Inductees

Thumb through the faded and tattered press clippings from the 1960s and on, and it will leave almost anyone in awe of Joyce Mahoney.

One carries a headline that screams “Mahoney makes final in state golf tourney” in what was her first Missouri Women’s Amateur. There’s another of Mahoney smiling, surrounded by news text in courier font. It’s from 1972 and previews the Women’s Tri-State Golf Association’s tournament.

And here’s the kicker – she was 30 before she truly shifted her focus to golf.

Yet Mahoney emerged as one of Springfield’s most successful golfers and became a financial and vocal advocate for women’s sports. It’s why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Mahoney with the Class of 2019.

Known for her short game, she was a 1975 finalist and 1978 runner-up in the Missouri State Amateur. She also was a five-time winner (1980-1984) of the Missouri State Senior Championship. Mahoney also placed third in the National Senior Olympics in 1988 and won the Doral National Scramble Championship in 1999.

Additionally, she was an 18-time winner of the Springfield Area Women’s Golf Association Championships, with her first victory in 1979 and her last in 2001 at age 71. Mahoney also won the Hickory Hills Club Championship 10 times and, in 2002, was a founding inductee of the Ozarks Golf Hall of Fame.

All of which arguably pales in comparison toward her support – financially and with her time – of girls golf in the Springfield area.

Understand, Mahoney grew up during the Great Depression in Omaha, Nebraska, her only toy a wagon that she and brother rode down cornfields. The local two-room schoolhouse contained eight grades. Sports for women? Unheard of back then.

During World War II, she was the neighborhood babysitter as women worked in factories.

“I missed out on all those good years of playing in college, because they didn’t have athletics when I was in college,” Mahoney once said. “I don’t want young girls today to miss out on the benefits of playing sports, exercising and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.”

Mahoney was a founding member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association-United States Golf Association (LPGA-USGA) Girls Golf Program, which promoted junior girls golf opportunities.

For 16 years, she financially contributed to the Heart of the Ozarks Junior Golf Foundation as well as for junior golf clubs for beginner girls, buying 250 sets. Hundreds of girls have been able to play because of her.

Even in May 2018, she was at Springfield’s Rivercut Golf Course offering instruction. Plus, she has supported scholarships, artificial turf for the Betty Allison Junior Course, and clothes, shoes and balls for juniors in need. Mahoney also has championed equality at the collegiate level.

“Joyce is a true legend,” said Rick Grayson (MSHOF 2018), a 34-year PGA teaching pro. “All people have problems and tough times, but a legend sees them as opportunities to better themselves and make them stronger. This is Joyce Mahoney. She has been on a mission to improve opportunities for women her whole life.”

Among those positively influenced by Mahoney was Leslie Peck, who remembers Mahoney as “an intimidating figure on the first tee.”

“But as a 17-year-old, I still recall the way she encouraged me to be the best I could be, to play golf the ‘right way,’” Peck wrote. “She has done more than her part to grow the game. As a teacher and financial supporter of junior golf, she has positively influenced more lives than we can imagine.”

A 1947 graduate of Central High School in Omaha, Mahoney arrived in the Ozarks in 1969, years after attending Bennington College in Vermont and then Michigan State University. Just before moving to Springfield from Michigan, she won the Spring Lake Club championship in 1968.

Eventually, she won the Highland Springs Country Club Championship in 1990 when the course was in its opening season after being built by John Q. Hammons, the founder of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. In 1996, she won the Tri-State Championship.

Mahoney also contributed to “Footprints in the Fairway,” a documentary about Ozarks golf history.

“I didn’t really set out to accomplish too much in golf,” Mahoney was once quoted as saying. “Most of my time was spent raising (three boys), but I loved golf. Some of the girls said, ‘Why don’t you enter a tournament?’ I entered a few of them and thought, ‘Hey, this is great.’”

Mahoney became great for the game.