Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2019

October 28, 2019 | 4 min.
By Warren P Ryan


EDINA, Minn., (June 17, 2019) – The Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame has announced the 2019 Class of Hall of Fame inductees: Mike Barge, 64, of Chanhassen; Hilary (Homeyer) Lunke, 40, of Edina; and Robert “Bob” Olds, 73, of Minnetonka. Members of the group will be inducted into the Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame at various allied golf association events throughout the year. The MGA-PGA Minnesota Hall of Fame was established in 1987 to recognize Minnesotans for their outstanding contributions to the game of golf. A selection committee meets annually to review nominations and select inductees.

Mike Barge
Barge holds the distinguished honor of being the oldest Minnesota State Open champion winning in 2006 at the age of 51 years, 10 months, and 19 days. Although born in Trimont, Minn., Barge graduated from Fargo South High School in 1972, the same year he won the North Dakota Junior Amateur and the State High School championships. He has spent much of his career as the director of golf instruction at Hazeltine National Golf Club, where he has mentored numerous state golf champions and was recognized by the Minnesota Section of the PGA as its Teacher of the Year two times. Barge knows how to finish a golf tournament having won a Section Stroke Play and two Match Play championships, four Senior Stroke Play championships, the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am, and the Minnesota Senior Open. He has qualified for 25 PGA Professional and Senior Professional championships, including three USGA Senior Opens and two PGA Senior championships. In 2012, Barge was inducted into the North Dakota Golf Hall of Fame.

Hilary (Homeyer) Lunke
Hilary (Homeyer) Lunke, was a standout junior player, winning the Minnesota State Junior Girls’ Championship, in 1996, and the Class AA Girls’ medalist title while helping Edina win the high school team title in 1997. She attended Stanford University and played on the women’s golf team, where she won two collegiate tournaments and was a four-time All-American. Lunke won the 2001 South Atlantic Amateur and earned a spot on the USGA’s Curtis Cup and World Amateur teams. She joined the LPGA Tour in 2002 and a year later won her first professional title, the 2003 U.S. Women’s Open at Pumpkin Ridge, in dramatic style. After 72 holes, Lunke was tied with Angela Stanford and Kelly Robbins forcing an 18-hole playoff. At the final playoff hole, Lunke needed a 15-foot birdie putt to win, and she sent the curling putt to the center of the cup for the championship and the record book. With husband Tyler on the bag, Lunke was the first Open champion to advance through Local and Sectional qualifying, joining two other Minnesotans as National Open Champions: Patty Berg and Jerilyn Britz. In 2008, Lunke’s LPGA peers recognized her with the William and Mousie Powell Award for best representing the spirit, ideals and values of the LPGA.

Robert “Bob” Olds
Bob Olds, the longtime head golf professional at the Minnetonka Country Club enjoyed a competitive playing career and an even more accomplished vocational career during his four decades of service at the club (1970-2008). He won the St. Cloud Pro-Am, the North Oaks Pro-Member, the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am (1987), and qualified for the National PGA Club Professional Championship four times. More significantly, for his influence at the state and sectional level, was his participation on the Minnesota PGA Section Board of Directors, from 1975-1984, which culminated in his serving as President (1981-1982). In 1982, he was named the Minnesota Section PGA Golf Professional of the Year. A friend to all and a mentor to many, Olds was instrumental in establishing the Minnesota PGA Junior Golf Academy, in forming a goodwill match-play competition between professionals and amateurs, the annual MGA-PGA Cup Matches, in 1977, and as the moving force in the creation of the Minnesota Women’s Open Championship, which Minnetonka Country Club hosted from 1985-1987.

About the MGA-PGA Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame
The MGA-PGA Minnesota Golf Hall of Fame was established in 1987 to recognize Minnesotans for their outstanding contributions to the game of golf. A committee of allied golf associations meets annually to determine nominations. The MGA-PGA 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 of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America. For more information, contact MGA Executive Director, Tom Ryan at 952-345-3971 or Minnesota Section PGA COO, Jon Tollette at 763-754-0820.
                                                          ###
 

Warren P Ryan

W.P. Ryan is the MGA’s communications director and editor of Minnesota Golfer magazine. Prior to his communications career, he has worked at several golf clubs in Florida, Maryland and Minnesota "guarding the Titleists" and teaching the game to junior golfers. 

Related Articles

2023 MN Golf Hall of Fame

October 30, 2023

Joel Goldstrand, 1939-2022

November 23, 2022

Contact Us

Contact Us

6550 York Avenue South, Suite 411 • Edina, MN 55435 • (952) 927-4643 • (800) 642-4405 • Fax: (952) 927-9642
© 2024 Minnesota Golf Association. All Rights Reserved