Golf News: - Posted 18th December 1997

Taylor to succeed Bell as USGA president

Farr Hills, N.J. - F. Morgan Taylor Jr., who joined the executive committee of the USGA in 1986 and has served as its vice president for the past three years, will follow Judy Bell as president of the organization.

Bell, the first woman to serve as head of the 102-year-old organization, served two one-year terms.

The formal election of officers and the full 16-member Executive Committee will take place January 24 at the USGA's Annual Meeting in Tucson, Ariz. The USGA announced the nominations Wednesday.

A 1953 graduate of Princeton University, Taylor, 66, is chairman of Aqua Vac Systems, Inc., in West Palm Beach, Fla., a manufacturer of commercial and residential swimming pool cleaning machines.

The other officers nominated for one-year terms are: Dr. Trey Holland of Indianapolis, Ind., and Reed K. Mackenzie of Chaska, Minn., as vice presidents;

Peter W. James of Pacific Palisades, Calif., as secretary, and Fred S. Ridley of Tampa, Fla., as treasurer.

Nine others were renominated to the Executive Committee and two were nominated for a first term. Returning members include: O. Gordon Brewer Jr. of Huntingdon Valley, Pa.; Paul D. Caruso Jr. of Helena, Mont.; C. McDonald England III of Huntington, W.Va.; Eric Gleacher of New York, N.Y.; Merton B. Goode of San Francisco, Calif.; Frederick C. Hickle of Tucson, Ariz.; S. Timothy Kilty of Bay Village, Ohio; Leroy Richie of Detroit, Mich., and Carol Semple Thompson of Sewickley, Pa.

New members nominated are John D. O'Neill of North Palm Beach, Fla., and H. Winfield Padgett Jr. of Dallas, Texas. Walter W. Driver Jr. of Atlanta, Ga., has been re-elected to a second one-year term as general counsel to the Executive Committee.

Those retiring from the Executive Committee are Bell of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Richard Stroud of Santa Clara, Calif.

The USGA is golf's governing body in this country and shares the responsibility for writing and interpreting the Rules of Golf for the world with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland.

The USGA conducts 13 national championships each year, including the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open, and U.S. Senior Open and 10 events strictly for amateurs.