Dolly Hom had some news to share recently with Tom Morton and Mike Woods – who are with the ownership team at Morton Golf – the last time she was at the Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento.
Hom, who has had two back surgeries and two surgeries on her right knee, said: “I’m going to come back. I’m going to gradually come back. I still have my clubs.”
There is a lot of golf that Hom, 83, wants to play. She wants to see her long drives continue to hit fairways. She wants to play with her grandchildren. She also wants to play with the Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club, which she has been involved with for many years – serving as president, captain, board and committee member, and organizer.
“I tell the girls who I’m golfing with, I’ve had knee surgeries and back surgeries. I’m going to take my time,” said Hom, a retired junior high school physical education teacher. “Everybody helps out in making it fun to golf.”
The Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club, an 18-hole group that plays once a week throughout the year, was founded in 1952, making it one of the oldest home clubs in the City of Sacramento, as well as Sacramento County.
Thanks to the help of Ken Morton, Sr., the Chief Executive Officer for Morton Golf LLC and a PGA Master Professional, and Tom Morton, President of the Morton Golf Foundation and the PGA Director of Player Performance for Morton Golf, the Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club was able to attain charter club status in 2005.
“I connected with Ken Morton, Sr. back in 2000. We worked together,” said Hom, who was the club’s captain at the time.
With its charter, the Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club continues to play at Bing Maloney Golf Complex, the course where the group first started out in 1952. Bing Maloney, built in 1952, “was named in memory of John B. ‘Bing’ Maloney, former superintendent of the City of Sacramento’s Recreation Department. Maloney was instrumental in persuading the city to build the course,” according to the complex’s website, www.bingmaloney.com.
Bing Maloney is the home course for the Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club. The club is affiliated with the Pacific Women’s Golf Association and its members play in PWGA tournaments and events.
“We welcome new and experienced golfers. Our club promotes recreation and camaraderie for its members. Guests are welcome anytime,” the club states on the Bing Maloney website, www.bingmaloney.com.
Dee Schwindt is the club’s president and co-captain. Junea Yee is co-captain. Holly Fong Korach is membership chair.
The Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club, which has 40 members and is open to men, women and juniors, also plays at the Alister MacKenzie Golf Course at Haggin Oaks and Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course.
“We were chartered,” said Hom, who has been with the club since 2000. “I have a charter from Tom Morton, who was the general manager at Bing Maloney. He wrote a very nice charter for us.”
Ken Morton Sr., the CEO of Morton Golf Management Companies, was inducted into the National PGA Hall of Fame in 2005 and was named as the National PGA Professional of the Year in 1998. He has been honored with the National PGA Horton Smith Award for PGA Education and by the California Golf Writers with the Golf Person of the Year Award. He has also been the recipient of Golf Digest Magazine’s Top 72 Most Important People in the Golf Industry.
“The relationship I have with Ken is very close,” said Hom.
Tom Morton, a PGA member who is the Vice President of Player Development for Morton Golf, worked as PGA General Manager at Bing Maloney from 2001-2005 and has been a board member with First Tee – Greater Sacramento since 2004.
The Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club also had the support of Ann Weaver, the Sacramento City Golf Manager and Capital City Golf manager for more than 10 years. Weaver was inducted into the Sacramento Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.
“I got to know Ann Weaver. She got to know me,” said Hom. “Ken got to know me. They knew that I was trying to get the Sacramento Chinese Women to become a charter. And finally, we did. After five years of going around in circles, we were able to get chartered. We were very happy.
“We’re a very unique golf club. We alternate at all three city courses each month, throughout the year. That’s Bing Maloney, Bartley Cavanaugh, and MacKenzie.”
The club’s charter is through the city’s golf courses. The Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club has bylaws, a board of directors and club officers.
“You have got to be diverse,” said Hom. “Some of the original charter members are still alive. They’re in their late 90s. Some of them are still golfing. We have golfers who have health problems, but they’re still retaining a social membership.”
The Sacramento Chinese Golf Club was formed in 1952, at the time Bing Maloney opened. Many in the group were married couples, said Hom.
“In 1989, the women wanted to form their own group. They wanted to be called the Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club,” said Hom. “They had a hard time becoming a charter club in the Sacramento golf area. I’m there from 2000, listening to the older women who were denied a charter.
“They’re now recognized as a club. We’re well known in the PWGA circles.”
Members of the Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club travel to different tournaments during the year, to Southern California, Arizona, Oregon, Hawaii, Washington and Canada.
“Our goal is to have fun golfing together. We enjoy playing with each other. And then afterwards, we go to lunch together,” said Hom, who was the club’s captain for 10-plus years. “Right now, we have a lot of young golfers joining our club.
“I keep asking some of the new members: ‘What is it about our club that you like?’ They say, ‘Your members are so friendly and very helpful. And we like your program.’ So many women are switching over to us because they like playing with us, and on our three courses. This is why our club is well known in the PWGA. Word gets around that, hey, this is not a bad club to join.”
Placing in Pacific Women’s Golf Association events
Members of the Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club have placed in Pacific Women’s Golf Association events during 2020.
The PWGA was formed in 1947, an organization whose original members were those from women’s clubs at Alameda, Harding Park, Lincoln Park, the Presidio and Tilden Park, according to the Northern California Golf Association at ncga.org.
“The main goals of the new association were to aid and gain recognition for Northern California women golfers in the public sector,” the website said. “Since then PWGA grew to a membership of over 7,000 women and 190 member clubs. The organization was incorporated in 1984 as the Pacific Women’s Golf Association, Inc. For 72 years, PWGA served women golfers in Northern California with a full schedule of major tournaments, regional play days, golf education, course rating, and handicapping services. PWGA also supported a number of important benevolent projects, including grants to high school girls’ golf teams and a program to introduce military veterans to the game of golf.
The NCGA said: “In 2019, the memberships of PWGA and WGANC (Women’s Golf Association of Northern California) voted to dissolve as separate women’s associations, and to unify with the Northern California Golf Association effective January 1, 2020. NCGA has created a new Women’s Golf Committee comprising representative from each of the three associations.” Hong Yee and Tina Tseng of the Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club placed 11th in the low gross division of the Legacy PWGA Spring Partners in July at Lincoln Hills Golf Course.
Tseng was 18th, Yee was 27th and Yin-Ping Li was 49th at the Legacy PWGA Open in August at Whitney Oaks Golf Club in Rocklin.
The Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club team of Hong Yee, Betty Kearney, Tina Tseng and Yin-Ping Li finished 11th in team play finals at the PWGA Legacy Tournament at Hiddenbrooke Golf Club and Blue Rock Springs Golf Club in Vallejo in October.
Information about Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club
For more information about the Sacramento Chinese Women’s Golf Club, contact Dee Schwindt at (916) 704-0718, Junea Yee at (916) 422-0379, or Holly Fong Korach at (916) 296-4505.
Marty James is a freelance writer who makes his home in Napa. He retired on June 4, 2019, after spending 40 years as a sports writer, sports editor and executive sports editor for the Napa Valley Register, a daily newspaper in Napa County. He is a 1979 graduate of Sacramento State and a member of the California Golf Writers & Broadcasters Association. He was inducted into the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Hall of Fame in 2016.
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