A $500,000 endowment in support of the College's golf program has been named in honor of Winifred Palmer, the late wife of golf legend Arnold Palmer. She appears here with her husband.

A $500,000 endowment in support of the College's golf program has been named in honor of Winifred Palmer, the late wife of golf legend Arnold Palmer. Mrs. Palmer died November 20, 1999, at her Latrobe, Pennsylvania, home. The endowment was established in January by Arnold Palmer Golf Management to support the Mount Holyoke golf team. Last fall, Mount Holyoke entered into a long-term lease with the management company for the operation of the Orchards. The management company recently completed improvements to the course and a renovation of the club house.

“We are pleased to name this endowment in honor of Winifred Palmer,” said Mary Jo Maydew, MHC's vice president for finance and administration. “Mrs. Palmer graduated from a Moravian seminary for girls and enrolled at Brown University's Pembroke College. Her link to women's education makes this a particularly appropriate tribute.”

MHC benefactor and board member Joseph Skinner commissioned the Orchards course for his daughter and selected renowned golf course designer Donald Ross to design it. The course was laid out in 1922, and in 1941, Skinner donated the eighteen-hole facility to the College. The Orchards remains one of New England's finest and best-preserved examples of Ross's timeless style.

As home course to one of the Northeast's top women's golf programs, the Orchards has played host to numerous collegiate tournaments, not to mention several United States amateur qualifying events. Golfweek magazine routinely ranks the Orchards among America's ten best college-owned layouts.

Arnold Palmer Golf Management was founded by Arnold Palmer in 1984 and acquires, leases, develops, and manages more than forty quality golf facilities worldwide, working with private individuals, corporations, municipalities, and developers. In addition to its core Arnold Palmer brand, Palmer Golf also owns the industry-leading Arnold Palmer Golf Academy brand of golf schools, the Tour eighteen replica course brand, and the University Clubs of America brand of collegiate golf clubs.