May 7, 2009

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford graduate and former golf coach Ian Thompson will be inducted into the Birmingham Golf Association's Hall of Fame Thursday evening in a ceremony at the Riverchase Country Club.

Thompson joins Martha Lang and Bob Wise in the Class of 2009 for the BGA's Hall of Fame, which now has 56 members. The association will host a golf tournament Thursday morning and a banquet that evening to celebrate the inductions.

Thompson, a native of Wimborne, England, has worked for the past 15 years as editor of GolfSouth Magazine, and he has written a bi-weekly golf column for The Birmingham News for the past 14 years. He is just the second journalist to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, as former Birmingham Post-Herald sports editor Bob Phillips was inducted in 1966.

In addition to his work with GolfSouth and The Birmingham News, Thompson has freelanced for national golf publications and he wrote a book chronicling the history of well-known local golf course Shoal Creek.

Ian Thompson was named to the Birmingham Golf Association's Hall of Fame.

Thompson moved to the United States from England at the age of 20 to attend Samford on a golf scholarship, and has lived in Birmingham ever since. Thompson graduated from Samford in 1993 with a degree in journalism and mass communication, specializing in print journalism. Thompson was a member of the Samford golf team from 1989 to 1993.

Thompson returned to his alma mater in 1999 to work with the golf teams. He spent the next eight seasons on the Samford coaching staff, including being the head coach of the women's team from 2002 to 2007.

"I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Samford," Thompson said. "I still follow the team and it is something I take a lot of pride in."

Thompson said he wanted to thank, among many others, Bill Crawford, the owner and publisher of GolfSouth Magazine, Tom Arenberg, the sports editor of The Birmingham News and Bob Roller, director of athletics at Samford. Thompson said he was grateful to all three men for giving him opportunities throughout his career.