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When she was nine, her Uncle Will bought her, her
first set of golf clubs. She took lessons from
Walter Cosgrove for many years and according to Ginny,
he was a marvelous teacher. All through school,
Ginny continued her golf lessons with Walter
Cosgrove, playing and perfecting her game. Ginny
likes to point out that one of his students, Paul
Harney, became a pro with the PGA winning many
tournaments throughout his career and was named the
PGA Player of the Year in 1974.
Throughout high school
Ginny was involved in a variety of athletics
activities. She became the captain of her
school’s all girl field hockey team. She
also was an equestrian and became involved
in many horse shows. She even became the
ring master for some of the horse shows and
as an accomplished bugle player, was often
asked to play the bugle at the events.
Like many of the
neighborhood kids, Ginny loved to ice skate.
One winter day while she was skating with a
group of her friends including her boyfriend
Chip, an older boy suddenly knocked her
girlfriend down and snatched her hat. Ginny
immediately came to her friend’s defense and
with one swift blow proceeded to knock the
bully out cold. Witnessing the action, Chip
decided right then and there that fighting
was not an appropriate behavior for a lady
and promptly broke up with her.
When Ginny was 15, she
recalls mentoring a young girl by the name
of Patty Berg who was three years younger
than herself. They played a lot of golf
together, competing in many junior
tournaments. While Patty became a pretty
darn good putter, Ginny struggled. So she
took a new approach and held the putter
croquet style just as Sammy Snead did for
many years. This worked and Ginny’s game
improved dramatically. However, nine years
later, this putting form was disqualified by
the PGA and so Ginny had to revert back to
the more standard putting style.
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Patty Berg |
Ginny
remembers that Patty Berg’s parents
were very involved in promoting
their daughter’s golfing career.
Their involvement paid off
handsomely as Patty became one of
the most successful women in golf
history. She enjoyed 57 career wins,
including 15 majors; and became a
3-time winner of the AP Female
Athlete of Year (1938, 1943 and
1955). Patty Berg was the founder of
the LPGA in 1948 and the LPGA
honored her by establishing the
Patty Berg Award in 1978. This
annual award is given to the lady
golfer who has made the greatest
contribution to women's golf during
the year.
Growing up, Ginny also learned to
play the bugle and the trumpet. On |
| Sundays, her family
would gather around the piano at
home. Her aunt would play the piano,
her father would sing and she would
play the bugle. She also played her
trumpet on Sunday mornings in the
steeple of her church. She recalls
that she just about froze to death
many a winter
day, high up in the steeple
playing tunes for everyone to hear
as she called the town to worship. |
After graduating from
high school, Ginny attended Sergeant’s
College, which later became part of the
Boston University system. She graduated with
a degree in Physical Education. While she
was attending Sergeant’s, her former
boyfriend, Chip, the same young man who left
her after she decked the bully on the ice
skating rink in the eighth grade, was also
attending nearby Williams College. One day
she ran into Chip, and asked him if he would
like to play bridge with her and some
friends. He did and soon this estranged
couple once again became inseparable.
It wasn’t long before Chip and Ginny wanted
to make their relationship permanent, but
Ginny’s father would not allow them to get
married until Chip was earning at least
$15.00 a month. After fudging the truth a
bit (Chip was only earning $12.50 a month)
they were promptly married.
Chip joined the service soon after they were
married and Ginny moved back home to live
with her father. Her father began teaching
his wholesale paper business to her and soon
she was on the road as a traveling
saleswoman, which was somewhat of an oddity
for that time period. It wasn’t long before
Ginny knew she was not cut-out for sales.
When Chip came home from serving in WWII;
she was relieved she could turn over the
selling to him.
As Ginny and Chip
raised their family of three, Ginny
continued to pursue her love of golf as an
amateur. Then one day, as a result of giving
golf lessons to several students in the high
school where she was teaching, she found
that she would no longer be able to play
with amateur status. The LPGA claimed she
was earning money teaching which was not
allowed to be qualified as an amateur. She
was therefore forbidden to compete as an
amateur for two years.
However, around that same time period, a
fellow golfer and teacher, Ginny Brayton was
also penalized in the same way, for
teaching. But unlike Ginny, Ms. Brayton,
appealed, stating that as a high school
teacher she was being paid as a teacher and
not benefiting separately by teaching golf.
Ginny Brayton’s removal from amateur status
was short lived; however, Ginny Fay failing
to appeal had to endure the full two year
penalty. Because of these cases, the rules
concerning amateur status were subsequently
changed.
Ginny was one of the
early charter members of the LPGA and became
a teaching professional, playing and
teaching golf as often as she could.
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Ginny Fay |
As a golf instructor, Ginny Fay has been
very successful over the years, teaching
hundreds upon hundreds of people the game of
golf. Early in her teaching career, two of
her young students were a brother and sister
from Connecticut who both went on to win
National Championships. She has conducted
golfing clinics with as many as 60 students
in attendance. Through the years, Ginny has
specialized in teaching people with physical
disabilities such as students with missing
limbs or their eyesight. She has taught many
people to play from specially designed
wheelchairs. Ginny recognizes that it takes
perseverance, courage and a special
determination for all of her disabled
students to learn the game of golf. |
Around 1979, Ginny and Chip moved to Florida
to be close to their many friends who had
made Florida their retirement home. Ginny
continued to teach golf in De Soto and
Charlotte Counties, finding Florida to be a
golfer’s heaven. For many years, she taught
at the Sunnybreeze Golf course located on
Highway 17 in Arcadia. Her friend, Ginny
Brayton, winters here in Charlotte County
and these two golfing instructors would
often team up and teach golfing clinics
together.
One of Ginny’s students, Bill Hoppel went on
to become an instructor and a good friend of
hers. He teaches independently and can often
be found instructing his students at the
Longwood Driving Range in Port Charlotte.
Bill recently underwent double hip
replacement and once again is beginning to
play the game that he loves. Ginny has been
coaching Bill to get him back in the swing
of things.
Remembering her husband, Ginny admits that
although her husband of 56 years enjoyed
playing golf, he really was not a very good
player. This loving couple not only played
golf together, but they continued to play
bridge together, becoming Bridge Champions
here in Florida as they did in Worcester,
Massachusetts. They were members of Kingsway
Country Club where they could often be seen on the greens together. After Chip died
in 1997, Ginny eventually moved to Punta
Gorda where she now lives with her son Doug.
Ginny refers to golf as a “Simon Pure” game;
in other words, an honest game of true
individual sporting ability. She has seen
many changes in women’s golf over the years;
from the golfing outfits – skirts and
dresses to slacks and shorts, to the prizes
awarded from being just a trophy to many
thousands of dollars in award money.
Even though Ginny has
had a couple of strokes, she is still
crystal clear on the game of golf and is
still teaching. Lately, she has been
teaching at the Target Golf Center on Cooper
Street. Upon meeting this petite woman,
wizened from years on the golf course, her
firm handshake, her sparkling eyes and a
great sense of humor, lets you know she
still possesses that same spirit she had as
a young girl growing up in Worcester,
Massachusetts. 
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