Around the Green

Sis Singletary Honored with Volunteerism Award

Sis Singletary Honored with Volunteerism Award
 
The Texas Golf Association bestowed the Bob Wells Distinguished Service Award to Sis Singletary of Houston at an award ceremony on Feb. 8, during the Association’s Annual Meeting at the Westin Stonebriar & Golf Club in Frisco.
 
A passion for volunteerism and the game of golf are a trademark of the Singletary household. Her husband Loren is a past TGA President and current Director, as well as a former member of the USGA Executive Committee. 
 
“Receiving the Bob Wells Distinguished Service Award was a real honor and shock,” Sis Singletary said. “I almost didn’t attend the Annual Meeting this year. I had to be convinced to go by Loren to ‘Show my support for Stacy Dennis, the TGA’s newly appointed Executive Director.’ Little did I know he was in on the surprise.”
 
First presented in 2005, the Bob Wells Distinguished Service Award is the TGA’s highest honor for volunteerism and recognizes an individual’s meritorious service to the game. The award is named after the late Bob Wells, who served as TGA president from 1980-87.
 
“Sis was the President of the WTGA when I won the Women’s Texas Amateur in 2004,” said Stacy Dennis, the TGA’s Executive Director. “It was the first time I actually got to meet Sis, but I already knew about her because she just did everything. From course ratings to working long days at WTGA and USGA events to raising funds for the Houston Women’s Golf Charities, Sis was just everywhere and I was in awe of her. Now that I’ve gotten to serve with her on various committees over the years, I am even more in awe of the contributions she’s made to golf in Texas. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this great honor.”
 
A longtime member at Houston Country Club, where she is a 10-time club champion, Singletary in 2019 is commemorating her 21st year of volunteerism with the TGA and Women’s Texas Golf Association, which merged with the TGA in 2014 to form a unified governing body for every golfer in Texas.
 
In her wide-ranging volunteer roles, Singletary been a driving force in helping the TGA evolve into one of the USGA’s most influential Allied Golf Associations (AGAs).
 
“I have watched the TGA grow from a one-man operation to what it is now, with a full-time staff that conducts tournaments all over the state,” Singletary said.  “It has been a privilege to be part of this growth for both the men and women.”
 
Singletary was elected to the WTGA Board of Directors in 1998 and helped conduct that year’s Women’s Texas Amateur Championship at The Hills Country Club in Austin. From that point forward, there’s scarcely any volunteer assignment Singletary hasn’t taken on in an effort to enhance the game for the entire Texas golf community.
 
“Golf had already given me much pleasure as a player,” Singletary said. “I felt it a great honor when I was asked to become a part of the WTGA Board of Directors. Volunteering is important to me and why not volunteer for something I so enjoy?”
 
Singletary would later go to serve as President of the WTGA in 2004. She currently is a member of the Women’s TGA Committee and a TGA honorary director.
 
During her first year as a board member, Singletary proposed the WTGA begin utilizing a newly created USGA computer program, Tournament Paring Program (TPP), which would greatly simplify and enhance tournament administration.
 
“She was instrumental in the WTGA adopting TPP when the program was in its infancy,” said Susan Knox , a fellow board member who would also go on to serve as WTGA President in 2007. “Sis took it upon herself to learn TPP, write a comprehensive step-by-step user’s manual and then patiently teach the rest of us how to use the program.”
 
Singletary’s contributions to Texas golf haven’t just been confined to the boardroom, though. Over the past two decades, she has been one of the TGA’s most active and prolific Course Raters. She has kept a detailed record of each course she has rated through the years and the current count stands at 275, with many more on the docket. Singletary also played a crucial role in merging the Women’s and Men’s Course Rating Teams, which led to more courses being rated each year and on the same timeline using shared information.
 
On a national level, Singletary has served many functions to help conduct USGA championships and USGA championship qualifiers. She is a former member of the USGA Regional Affairs Committee and a current member of the USGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Committee. 
 
Singletary has remained heavily involved in golf for so long because she has enjoyed helping grow the game in Texas, seeing great golf courses and meeting great people. 
 
“I have met the most wonderful people that I would otherwise never have encountered if not for golf and the TGA,” said Singletary. “My life has definitely been shaped for the better by being a volunteer for the TGA. It is the people and the enduring friendships that I cherish, more than the game itself.”