Debbie Williams-Hoak was honored as recipient of the 2018 Sandy LaBauve Spirit Award, the most coveted award bestowed by LPGA*USGA Girls Golf. Williams-Hoak also earned the 2017 Michigan High School Girls Golf Coach of the Year (Saline HS) and will be inducted into the 2018 Michigan Golf Hall of Fame.
Williams-Hoak was an all-American student athlete at Michigan for basketball and track before taking up golf at the age of 31 in 1991, and a stint playing on the LPGA Tour followed. Prior to that experience she qualified for three U.S. Olympic Track & Field Finals as a javelin thrower.
Williams-Hoak, an LPGA Class A Teaching & Club Professional, is director of the Brookside Golf Academy in Saline.
“When I was asked years ago to become part of the Michigan Women’s Golf Association LPGA*USGA Girls Golf Program and drive an hour into Detroit to work with young girls, I am so glad that I said ‘yes’. I loved it so much that I had to start a program close to home and it has become the most rewarding and fun activity that I do as a member of the LPGA Teaching Division,” she said. “I learn so much from these girls and have so much excitement for their futures because of how special they are.”
The award honors an individual who has gone above and beyond to inspire the lives of juniors through their passion and dedication to empowering girls through golf.
