Hall of Fame foursome

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This article was published 08/07/2010 (5908 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If the Manitoba Golf Hall of Fame class of 2010 has one thing, it’s name recognition.

Players Rob McMillan, Aileen Robertson and Terry Hashimoto will join builder and broadcaster Bob Picken as the four inductees Sept. 27 at the eighth annual ceremony at McPhillips Street Station Casino.

McMillan, just 34, appears to be finished his playing career but his lengthy list of accomplishments as both an amateur and professional made him a household name in much of the country.

"It’s quite an honour but it makes me feel old," McMillan said. "I always thought halls of fame were for older people, but this is a real thrill."

McMillan captured three Canadian junior titles, the Canadian Amateur and added three Canadian Tour victories, one of them a remarkable win as an amateur at the 1996 Manitoba Open.

That career record powered McMillan to six Manitoba golfer of the year awards in a seven-year period between 1990 and 1996.

Crowns

Playing out of Pine Ridge, he also claimed four Manitoba junior and three Manitoba Amateur crowns before turning pro in 1997. In the ensuing years he played both the Canadian and Nationwide Tours.

In 1994, in the middle of what turned out to be a five-year lock on the provincial player of the year award, McMillan shared the honour with Robertson, who had captured the Canadian Women’s Amateur at Mill River in P.E.I. that summer. She also won the Ontario Amateur that summer, making a stellar triple.

The St. Charles member had her own dominant streak going, winning the Manitoba Amateur three times in row on two occasions — 1989-1991 and 1994-1996.

Robertson had previously won two Manitoba juniors before attending college at University of South Carolina, where she was a scholastic all-American and on the national dean’s honour list.

She turned pro in 1998 and is now an instructor at Henry Brunton Golf in Ontario.

"The cherry on top was that Canadian Am," Robertson said Wednesday via phone. "Winning pro events (she captured two in Quebec), that was an excellent feeling, and all the wins were special in their own way and they all have their own meaning."

Of the three selected players, Hashimoto has been there and back in terms of amateur status.

He won the Manitoba Amateur before he turned pro, in 1985, and then after regaining his status, in 1998.

His streak of elite play carried him to Manitoba player of the year awards in three different decades, winning in 1976, 1980 and again in 1998.

That final award was among the easiest the committee has ever had, given that Hashimoto pulled off a rare summer competitive triple. He was the first player to capture the provincial match play title, the Amateur and the mid-amateur — in one season.

Hashimoto, 52, was also one of the founders of the popular Canadian golf brand, Jazz Golf.

"What a group; I think I’ve drawn a good foursome this time," he said Wednesday on news of the selections.

Asked to name his career highlights, he pointed to his college scholarship at the University of Miami and to his longevity as a capable player.

"Being able to get my education paid for through golf, that paid off for me," he said. "Beyond that, my career wasn’t great as a professional but I enjoyed those years. It just seemed that I was always in a tug of war between business and playing golf full-time.

"But my career endured through a long span and coming back and winning those three tournaments at 40, the was pretty special to me."

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Picken, 77, was selected for excellence in a sportscasting career that spanned more than 60 years.

In that time, in addition to golf coverage, he distinguished himself in coverage of curling, baseball and football, inducted into Canadian and Manitoba halls of fame in those sports. He has also been honoured by his peers, chosen to the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Roll of Honor.

Picken has also been a director of the popular Grey Owl tournament since 1979.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca