Frank Fuhrer, III
Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame
Class of 2016
Frank Fuhrer, III competing at the 1981 Western Amateur - Photo courtesy of the Fuhrer Family
Inducted Wednesday, October 6, 2016 at Oakmont Country Club
Frank Fuhrer III won his first WPGA title at the WPGA Boys Championship in 1973, and went on to win six different WPGA championships and eleven total. In 1976, he won the West Penn Junior and also reached the quarter-finals in the U.S. Junior. He won the C.R. Miller Memorial Match Play Invitational in 1974, the West Penn Amateur in 1978 and 1979, the West Penn Open in 1986, the West Penn Mid-Am in 1993 and 1997. He and fellow 2016 inductee, John Birmingham, teamed up to win the West Penn Four-Ball and the West Penn Fred Brand Foursomes in 1977, and the team also won the Anderson Memorial Four-Ball at Winged Foot and the Eastern Four-Ball. He also won the Fred Brand in 1996. Fuhrer is the only player to win our regional grand slam in his career – the West Penn Amateur and Open, and the Pennsylvania Amateur (1977 and 1992) and the Pennsylvania Open (1986). A long-time member of Oakmont and the Pittsburgh Field Club, his amateur career was highlighted by the 1981 season when he was ranked as the country’s #2 amateur by Golf Digest. This season included winning the Western Amateur, the only area player to do so, and competing on the Walker Cup team. Fuhrer played professional golf for nearly a decade, including three seasons on the PGA Tour. He also reached the quarterfinals in the 1996 US Mid-Amateur. An All-ACC and All-American at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the Association’s award for the region’s outstanding collegiate player is named in his honor.
About the WPGA
Founded in 1899, the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association is the steward of amateur golf in the region. Started by five Member Clubs, the association now has nearly 200 Member Clubs and 37,000 members. The WPGA conducts 14 individual competitions and 10 team events, and administers the WPGA Scholarship Fund.