On Thursday, December 14, Tennye Ohr was inducted into the Kentucky Golf Hall of Fame.   

Ohr, a native of Estill County, has made a career of playing and teaching golf.  One of her first big successes came when she won the individual KHSAA girls state championship in 1976, representing the Estill County High School.  The golf team at the high school was runner-up that year.  

In fact, before the Irvine and Estill County high schools merged, she qualified for the state tournament while playing on the boys team as a seventh grader.  

After high school, Ohr played for the University of Kentucky for four years, then she went on to play on mini-tours as an amateur.  She competed in a Mexican amateur tournament, and she lived in Washington, D.C. for six years where she continued to play and teach.  

Ohr said when it began to look like she was not going to make the women’s professional tour, she began to focus more on the “club side” of professional golf.  

She helped run tournaments and taught at Man O’ War Golf in Lexington for many years.

Ohr would go on to compete in four U.S. Women’s Open tournaments, three as an amateur, and one as a professional, and she was named the KPGA Teacher of the Year in 1996. She also took the lead in the creation of the Kentucky Women’s Open tournament.  

Ohr is currently the head coach of the Madison Central’s girls golf team, where she led the Madison Central Girls Golf Team to a state title last fall.

Professional golfer Nancy Lopez praised Ohr during a video tribute presented at Ohr’s recent induction. 

Ohr said she first met professional golfer Nancy Lopez when they were 15 or 16 years old at a junior tournament. 

Lopez said Ohr has consistently displayed a positive attitude during her long golf career. 

“I never saw her get mad,” said Lopez, who added that Ohr would “just chuckle” if she had a bad hit.  

 “She stands for all that’s good in the world,” said Lopez.