Spork to Receive Ellen Griffin Rolex Award

Daytona Beach, FL - Shirley Spork, one of the 12 LPGA founding members, is the recipient of the 1998 Ellen Griffith Rolex Award.  Spork was selected as a result of her life-long service to the LPGA and dedication to teaching the game of golf.

The Ellen Griffin Rolex Award, instituted by the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional (T&CP) Division in 1989 to honor the late Ellen Griffin, recognizes an individual, male or female, who has made a major contribution to the teaching of golf and who emulates Griffin's spirit, love and dedication to students, teachers, teaching skills and the game of golf.  Griffin, who passed away in 1986, was one of the best-known women's golf teaching professionals in American history.

"I'm quite thrilled," said Spork.  "I knew Ellen for forty-some years, developing the teaching division with her and then carrying on her work at the National Golf Foundation.  Those were difficult shoes to fill.  The fact that I knew Ellen on a personal level makes receiving this award that much more special."

Spork has seen the LPGA develop from a fledgling league and into the dynamic organization it is today.  She competed on Tour until 1969, balancing her duties as a player with those of chairman of the LPGA T&CP Division in 1959, and has been instrumental in the growth and professional stature of the division. Her many contributions to the teaching profession include the following: Education Director of the National Golf Foundation (NGF); advisor to the Women's Professional Golf Tour and California Women's Amateur Championship; first LPGA professional to conduct golf clinics in foreign countries; area consultant of the NGF; staff member and coordinator for NGF teaching and coaching seminars; and coordinator of the 1976 LPGA National Seminar.   Spork was also a technical advisor for the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women; a member of the American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation; and a member of the Cobra Advisory Staff.

Spork's contributions can only be outnumbered by her awards and honors.   She received Master Professional Status in 1978, was twice voted LPGA Teacher of the Year (1959,1985) and was awarded the Joe Graffis Award for her contribution and outstanding service to the educational advancement of golf.  In 1989, she was inducted into the Michigan Hall of Fame and was voted one of America's Outstanding Teachers of Golf by Golf Digest.  Most recently, Spork received the Byron Nelson Achievement Award in 1994.

A Detroit native, Spork is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University, where she majored in physical education and minored in English.  In 1995, her alma mater created the Eastern Michigan Women's Golf Scholarship in Spork's honor.