Shirley Spork Still Lighting A Spark At 92 

She carries a cane but is loath to use it, opting instead to hold it up as a pointer or swing it as she gives a tip or two, a makeshift club when a wedge or a 9-iron is not handy. At 92, Shirley Spork is one of only two remaining LPGA Founders. There were originally 13, three carloads of women who barnstormed the nation in 1950 with the hopes of eking out a living as the first band of female professional golfers. Spork remains as sharp as ever and still teaches at Tamarisk Country Club, which is located on Frank Sinatra Drive in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

“Frank came out quite a bit,” Spork said late last week in Florida. “He never came to me (for lessons) but he brought Grace Kelly out to get lessons from me when she was in the desert.

“(Princess Grace) was a lovely woman – great kids she had, too – and she really wanted to hit the ball. But she had a lot of other things going on.”

Shirley Spork during her professional days Photo: Courtesy of Golfcollege.edu

Spork can’t stop teaching. She tried to give me a lesson after spendi...