The following article was written by Wade Merry of the South Dakota Golf Association prior to Peggy Kirby's induction into the SDGA Hall of Fame in July of 2005.Peggy Kirby will become the 32nd person to enter the South Dakota Golf Association Hall of Fame. The induction will be July 16 at Minnehaha Country Club during ceremonies held in conjunction with the playing of the SDGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship.
The competitive fires that have driven Kirby burn as bright today as they did 35 years ago when she first arrived on the landscape to begin a career that has seen the Sioux Falls golfer carve out a resume as accomplished as any female who has ever played in South Dakota.
The mother of three children who celebrated her 50th birthday this past December, Kirby has won five SDGA Women’s Championships, a total matched by Yankton’s Indy Titterington and exceeded only by Mrs. E.R. Doering of Parkston, whose last of seven state titles came in 1948 when the women’s tournament was conducted at match play. However, since the Women’s Championship switched to medal play in the late 1960s, no one has won more SDGA titles than Kirby.
“I have been very blessed by the support from my parents (Ozzie and Jane Schock), who gave me the resources to play such a wonderful game,” said Kirby, who also has finished second on seven other occasions in the Women’s Stroke Play Championship. “They were always there supporting me, taking me to tournaments and believing in me. I got my competitive spirit from my dad, while Mom was always there for a shoulder to cry on. She took me all the country to compete and was always so positive with me.”
Kirby’s Hall of Fame career began at the age of 11, under the watchful eye of longtime Elmwood Golf Course professional Ev Comstock Sr. Kirby refined her game under the tutelage of former Minnehaha Country Club head professional Terry Crouch.
“I had the privilege of working with him for 30 years,” said Kirby, who owns more than 20 Minnehaha Country Club championships. “He believed in me, taught me the game and was there for me 24-7.”
Kirby first played in the Women’s Championship in 1970, qualifying for the Championship Flight as a 15-year-old. A summer later she began a three-year reign as state junior champion. Her first Women’s Stroke Play Championship came in 1973 as did the first of her 17 Sioux Falls City championships. That same year, Kirby was named Female Athlete of the Year by the South Dakota Sportswriters Association.
Kirby repeated as state champion in 1974 and 1975, capping a year that saw her help her Arizona State University teammates win a national championship. Her reign as state champion was halted temporarily in 1976, losing by a shot to Gretchen Idema of Sioux Falls, but Kirby reached the top again with her fourth win a year later.
Kirby’s bid for a fifth state title was put on hold in 1978 when she qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open in Indianapolis. Competing with the game’s best at the Country Club of Indianapolis, Kirby made the cut and finished the 72-hole event as the seventh-lowest amateur. She lists that among her career highlights.
Kirby turned professional in 1978, barely missing qualifying for the LPGA Tour. After regaining her amateur status and sitting out competitive golf for a couple summers after the birth of her first child, Paul, Kirby returned to the SDGA scene and won her fifth Women’s Stroke Play Championship in 1982. That win ended the bid by Watertown’s Becky Larson to win a fifth consecutive crown.
Kirby then “semi-retired” from competitive golf while she raised her family, though she did play enough the next decade to earn runner-up honors three times (1985, 1989-90) in the Women’s Stroke Play Championship and team with husband Kevin to win the Husband and Wife Championship in 1994.
“My biggest cheerleader has been Kevin, who has always been behind me 100 percent,” Kirby said. “My three children (Paul, Colin and Kristen) are also proud of their mom. I competed only infrequently for quite a few years to be with my kids, and I am so fortunate to have been able to do so. They all love the game of golf and have fun coming and following me as I compete. Whether they are caddying, or just cheering in the crowd, I can feel their support.”
In 1996, she qualified and reached match play in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur in Mission Hills, Calif., playing the same course where the LPGA hosts its first major tournament each season, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Kirby has represented South Dakota three times in the USGA Team Championships (1999, 2001, 2003) and teamed with
Patty Coddington of Sioux Falls to win the 2001 Two-Woman Championship. In 2003, she was named head coach of the Augustana women’s team, adding a new challenge and, in effect, bringing her game full circle.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to give back to the game, and coaching college athletes motivates me to keep learning and growing as a player,” she said.
She also intends to keep pursuing that elusive sixth state championship.
“I feel like I am a better player now at 50 than I was at 25,” Kirby said. “I have the strong desire to stay competitive for many years to come.”
BREAKOUT: PEGGY KIRBY FILEBORN: Dec. 28, 1954 to Ozzie and Jane Schock of Sioux Falls.
FAMILY: Husband, Kevin; children, Paul, Colin and Kristen.
SDGA CHAMPIONSHIPS: Women’s Stroke Play, 1973-75, 1977, 1982; Husband and Wife, 1994; Two-Woman, 2001 (with
Patty Coddington).
OTHER GOLFING ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Sioux Falls City Champion 17 times; member 1975 Arizona State University national championship team; qualified for match play at U.S. Women’s Amateur, 1976-77; qualified for 1978 U.S. Women’s Open, finishing as seventh-low amateur after 72 holes; state junior champion 1971-73; qualified for match play at U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, 1996; represented South Dakota three times in USGA Team Championships, 1999, 2001, 2003.
HONORS: South Dakota Sportswriters Association Female Athlete of the Year, 1973; SDGA Female Player of the Year, 1973-75, 1978, 1982, 2001; Inducted into O’Gorman High School Hall of Fame, 1999.
For a complete list of SDGA champions, visit our website at www.sdga.org
