The inaugural class of Mississippi Golf Hall of Fame will be inducted by the Mississippi Golf Association, which is the governing body of amateur in Mississippi golf. It will take place at Country Club of Jackson on January 26th. In alphabetical order, the five first inductees are: James Ray Carpenter (Cissye Gallagher), Ken Lindsay, Mike Taylor, and Robbie Webb. Carpenter and Webb will both be inducted posthumously. The MGA’s Celebration of Golf Banquet will host the induction ceremony. This banquet recognizes the top players, champions of state tournaments, and the Robbie Webb Junior Golf Achievement Award winner. Here is a brief biography of each of the five first inductees: * James Ray Carpenter: He was a multi-sport athlete from Hattiesburg High. He played both basketball and baseball at Mississippi State and Southern Miss. Carpenter didn’t start playing golf seriously until he turned 33. He rose up the ranks to become President of the PGA of America in 1987 and 1988, and also chairman of the 1985 Ryder Cub. Carpenter, who was 92 years old, died in September. He was inducted into the Halls of Fame of the PGA Hattiesburg, Southern Miss and Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. * Cissye Galagher: Cissye is a Greenwood native who won tournaments with the Pillow Academy boys team and later played at LSU. She has won 12 Mississippi State Amateur Championships, a record. In 1986, she won her first State Am and in 2015, she won the tournament again. This spans a total of 29 years. In 2017, she won the State Senior Women’s Amateur and continues to compete at a national level. * Ken Lindsay: Lindsay, like Carpenter, rose to the presidency of PGA of America. He was Director of Golf at Colonial Country Club, Jackson, from 1994 to 1996. Lindsay was a great junior golfer from Alabama. He then played college golf in Memphis, winning only four of 44 matches. After college, Lindsay joined the U.S. Air Force and won the 1968 USAF global golf championship. He is a member of the Memphis Gadsden, PGA of America, and Mississippi sports halls of honors. * Mike Taylor: Taylor, a Meridian native, holds the record for winning ten Mississippi State Amateur championships. He also won four consecutively from 1972 to 1975. He was an All American college golfer at BYU, where he was paired with Johnny Miller. For a while, he played ahead of him. He won the Mississippi State Open three times, the Mississippi Mid-Amateur twice, and the Mississippi Senior Amateur one time. Inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, he was also a former president of MGA. * Robbie Webb, a Gulfport native who is a long-time resident of Canton, was a legendary figure in Mississippi golf circles. He was first a player, then he became a club professional and teacher to some of the state’s best junior golfers. Webb, the son of a professional golfer, won the state junior amateur championship when he was 14. Webb played college golf at Southern Miss. He won the 1968 State Open. He is best remembered for his achievements as a professional and player, but he is also remembered as a champion in junior golf. 26 of the junior golfers Webb taught earned college scholarships. Webb, 72, died in 2012 after a long battle with cancer. *** For more information about the Jan. 26 banquet, contact Margo Coleman or Emily Sullivan at 601 939-1131 or email either at missgolf@missgolf.org.