Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2021 - 38

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serve as the association's president, from
1978-1980. During Sherman's tenure the
MGA introduced a new match play championship.
Called The Players', the inaugural
event was hosted by Sherman's home club,
Interlachen, and saw Scott Harris defeat
long hitter Chris Perry, 6 and 5.
Another new program, hole-in-one
MGA Past President William
Bradley Sherman, 1926-2021
William Bradley " Bill " Sherman, 94, of
Edina, passed away January 3. Part of
" America's Greatest Generation, " Sherman
grew up in Minneapolis and attended
Washburn High School, where he lettered
in three sports. In 1944, he enlisted
in the U.S. Army Air Corp. After the war,
he enrolled at the University of Minnesota,
and later married his middle-school sweetheart,
Patricia Hessian, who persuaded her
husband to take up golf, a pastime they
could pursue together and one which took
them all over the world.
Sherman spent his entire career in the
candy business first working for the Wrigley
company and later for Pearson Candy,
where he was the vice president and director
of sales. He was nationally recognized
for his work in the confectionary industry
and eventually started his own business,
Excel Marketing, representing other confectionary
brands and snack foods.
Sherman served on the board of governors
at the Interlachen Country Club
where he was a member for more than 60
years. In 1971 he was elected a director of
the Minnesota Golf Association and later
chaired the MGA Junior Golf Committee
during the first oil crisis which drove up the
price of gas at a time when the MGA was
expanding its regional junior tournaments.
In spite of the challenges, Sherman also
managed to introduce a new girls section.
After his stint on the junior golf committee,
Sherman was elected secretarytreasurer
of the MGA and would eventually
38
MINNESOTAGOLFER Directory 2021
certificates, resulted in the distribution of
166 certificates in its first year (1979) " for
any member of a member club scoring
that coveted ace " and represented " a lot of
free drinks, " according to Warren Rebholz,
MGA executive director at the time.
The MGA further cemented its position
as the centralized handicap authority
in Minnesota with its computer program
that produced MGA Handicaps for its
member clubs. The association was serving
upwards of 30,000 handicaps to male
amateur golfers around the state. The little
green and white cards were recognized
nationally including by the Bing Crosby
Pro-Am.
In 1986 upon Sherman's retirement
from the executive committee as a past
president, Rebholz, himself a past president,
wrote " I remember when you and I
ran this organization. " The sentiment was
no doubt Rebbie's way of acknowledging
Sherman's leadership role in the transformation
of the MGA from a small association
concerned mainly with running a
handful of amateur championships, to an
organization with three full-time executive
staff and respected by its peers from across
the country.
Certainly he served the MGA well in
his capacity as an officer and president,
but Ray Galarneault, the MGA president
who preceded Sherman, remembers him
mostly for his faithful tournament administration
not only in the metro area but
especially outstate, and for spreading the
spirit of sportsmanship and fellowship
wherever he served.
" He was one of the real true diamonds
among the many volunteers that served the
MGA during the last 60 years, " Galarneault
added.
It's not clear when Sherman retired from
volunteer duty with the MGA. In 1997, he
was appointed chair of the MGA Amateur
Championship Committee during an era
of explosive growth in golfer participation
and golf course building. The MGA
was again transforming itself with volunteer-led
committees taking more active
roles in the association's strategic direction.
Sherman's final contribution was as
a tournament volunteer which lasted into
the 2000s, according to the MGA's 2008
Roster of Directors and Volunteers.
A memorial service will be held for both
Patricia and Bill Sherman later in the summer
of 2021 (Patricia passed away March
12, 2020). Gifts may be made in the name
of William B. Sherman to the Alzeimer's
Association, 7900 W. 78th Street, Suite 100,
Edina, Minn., 55439.
mngolf.org
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Minnesota Golfer - Directory 2021

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