The Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame is a joint effort of the Minnesota PGA Section and the Minnesota Golf Association. Established in 1987, the Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame is housed at Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids and is operated and supported by the Minnesota Golf Association and the Minnesota Section PGA. Applications are reviewed and voted on each spring by a committee made up of members of each organization.
Eligibility
Individuals must be forty (40) years of age and a resident of Minnesota for at least ten (10) years. They must have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in golf competitions, significant contributions to the game, or had significant accomplishments in golf that cannot be anticipated.
New Inductees
The Hall of Fame Banquet will take place on Sunday, May 17, 2026 at Bunker Hills Event Center.
Bruce Anderson, PGA
Anderson, 68, of White Bear Lake, served the game of golf for more than three decades as a PGA professional, including a longtime tenure as general manager at River Oaks Municipal Golf Course in Cottage Grove. A past president of the Minnesota Section PGA (2000–2001), Anderson was a section board member from 1992 to 2004. He was named the PGA Section Golf Professional of the Year in 2002 and earned the section’s Horton Smith Award—a recognition for excellence in PGA education—on four occasions. Before turning professional, Anderson qualified for six USGA amateur championships, including the 1980 U.S. Amateur and five U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships between 1977 and 1981.
Dick Blooston
Blooston, 82, of Bloomington, was a key contributor to the University of Minnesota’s 1963 Big Ten Championship team, helping the Gophers rally from a 14-shot deficit to claim the title. On the state level, Blooston is a three-time MGA Senior Player of the Year (1993, 1998, 2001) and the 1998 MPGA Senior Public Links champion. A prolific USGA qualifier, Blooston earned spots in two U.S. Opens (1979, 1983), six U.S. Amateurs, five U.S. Mid-Amateurs and three U.S. Senior Amateurs—highlighting his enduring competitive excellence across four decades.
Marlene Gesell
Born in Winona in 1933, Gesell passed away in 2022 at the age of 89. Introduced to the game by her father, Andrew, she began competing in local tournaments by age 13. A 1956 graduate of the University of Minnesota, she later taught English and history in Edina. Gesell made history at the 1954 National Collegiate Golf Championship (a forerunner to the NCAA Women’s Championship), earning medalist honors at Starmount Forest Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., with a 1-under-par 76—one of only three rounds under 80 that year.
Peter Krause, PGA
Krause, 71, of Eden Prairie, is among a select group of PGA professionals to earn Master Professional status in Instruction. A six-time Minnesota PGA Section Teacher of the Year, Krause was honored with the section’s Horton Smith Award for his commitment to PGA education. He won the 2004 MN Senior State Open and was named that year’s MN Section Senior Player of the Year. In 2005, he received national recognition as the PGA of America’s Teacher of the Year. Krause authored Fundamental Golf, an instruction book for junior golfers, and earned medalist honors while qualifying for and participating in the 2007 U.S. Senior Open at Whistling Straits outside Sheboygan, Wis.
Jim Lehman
Lehman, 67, of Plymouth, is a longtime MGA board member and served as MGA president from 2011 to 2012. He is a four-time MGA Senior Amateur champion (2013, 2014, 2016, 2018), two time MGA Senior Player of the Year (2013–2014), and winner of both the 2019 MGA Senior Players’ (match play) and the 2003 MGA Mid-Amateur championships. Nationally, Lehman has qualified for 10 USGA championships, including five U.S. Mid-Amateurs, four U.S. Senior Amateurs, and one U.S. Amateur. He also represented Minnesota in the USGA State Team Championships in 2005 and 2007.
Rod Magnuson
Magnuson (1933–2012), a native of Lauderdale, was a three-sport All-City athlete at Murray High School before playing hockey and baseball at the University of Minnesota under coaching legends John Mariucci and Dick Siebert. As a senior golfer in the 1980s and 1990s, “Mags” was unmatched: he was named MGA Senior Player of the Year three times (1986–1988), captured four MPGA Senior Public Links titles, and won both the 1991 MGA Senior Amateur and the inaugural MGA Senior Players’ (match play) Championship in 2000. He competed in nine USGA championships, including four U.S. Senior Opens, two U.S. Amateur Public Links and two U.S. Senior Amateur championships, and in 2010 received the MGA President’s Award for his service as a tournament volunteer and his enduring impact on amateur golf in Minnesota.
Chris Perry, PGA
Perry, 63, of Powell, Ohio, is a former Minnesota State Open champion (1984) and a two-time MGA Amateur champion (1982–1983). He qualified for 16 USGA championships, including two U.S. Junior and two U.S. Amateur championships, and 12 U.S. Opens—the latter highlighted by a T19 finish in 2001. In 1983 Perry reached the finals of the U.S. Amateur where he finished runner-up to Jay Sigel. After turning professional in 1984, Perry played on the PGA Tour from 1985 to 2001 with a brief but spectacular stint on the PGA Nike Tour where he won the Utah Classic and earned the 1994 Nike Tour Player of the Year. Perry’s lone PGA Tour victory came at the 1998 B.C. Open. In total, he made 27 starts in professional major championships, including a T10 finish at the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah Country Club in Chicago.
Minnesota PGA-MGA Golf Hall Of Fame
Members as of 2024Altmeyer, Bea Barrett (1989)
Anderson, Darlene (2008)
Barge, Mike (2019)
Bend, Harold (2018)
Benson, Ron (2008)
Berg, Patty (1987)
Berry, Don (2009)
Bjork-Brandsness, Gloria (2015)
Blanchard, Cora Jane (2003)
Bolstad, Les (1987)
Boos, Fred (2014)
Brask, Bill (2014)
Britz, Jerilyn (2007)
Brooks, William (2020)
Calin, Jan (2010)
Carroll, George (2012)
Chaffee, Jon (2012)
Chapman, Loyal “Bud” (1994)
Clark, Bob (2007)
Clark, William (2016)
Clasen, Al (1995)
Cohrs, Art (2018)
Cohrs, Herb (2018)
Coria, Joe (1990)
Croonquist, Dan (2015)
Croonquist, Neil (2008)
Dansingberg, Gertrude (1990)
Dypwick, Otis (2020)
Ehrmanntraut, Rick (2006)
Ellis, Carol (2017)
Erickson, Charles (2017)
Esau-Zmistowski, Lynn (2014)
Fermoyle, Mike (2011)
Fiorito, Frank (2001)
Gammon-Vanstrum, Bev (1991)
Garvin, Joan (1993)
Ginnaty, Dawn (2020)
Goldstrand, Joel (1998)
Grimes, Lisa (2016)
Gruidl, Jerry (2024)
Gumlia-Marvel, Julie (2011)
Gorg, Ken (2010)
Haberle, Dave (2005)
Hansen, Gene (1999)
Harris, John (1998)
Harris-Blanchard, Nancy (2009)
Harris, Nancy (2012)
Haugen, Dick (2015)
Heffelfinger, Totten (1987)
Hendry, Jock (1988)
Herfort, Don (2024)
Herron, Lee (2021)
Herron, Tim (2017)
Herron-Super, Alissa (2015)
Hill, Ray (1994)
Homeyer-Lunke, Hilary (2019)
Hughes, Solomon, Sr. (2024)
Israelson, Bill (2009)
Jaffrey, C.T. (2013)
Johnson, Gunnard (1987)
Johnson, Harriston R. (1988)
Johnson, Howie (2018)
Johnson, Steve (2006)
Kidd Jr., William (1999)
Kidd Sr., Willie (1989)
Klasse, Leigh (2014)
Lakotas, Johnny (2024)
Latawiec, Chet (2011)
Legg, Harry (1988)
Lehman, Tom (2000)
Lightner, Eleanor (2024)
Lindsay, Jo-Ann (2012)
Mackenzie, Reed (2004)
Manderville, Ed (2024)
Manthis, Jim (2008)
Mattson, Len (2005)
McGuire, Nora (2011)
Mund, Wally (1987)
Murphy, Jerry (2012)
Murphy, Larry (2013)
Nordeen, David (2024)
Nordstrom-Reuterfeldt, Nicki (2011)
Olds, Bob (2019)
Pilot, Claudia (2013)
Rebholz, Warren (1991)
Reith Jr., Bob (2003)
Reith Sr., Bob (2001)
Reynolds, George (2003)
Rosenthal-Anschutz, Jody (2006)
Sawyer, Pat (1992)
Schmitz, Sammy (2021)
Schultz, Mike (2009)
Shortridge, George (1998)
Smith, W.R. (2013)
Sodd, Joe (2005)
Sorenson, Jim (2007)
Sorenson, Jeff (2024)
Spooner, Leo (1990)
Staver, John (1993)
Steiner, John G. (2024)
Stodola, Harold (1991)
Stuart, Everett (1996)
Stuart, Jim (2007)
Swanson, Betty (2014)
Tallman, David (2010)
Taylor, Frank (2016)
Tentis, David (2011)
Tollette, Richard (2009)
Ulrich, Wally (1997)
Vardon, Tom (2012)
Varty-Burley, Kelly (2018)
Vennewitz, Ray (2002)
Wareham, Al (1989)
Waryan, Bill (2001)
Waryan, Craig (2014)
Waryan, Don (1992)
Watson, Dr. James (1999)
White, Donald (2006)
Wisen, Rosalyn (2013)
Zahn, Anne (2016)
Zinni, Michael (2012)