Hall of Fame

The ICG Hall of Fame was established to recognize ICG members, sponsors and others who have made significant contribution to the golf industry in one or more of the following categories: clubmaking, club fitting, equipment & tool design, instruction (repair, teaching, assembly, fitting, etc.), media and/or provided noteworthy service for the betterment of the ICG.

 

ICG Hall of Fame Class of 2015
Hall of Fame

Two outstanding individuals and industry icons, Ely Callaway and Jerry Hoefling (for development of BMT shaft profiling software and mentoring) were inducted into the ICG Hall of Fame on January 21, 2015. 

Ely Callaway inducted into the ICG Hall of Fame

Jerry Hoefling inducted into the ICG Hall of Fame

 
Tom Wishon Inducted into the ICG Hall of Fame (2014)
Hall of Fame

Tom Wishon is a former member of the PGA of America and a veteran of the golf equipment industry, having moved from the PGA to begin his career in golf equipment design and R&D in 1980.  During his career, Tom has written 10 books and more than 200 magazine articles on golf equipment performance in his commitment to share factual information about how golf clubs perform with PGA pros, professional clubmakers and golfers as well.

In his 30+ yr career in golf equipment design and engineering, Tom Wishon has designed more than 350 original models of golf clubheads and shafts, more than any other single person in the 500 year history of the game.  He has contributed more than 60 different design technology firsts, including the first titanium driver by a US based company, the first metal + graphite body woodheads and the first adjustable hosel woods.  As a side note, the latter two technologies were developed by Wishon more than ten years before the major golf companies introduced their versions!

Wishon has designed original clubhead models for US PGA Tour players such as Scott Verplank, Ben Crenshaw and Bruce Lietzke, and he designed the last set of golf clubs used in competition by the late Payne Stewart.  He stands alone as the only designer to date from the custom clubmaking side of the golf industry to have designed clubhead models used to win on the US PGA Tour, US Champions Senior Tour and in Ryder Cup competition.

As Mike Stachura, the equipment editor for Golf Digest magazine stated, “If golf clubs are a mystery of the game for golfers, then Tom Wishon is truly the Sherlock Holmes of golf equipment.” And Jim Achenbach, equipment editor for Golfweek magazine has said, “Tom Wishon is the smartest person about golf clubs in the golf industry.”

In 2003, Tom started his own company, Tom Wishon Golf Technology.  His commitment is 100% toward promoting the benefits of full specification, professional clubfitting to golfers who struggle to achieve their full potential in the game while trying to play with standard made clubs bought off the shelf which do not fit their individual size, strength, athletic ability and swing characteristics.

Tom has also been a regular consultant for the British PGA, the PGA of Sweden and other European PGA organizations by conducting frequent educational seminars in which he shares his knowledge and expertise in golf equipment and clubfitting.  Two of his books are now required reading for membership in the UK PGA, Swedish PGA and Dutch PGA.

 
Tim Hewitt inducted into the ICG Hall of Fame (2014)
Hall of Fame

Tim was born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1957, and grew up loving sports of all types.

He studied Computer Engineering at Washington State University, and spent much of his professional career with Fairchild Semiconductor in South Portland, ME, and Penang, Malaysia.

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Ed Mitchell inducted into the ICG Hall of Fame (2014)
Hall of Fame

Ed Mitchell is a 45-year member of The PGA of America. He has served the last 28 as a member of the Southern Ohio PGA Section. He started his golf career as a caddy at The Country Club of Jackson, Michigan. Ed turned pro April 1962 and served the membership at CCJ as an assistant golf professional until 1970. He was elected to PGA membership in May 1967 and is currently a Class A-19 member.

Ed's 20 plus year career as head golf professional includes service at Clio Country Club, Clio, Michigan and Shenandoah Golf & Country Club, West Bloomfield, Michigan and as Director of Golf at Sabal Palms Golf Club and Bonaventure Country Club, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

He has served the PGA as a business school instructor; PGA Junior Golf Academy instructor; officer of the South Florida PGA section; President of the Southern Chapter of the South Florida PGA Section and served on the rules committee at the 1972 PGA Championship and the 41st PGA Senior Championship. Ed is a certified PGA-USGA Rules expert.

Ed serves on the PGA National Education Committee since 2009 and assisted the National PGA Education Department with writing the new PGA/PGM Apprentice Program on Instruction/Club Performance. He conducts seminars for U.S. and Canada PGA national and sectional education programs. January 2011 Ed presented at the U.S. PGA Teaching & Coaching Summit attended by over 500 golf professionals.

The Southern Ohio PGA Section honored Ed as the 2009 Horton Smith Award winner for his contributions to continuing education for fellow PGA members. In 1979 the South Florida PGA Section Southern Chapter recognized Ed as "Golf Professional of the Year". In1980 the South Florida PGA Section honored him as "Resort Merchandiser of the Year".
In 1988 Ed started Mitchell® Golf Equipment Company, which is known as the worldwide leader for professional grade club repair tools. Ed owns 5 patents for machine designs and manufactures club repair equipment under the registered names of STEELCLUB®, TourGAUGE®, and DigiFlex™.

In 1999 Ed started Mitchell Golf Equipment Institute to offer training schools in club repair and performance fitting for industry professionals. Hundreds of students from around the world have been certified as club repair technicians and club fitters. Ed continues to conduct seminars on how to incorporate club performance into lesson programs and how to set up and operate a club repair shop for industry professionals. Seminars are conducted for PGA Sections and at the PGA Merchandise Show and the PGA Fall Ex
po. Ed conducted a seminar for the Ontario PGA and was a Keynote speaker at their 2010 fall meeting.

 
Jeff Summitt inducted into the ICG Hall of Fame (2014)
Hall of Fame

 Jeff Summitt has been the Technical Director for Hireko Golf since 2006, and acted in the same capacity for Dynacraft Golf working in all facets of clubmaking and repair since 1984. Jeff’s journey to where he is now came by happenstance and more importantly an extreme desire to learn. He started working for a small custom club manufacturer called Pal Joey Golf. Those clubs were produced on an assembly line. His first job was wiping down ferrules with acetone and installing shaft labels so they would look seamless. As time went on he was trained to conduct other parts of the assembly.

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