White joining golf’s royalty> Maine Hall inducting 17

Martha Page White will join 15 men and another woman among the first class of inductees in the Maine Golf Hall of Fame Wednesday night at the Poland Spring Country Club.

White, a native of Auburn and now a resident of Hampden, has been a leading player among Maine women since she made her debut in the Maine state women’s championship in 1957 at age 15.

She lost in the finals that year but won the next year, and she has amassed a total of 12 state and New England titles. Her titles have covered five decades and include a Women’s Maine State Golf Association title in 1992 at age 50.

Wednesday’s 7 p.m. induction dinner will highlight the 100th anniversary of the country’s oldest resort golf course. The state’s Golf Hall of Fame is actually located at the Sable Oaks Country Club in South Portland.

White started her golf career at Martindale Country Club in Auburn. She earned national attention in 1959 with her sister Pennie by competing in the USGA National Juniors tournament.

White teaches at Dexter High School and coaches golf at Hampden Academy.

White is one of three inductees still living. The other two are Dr. Ray Lebel of Falmouth and Jim Browning of Wayland, Mass.

The other inductees are: Charlie Emery of Hampden, Helen Payson Corson of Portland, George Herbert Walker of Kennebunkport, Shirley Liscomb of Bar Harbor, Charles “Pop” Erswell of Brunswick, Frank Gilman of Augusta, Willie Wilson of York, Arthur Fenn of Poland Spring, Alex Chisholm of Portland, Ernest Newnham of Falmouth, James Jones of Cape Elizabeth, and Clayton Sweeney, Sam Tirabassi, and Dr. Charles Sills, all of Portland.

Emery was the longtime and well-liked pro at Penobscot Valley Country Club in Orono.

He started his golf career as a 12-year-old caddie in 1920. He became a club pro at Meadowbrook Club in Bangor in 1930. After Meadowbrook folded, he took the top post at PVCC. He retired in 1972, but continued to participate in Maine golf activities until his death in 1982.

Browning is a Brewer native who won the first of his four Maine Open championships in 1938. He has won the open crown in each of the New England states.

Browning also reached the final 16 twice, in 1953 and ’54, in the PGA Championship when it was a match play event.

Browning started his pro career at Lucerne and moved to Norway Country Club and Brunswick Golf Club before settling at the Weston (Mass.) Country Club in 1951 until his retirement in 1989. His son Joe has also been a Maine Open champ.

Lebel made his mark on the amateur side and currently holds the national record with 47 club championships, including a victory over his son Mark this year for his 32nd Portland Country Club championship.

He has also won six Maine amateur titles, 12 Maine senior titles and three New England senior titles.

Pop Erswell is credited with inventing the golf cart in 1917 and used a croquet mallet-style putter. He also occasionally put his pool talents to use by lying down on the green and stroking the ball as with a cue until the USGA forbid it.

Erswell, known as “The Father of Maine Golf,” helped start a group in 1903 which became the Maine State Golf Association and started the Maine Seniors in 1930.