Legacy of the Links announces Creation of Top 100 Hall of Fame
January 23, 2014 | For Immediate Release
Legacy of the Links, LLC, a specialist golf travel and event management company announced the creation of the Top 100 Hall of Fame to honor the great visionaries and golf course architects that have designed and built many of the world’s “Top 100” majestic golf courses. This Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held in conjunction with the Top 100 Invitational, a tournament also created by Legacy of the Links. This golf-spirited event will be held annually at various Top 100 venues, both nationally and internationally.
When Legacy of the Links partners Kevin McGrath and Taba Dale were invited to visit with Dr. Tony Parker, curator for the Golf Collections at the University of St. Andrews in the Home of Golf, (and when Taba became a Global Ambassador for the new Centre for Golf Collections), the three diligently brainstormed on ways to help raise the much-needed funds to build the new Centre.
“As a Top 100 Panelist with Golf Magazine, I came to the realization that there was not a single event that was open to all clubs in the “Top 100” rankings to compete in, so we created the Top 100 Invitational,” said event Co-founder Kevin McGrath. “We plan to debut this exclusive event in 2015 at one of the premier Top 100 venues in the United States and with hopes of garnering charitable support.”
According to event Co-founder Taba Dale, the invitational will be open to any club or course that has been officially ranked in a “Top 100” list published by a major golf magazine. To date, Dale and McGrath have identified approximately 400 courses which are eligible for entry. Event format will consist of two-member teams (players with established handicaps) playing better-ball over 36 holes. Each eligible club will be able to enter a maximum of two teams in the event.
“As a passionate golfer myself and a private art dealer for more than 35 years, I recognized that the many great visionaries and architects that have created these iconic Top 100 masterpieces have never been appropriately honored,” shared Dale. “Consequently, when Kevin came up with the idea of the Top 100 Invitational event, I immediately saw the opportunity to honor these stellar individuals and suggested that we create a Top 100 Hall of Fame, with the induction ceremony to be held each year in conjunction with the tournament.”
In the forefront of this event, Dale set out to write a TV documentary series called Legacy of the Links that would profile the talented individuals responsible for creating majestic courses, amazing artforms on the broadest landscape canvasses. To date, Dale has written and copyrighted 12 film treatments.
As a preview to the Top 100 Invitational that will debut in 2015, Legacy of the Links will host a boutique event for 24 golfers (each representing a Top 100 Club) at an exclusive private club in Florida immediately following the 2014 PGA Merchandise Show. At the awards luncheon following golf, Legacy of the Links will pay tribute to its inaugural award recipient, Mr. Mike Keiser of Bandon Dunes fame, the sole inductee into the 2014 Top 100 Hall of Fame.
In selecting Mike Keiser, Legacy of the Links is honoring a true visionary whose many accomplishments commenced with the building of The Dunes Club in New Buffalo, Michigan. In his own words, “It was so much fun” that he aspired to build a great American links course, which eventually translated into the creation of Bandon Dunes.
Keiser’s journey started with looking for suitable sandy land on the east coast but eventually he found himself being drawn to 1,200 acres in southern Oregon, consisting of a mile of ocean frontage and covered in gorse and Scottish broom. In this mystical landscape – not unlike something you might envision when reading Michael Murphy’s Golf in the Kingdom – Keiser established Bandon Dunes.
Inspired by some of his favorite links courses (which include the Old Course in St Andrews, Lahinch and Royal County Down), Keiser, in creating five distinctly different courses all in harmony with their natural environment, has captured the essential spirit of the game. Not only is Legacy of the Links paying tribute to what Keiser has achieved in Oregon, they are also recognizing his contributions to the spectacular developments at Cabot Links in Nova Scotia and Barnbougle Dunes in Tasmania, and they tip their hat to him for contemplating Sand Valley, a multi-course golf experience he is planning in central Wisconsin. His absolute appreciation of classic architecture and consistent idealism, especially for preserving the soul of the game, has earned Mike Keiser this lasting legacy, as the inaugural inductee into the Top 100 Hall of Fame.
Legacy of the Links, LLC, is a management and consulting company for tournaments, travel, fundraising projects and other events, combining the passion and talents of its founders Taba Dale and Kevin McGrath to Create Legacies that Last Forever. The core focus is golf-related activities on a global level. Their golf travel division specializes in creating custom trips to the great links of Great Britain and Ireland and they have recently started to promote unique Tours to play the Top 100 courses in England, Ireland and Scotland.
