In 1971, during halftime of a game between Wake Forest and Miami, Arnold Palmer was inducted into his alma mater’s Sports Hall of Fame as the band spelled out A-R-N-I-E.

As part of the group of young men who helped to build Wake Forest’s golf program—now one of the most respected in the nation—it was a fitting tribute. Palmer arrived at Wake Forest in 1947 and quickly made his mark, beating top amateur Harvie Ward at the 1948 Southern Conference golf championships and then repeating the win in 1949. After a three-year stint in the Coast Guard following the death of his good friend Bud Worsham, Palmer briefly returned to Wake Forest and won the inaugural ACC Championship in 1954. That same year he won the U.S. Amateur and the rest, as they say, is history.

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