfer, but was also considered the finest American amateur golfer in the days before Bobby Jones. He played out of Montclair Golf Club, and later Upper Montclair Country Club.

Travers was not only the first to win the State Amateur four times -while making the final six times in a row between the years 1907-13 (he did not enter in 1909) - but the first to win five Metropolitan Amateurs, and four U.S. Amateurs. Bobby Jones is the only other golfer to win more than three U.S. Amateurs. His greatest victory, the 1915 United States Open, made him the second amateur, after Francis Ouimet in 1913, to win the U.S. Open when he ground out a score of 297 at Baltusrol. Travers was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1976.