KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan golf team heads across the state to Ypsilanti on Monday for the 2023 Shirley Spork Invitational, hosted by Eastern Michigan at Eagle Crest Golf Club.
The field will feature 11 teams: Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, Eastern Michigan, Green Bay, Oakland, Ohio, Purdue Fort Wayne and Western Michigan. The first two rounds will be played on Monday, with the final round starting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
Live scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com. This year, the course measures out to 6,159 yards and plays as a par of 72.
The tournament is named after Shirley Spork, the first female inducted into Eastern Michigan's Hall of Fame in 1981. Spork began her golf career early in life. She started playing with one club, a putter, at age 10. While attending then-MSNC, Spork won the Women's District Match Play Championship three times in four years. In 1947, she was the winner of the first-ever National Collegiate Championship held for women's athletics, plus she was the victor of the 1949 Michigan Amateur.
After graduation, Spork became a teacher in the Detroit public schools, but realized she would much rather be playing golf. She turned professional in 1950 and played the tour, but along the way realized she was still a teacher at heart. Spork was one of the 13 founding members of the LPGA Tour. In 1959 along with Marilynn Smith, Betty Hicks and Barbara Rotvig, she founded the LPGA's Teaching and Club Professional Division.
Spork was the first LPGA professional to conduct golf clinics in foreign countries and was a two-time LPGA Teacher of the Year (1959, 1984). She was the chairperson of the LPGA T&CP Division from 1960-66, and received the Meritorious Service Award in 1989. Among her honors are the 1994 Byron Nelson Award, the 1998 LPGA Ellen Griffin Rolex Award, membership in the inaugural class of the LPGA Teaching & Club Professionals Division Hall of Fame in 2000 and a 2002 inductee in the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame. Spork was named one of the inductees into the 2019 Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) of America Hall of Fame. (Courtesy of Eastern Michigan Sports Information)
The Broncos have a strong history at the Shirley Spork, with it being a staple on the fall schedule. WMU's Alissa Fish was the individual medalist back in 2021, winning by 11 strokes after shooting a 54-hole total of 210. The Clarklake, Mich., native recorded 13 birdies to lead the field and helped WMU finish fifth.
