The late Liz Robinson will be the first Black inductee in Erie's golf halls of fame

WATERFORD ― Tom Robinson taught his wife, Liz, how to play golf when they were students in Tennessee.

It was their move to Erie in the late 1970s, and away from the segregation they'd experienced, when he understood just how well she'd learned.

“I taught her everything I knew,” Tom Robinson said, “but then she took off on her own here. When we came here, she was in leagues with all-white women. They all accepted her. That was an accomplishment.”

So is the posthumous honor Liz Robinson will officially receive Oct. 8 at North East's Lake View Country Club. She'll become the first Black hall of fame inductee from the Erie District Golf Association or Erie District Women's Golf Association.

Liz Robinson died June 12 at age 75.

1947-2022: Elizabeth 'Liz' Ann Robinson

Tom Robinson enthusiastically spoke about their shared love of the sport during their 52 years together at a news conference Tuesday at The Ridge Golf Club to promote the ceremony. Among her accomplishments, Robinson won EDWGA Seniors titles in 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2004 and Super Seniors championships in 2008 and 2012. She was a regular at the top of the fields in the Erie and Downing club championships.

Also on hand Tuesday were Dario Cipriani, Ed Podufal, Ellery Tarbell and Dave Smith. They're four of the nine people who comprise the hall's first class since 2018. It is the largest induction class since T.O. Andrews was the EDGA's inaugural honoree in 1951.

“This is a momentous thing,” Tom Robinson said. “I'm very proud of (the EDGA and EDWGA) for this.”

Robinson, a former EDWGA president, also represents a quarter of the largest class for the women's hall. She'll be enshrined with Karen Bukowski, Patty Lang and Kathy Lynch, who were unable to attend.

Sue LeFaiver, a 2012 hall inductee, spoke on behalf of the three Tuesday. She talked of playing past rounds with the current class members, Robinson included.

“Maybe the happiest person you could ever meet,” LeFaiver said. “Liz had a smile that lit up the room and she was a good competitor. She gave golf clubs to some of the kids who needed them.”

Here, in alphabetical order, are some of the accomplishments by the other inductees:

Karen Bukowski: The Mercyhurst Prep and Gannon graduate was denied the chance to play competitive golf during those years because of her gender just ahead of Title IX's enactment in 1972. In the decades that followed, she won the 2003 EDWGA Match Play tournament, become an LPGA-certified instructor and wrote about the sport for various publications.

Dario Cipriani: The 1970 Cathedral Prep graduate was a 2001 inductee of Mercyhurst's athletic hall of fame for his play as a captain of its men's golf team. He was a two-time EDGA Amateur medalist (1984 and 1987) and a three-time Match Play finalist.

Patty Lang: The 1969 Meadville graduate was a member of the Kent State women's golf team when Title IX was ratified in the midst of her years there. She qualified for 11 U.S. Golf Association tournaments, the most notable being a quarterfinal run in the 2002 Senior Women's Championship.

Kathy Lynch: The 1977 Villa Maria graduate is better known for her nearly 40-year career as a NCAA women's basketball referee. She also parlayed her growing love of golf into a two-term tenure as EDWGA president and initiated the creation of its Stroke Play tournament in 2013. She's also coached Mercyhurst Prep's girls golf team over that same span.

Ed Podufal: The 1979 Fairview graduate was a member of Allegheny College men's golf team that won the 1983 NCAA Division III tournament, the first national champion athletic program in the history of the Meadville school. He was the EDGA's 1979 Amateur titlist and its Match Play winner in 1984, 1985 and 1997.

Dave Smith: The 1973 Cathedral Prep graduate began his professional playing career a day after he won the last of his three EDGA majors, the 1985 Amateur. However, he's become better known as a local instructor and now provides lessons at the Millcreek Golf and Learning Center.

Ellery Tarbell: The 1976 Union City graduate, who briefly played for Edinboro, won the last of his record four EDGA Amateur titles in 2011. A year later, he reached the final of the Match Play tournament for the only time in his career.

Lester White (posthumous): The man nicknamed “Lighthorse,” who died in 1971 at age 64, rose from the caddie ranks to become one of Erie's great golfers from the mid-1920s through the late 1940s. He later was the supervisor for the construction of Downing Golf Course, which opened in 1962, and then worked as the golf pro and greenskeeper for J.C. Martin Golf Course.

Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNcopper.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Liz Robinson will be first Black inductee in EDGA/EDGWA hall of fame