Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1995
Arnold Palmer, Curtis Strange, Jay Haas - and Gary Hallberg. These are the four Demon Deacons who have captured the individual crown of the NCAA Championship. Hallberg earned his title in 1979 at the Wake Forest-hosted event at Bermuda Run while leading the Deacs to a third-place national team finish. While that was perhaps his single most outstanding accomplishment at Wake, it was by no means the only one.
After winning a state high school championship in his home state of Illinois, Hallberg joined the WFRU program in the fall of 1976. He won three tournaments as a freshman and earned a spot on the 1977 Walker cup team. Four more individual event titles came his way in 1978 and 1979 (two each year), along with back-to-back North -South Amateur Championships. As a senior in 1980, Hallberg added ACC medalist honors, thereby earning his fourth straight all-conference selection.
Hallber, who is also one of six former Deacon golfers to win the Arnold Palmer Award as the school's top male athlete (he received that honor in 1979), turned his attention to the professional tour after completing his career at Wake Forest. He made an immediate impact by being named the PGA's Rookie of the Year by Golf Digest magazine. In his second pro outing, he finished tied for third in the Quad Cities Open.
Overall, Hallberg has won three tour events including the 1983 Isuzu-Andy Williams San Diego Open, the 1987 Greater Milwaukee Open and the 1992 Buick Southern Open. He carded a pair of top-10 finishes in majors, finishing tied for sixth at 1984 PGA Championship and the 1985 Masters.
He was one of 12 Wake Forest golfers recognized on the ACC's 50th Anniversary men's golf team in 2002.
Hallberg was born May 31, 1958 in Berwyn, Ill. He resides in Castle Rock, Colo.
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