'It’s a sisterhood': Local golf group for women celebrates 60 years

Andy Fillmore
·4 min read

Golfers from seven member golf clubs throughout Marion County gathered Nov. 3 at Spruce Creek Preserve to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Nine Hole Ladies Golf Around Tournament league.

The motto of the league, which is made up of golf groups from communities throughout the area, is to play golf monthly at neighboring courses, share a meal, make enduring friendships and have fun.

Sue Hall played in the Golf Around league as a member of the Ocala (Municipal) Golf Club from 2000 to 2019.

Amy Faulkner, 94, left, and Peggy Toye, 92, are members of the Preserve Golf Club Nine Hole Ladies. The group is part of a bigger group called Golf Around, formed in 1963.
Amy Faulkner, 94, left, and Peggy Toye, 92, are members of the Preserve Golf Club Nine Hole Ladies. The group is part of a bigger group called Golf Around, formed in 1963.

“It’s a sisterhood,” Hall, a retired registered nurse, said in a phone interview.

Hall said visiting the home communities of the golf clubs making up and hosting the league was a great addition to playing golf with a growing number of friends.

Hall is currently visiting family in California and was unable to join the anniversary celebration.

“Stonecrest served a wonderful turkey luncheon at Thanksgiving and Stone Creek was another gracious host. Even if you didn’t score well you could sit around after the game, enjoy a meal and make memories,” Hall said.

The monthly tournaments, nicknamed GAR, or “golf around,” have involved as many as 11 member clubs from communities stretching from Keystone Heights to Fruitland Park and including Ocala and Williston, according to a history provided by current GAR's president, Sue Conner.

Peggy Toye, left, Amy Faulkner, center, and Lois Isnor, right, talk about the scorecard before teeing off at the Spruce Creek Preserve Golf Club on Oct. 25.
Peggy Toye, left, Amy Faulkner, center, and Lois Isnor, right, talk about the scorecard before teeing off at the Spruce Creek Preserve Golf Club on Oct. 25.

Diane Heffner and Gina Runyard, both at the anniversary celebration, met through the GAR tournament and have formed a years-long friendship that has included traveling together to destinations like Branson, Missouri.

“It’s very important we keep (the monthly tournaments) going,” Heffner said.

GAR member clubs played their first monthly match in May 1963 at Ocala Golf Course with players from six North Central Florida golf clubs, the history states.

The tournament league had a president installed annually for 10 years starting with Sue Tucker of the Ocala “Muni” (Municipal) course and a Golfer’s Prayer was adopted in 1963, the history indicates.

Early GAR golf club members included Keystone Heights, Golden Hills, Lake City, Seven Rivers, Crystal River, Ridge Manor, Silver Springs Shores, Wildwood, Citrus Springs and Williston.

Over the next two decades, the number of member clubs dwindled to six, with Ocala Muni and Inverness the only remaining charter members, the history states.

By the early 2000s, things “began to turn around” for the tournament league, and from 2006 to 2009 golf clubs from the communities of Spruce Creek Preserve, Ocala Palms and Stone Creek joined.

Eagle Ridge and Stonecrest entered the league in 2011.

Golf clubs from Ocala Muni, Rainbow’s End and Sugarmill Woods rounded out eight league member clubs around 2011, according to the history.

In the last 10 plus years, GAR has dealt with the effects of the pandemic and saw Sugarmill Woods resign its membership while Candler Hills and Royal Oaks golf clubs joined by 2017, the history indicates.

By 2023, Stonecrest resigned and six clubs made up the league: Candler Hills, Eagle Ridge, Ocala Palms, Preserve Golf Club, Royal Oaks and Stone Creek, the history states.

The anniversary celebration also highlighted two players age 90 or over. One is Amy Faulkner, of Palm Cay, who operated a card and gift shop in New Jersey. She has shot three hole-in -ones in Marion County. The other is Peggy Toye of Spruce Creek Preserve, a former Pan Am employee from New York.

Four presidents of the GAR were recognized and listed in the printed remarks: Sharon Sobel of Stone Creek; Judy Perrotti of Spruce Creek Preserve; Sharon Galluzzo; and current president Conner.

Conner stated in part in an email a GAR tournament is a day of fun and friendship regardless “no matter your playing abilities.”

Additional golfers participating in the 60th anniversary celebration included Cathy Wittman, who started with Ocala Muni in 2006; Gloria St. Pierre, a NASA-trained professional in the electrical and mechanical field; Cindy Dean, with a global marketing firm based in Georgia; Lois Isnor, school district secretary; and former educator Cindy Smith.

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Ann Austin and Diane Heffner made the arrangements for the anniversary celebration, according to Conner’s printed remarks.

Past president Galluzzo praised the members of the group.

“I never met a better bunch of ladies (and I’ll) never forget you,” Galluzzo told the members and guests at the anniversary celebration.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: 60th anniversary for 'golf around' group