Reflecting on the NJSGA Hall of Fame Class of 2021

KENILWORTH, N.J. – Earlier in the week, the New Jersey State Golf Association spotlighted the Hall of Fame Class of 2020. On November 17, 2021, the NJSGA will be not only inducting the Class of 2020, but also the NJSGA Hall of Fame Class of 2021 at Galloping Hill Golf Course.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 reception was delayed and now the pair of star-studded NJSGA Hall of Fame classes will be formally inducted during a ceremony that will be open to the public. To purchase tickets to the highly anticipated event, click HERE.

Established in 2018, the NJSGA Hall of Fame exists to recognize and enshrine men and women who, as New Jersey natives or residents at their time of achievement, have impacted New Jersey golf and/or have made extraordinary contributions to the game. Its mission is to honor New Jersey’s finest amateur and professional golf competitors, as well as those who are contributors to golf, such as architects, journalists, superintendents, mentors, volunteers and others.

Today, the class of 2021 will be highlighted, which features Jim Barnes, Max Marston and Marge Mason, who are all former successful golfers in the Garden State.

“Long” Jim Barnes, World Golf Hall of Fame and PGA of America Hall of Fame member is well-known for winning the 1916 and 1919 PGA Championships, the 1921 U.S. Open, and the 1925 British Open. Additionally, the former head golf professional at Essex County Country Club compiled an impressive 22 victories on the PGA Tour. Barnes, who came by his nickname for wearing long pants in the age of knickers and his towering height of 6’4”, won the 1939 NJSGA Open Championship in his first year at Essex County Country Club, making him the oldest ever at 53 to win it. Barnes passed away in 1966 at the age of 80 in East Orange, N.J. To learn more about Barnes, click here.

In 1923, Cranford native Max Marston captured six championships, including the GAP Stroke Play Championship, GAP Match Play Championship, Pennsylvania Amateur Championship, Crump Cup and the Merion Club Championship. His season was highlighted by a victory at the historic U.S. Amateur Championship. In the 1923 U.S. Amateur, played at Flossmoor Country Club in Illinois, Marston defeated some of golf’s biggest names. He came from behind to beat Bobby Jones (then the current U.S. Open champion) in the second round, topped Joseph Wills of Ohio, 4 and 3 in the quarterfinals, defeated former U.S. Open champion Francis Ouimet in the semifinals, 3 and 2, and beat defending champion Jess Sweetser in a 38-hole final match. In the Garden State, Marston won the NJSGA Amateur Championship in 1915 and 1919. He also won the Pennsylvania Amateur in 1921 and 1922 and was named to the Walker Cup team in 1922, 1924, and 1934. His 1934 effort came on the heels of finishing as runner-up in the 1933 U.S. Amateur, where he lost in the final match to Kearny, N.J. native George Dunlap, 6 and 5. Marston retired to Connecticut, where he died in 1949 at 56. To learn more about Marston, click here.

Over a two-decade period, Marge Mason of The Ridgewood Country Club won six NJSGA Women’s Amateur Championships (1946, '49, ’51, ’53, ’58, 62), two Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association Amateur Championships (1952, ’60), and a U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship in 1967 at age 50. A native of Paterson, Mason became one of the most dominant players in New Jersey history. Over a two-decade period beginning in 1946, she won six NJSGA Women’s Amateur Championships (1946, '49, ’51, ’53, ’58, 62), two Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association Amateur Championships (1952, ’60), and a U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship in 1967 at age 50. Also, she won the both the Women’s New Jersey Golf Association Match Play and Stroke Play Championships six times each. Mason, who worked as a realtor in the Bergen County area, passed away from cancer in 1974 at the age 56. To learn more about Mason, click here.

The November 17 celebration will have limited capacity with tickets being offered to the public on a first come, first served basis. Tickets for the event cost $50 per person. The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a cocktail reception. The induction ceremony is set to start at 7 p.m.  To ensure everyone’s safety, and in accordance with CDC guidelines, the NJSGA will require all attendees to wear a mask indoors when not eating or drinking.

To learn more about the members of the Class of 2020, click here.