Stark County Amateur Golf Hall of Fame - Class of 2012

CRIST FOSTINES
Crist, a veteran, wounded in World War II didn’t start playing golf until age 25 and shortly after he began his successful amateur golfing career. He was crowned Stark County Amateur Champion at Shady Hollow Country Club in 1959. As an amateur Crist won the Massillon Tigertown Open twice in 1952 and 1954 and was low amateur four other times. A mark of distinction was his shooting a round of 68 at age 68 to win one of his Tigertown low amateur titles. Crist missed qualifying for the 1953 U.S. Open by one stroke, losing out to legend Arnold Palmer at Beechmont Country Club in Cleveland, Ohio.

GAIL HACKETT
Gail is the newly crowned 2012 Ohio State Women’s Senior Champion, adding to her previous win in 2004. She has been Stark County Women’s Amateur Champion six times throughout her career. Gail was the Ohio State Women’s Invitational Golf Association Champion in 2005, 2008 and 2011 and was the Akron District Champion in 2004. She was part of the team that won the American Cancer Society Team Championship in 1997 and she has participated in two Ladies Professional (LPGA) tournaments at Avalon Lakes in the 1990’s. Gail has been Club Champion at Congress Lake Country Club twenty-one times spanning five decades from 1974 to 2010, where she holds the course record of seven-under par 67.

She was inducted into the Ashland University Hall of Fame for tennis in 2011. 

NICK LAMBOS
Nick won the 2000 and 2003 Stark County Amateur Championship and was also a runner-up twice. He played in three U.S. Amateurs, including the one held at Pebble Beach in 1999, and also played in two U.S. Mid-Amateurs. Nick has participated in the Ohio Amateur 20 times and has posted three top 20 finishes. He was the low amateur in the 2001 and 2006 Ohio Open, and also in the 2011 Ohio Senior Open. Nick was the Akron District Golf Association Stroke Play Champion three times and the ADGA Lazor Best Ball Champion four times. He won the Pete Dye Cup National Pro-Am at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana in 2001 and placed fourth in 2008. He has won the Brookside Club Championship 4 times, including three years in a row from 1996-98. 

ROGER McMANUS
Roger won the club championship at Congress Lake Country Club every year he played from 1963-1977. The Library at Congress Lake is named in Roger’s honor for his excellent golf career and his dedication to the game of golf. He qualified 17 times for the U.S. Amateur, twice for the U.S. Open and twice he was invited to play in the Masters. Roger played in the U.S. Senior Open three times, the British Senior Open two times and the British Senior Amateur three times. He played in the Sunnehanna Amateur Invitational 29 times, including a victory in 1963. Another very impressive win came at the famed Congressional Country Club in the 1970 Middle Atlantic Amateur Championship.

Roger especially enjoyed working with junior golfers and helped start the golf program at Lake High School. He was recently inducted into the Ohio Golf Hall of Fame on August 6, 2012. Roger was a true gentleman and a credit to the game of golf. He passed away in 1992 following a long battle with ALS, commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.  

DICK SHEPARD
Dick is the only player to win all five area major individual amateur championships in one year (1973). The wins were the SCAGA Amateur, SCAGA Open, SCAGA Champion of Champions, ADGA Amateur and ADGA Golfer of the Year. He won the SCAGA Amateur in 1972 and 1973 and the SCAGA Open in 1973 and 1974. Dick was SCAGA Champion of Champions in 1972, 1973 and 1974. Dick won the ADGA Amateur in 1973 and was ADGA Golfer of the Year in 1973 and 1974. In 1973 he was named the WHBC Tom Edwards Ford Golfer of the Year and WHBC Tom Edwards Ford Amateur Athlete of the Year. Dick was an All-American golfer at Marshall University in 1966, leading his team to a MAC title in 1966. He won the MAC Individual Championship in 1965 and the MAC Invitational in 1967. Dick qualified for three NCAA Championships and played in two (1965 and 1966). In 1964 he teamed with Sam Snead to win the pro-am portion in the West Virginia PGA Championship.

Dick was inducted into the Marshall University Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. 

BOB STEWART
Bob, a retired sports editor of The Repository, is being honored for his long commitment to Stark County golf that began with him joining The Repository in 1957. A lifetime member of the Golf Writers Association of America and winner of numerous Associated Press awards, he wrote The Rep’s weekly “Down The Fairway” golf column for many years. Bob began covering professional golf with the 1960 PGA at Firestone and over the years he covered the American Golf Classics, the World Series of Golf, the CBS TV Golf Matches and various other professional tournaments. While an active member of the Golf Writers, Bob was on the board of selectors for the World Professional Golf Hall of Fame. He also served as assistant tournament director for the Stark County Amateur Golf Association and the American Italian Golf Association, and worked on the committee that brought the Ohio Open to Stark County in 1989 and served on it throughout the tournament’s 11-year run at Tam O’Shanter Golf Course. Bob is a Stark County Amateur Golf Hall of Fame committee member and a charter member of The First Tee of Canton, still serving on its board of directors. He is a member of four other halls of fame.