More than 300 gathered at the Hill at TPC Summerlin to honor the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2022 and a special Lifetime Inductee Award honoree, Brady Exber. The Class of 2022 was Jeremy Anderson, Bob Coffin, Dale Hahn, Dave Johnson and Ann Sunstrum.
The event kicked off the Shriners Children’s Open PGA Tour event.
Lifetime Inductee Award
Brady Exber was inducted into the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame at the age of 50 after collecting nine Southern Nevada Golf Association player of the year awards.
Little did we know he was just getting started. Since that 2006 ceremony, Exber and the Hall of Fame have reached new heights.
Post induction, Exber has won dozens of tournaments highlighted by the 2014 British Senior Amateur and the 2018 Canadian Senior Amateur. He also earned the Golfweek player of the year honor in 2014 and was also inducted into the Senior Golf National Hall of Fame in 2017. In addition, from 1991-2019, Exber won at least one amateur event per year.
Off the course, Exber served as president of the Southern Nevada Golf Association and Nevada State Golf Association.
In a surprise announcement, Southern Nevada Golf Association president Kenny Ebalo declared that moving forward the Championship division golfer of the year award would be named the Brady Exber Award.
Class of 2022
Jeremy Anderson was a 3-time All-American on the course and a 3-time all-american in the classroom during his UNLV career. He was also a key member of the 1998 NCAA title-winning team.
At UNLV, Anderson won five tournaments, tied for third most in school history, and was named conference player of the year twice.
Anderson also played on the PGA Tour in the early 2000s prior to injuries curtailing his professional career.
Anderson has made his home in Las Vegas since graduating from UNLV and serves on many charitable boards. He also was president of the UNLV Rebel Golf Foundation.
Golf and Bob Coffin have been intertwined since he started taking golf lessons from future Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame inductee John Difloure in 1959 at age 13. Coffin was a top high school player and went on to win the 1970 Nevada State Amateur and appear in the U.S. Amateur.
He then captained the UNLV golf team prior to serving on the board of directors and as president of the Nevada State Golf Association, where he helped create junior golf tournaments and organize the Nevada Open. In addition, he was the Las Vegas Review-Journal golf columnist from 1979-1981.
He transitioned to politics and served as a Nevada state senator and Las Vegas city councilman, all the while supporting the Southern Nevada and Nevada golf industry due to the game’s major impact on the economy.
For Dale Hahn, TPC Summerlin superintendent, a team must mesh together for maximum success. Hahn has been guiding his course maintenance team for two decades at the home of the PGA Tour’s Shriners Children’s Open in Las Vegas, overseeing course renovations and preparing the layout for the world’s best players.
Hahn first started in the industry in his native Southern California before moving to Las Vegas. His best work is done behind the scenes, but he also steps out from his on-the-course role to help lead First Green, a program that engages area youth in the golf course industry.
He is also a past president of the Southern Nevada Golf Course Superintendents Association and also active in the national association.
In the 1960s, the legendary Del Webb sponsored Dave Johnson in his effort to qualify for the PGA Tour. That goal wasn’t realized, but the journey laid the foundation for a Hall of Fame career.
As Desert Inn director of golf from 1976-2000, Johnson helped oversee LPGA Tour, PGA Tour, and Senior PGA Tour events, sometimes all three in the same year. He met and/or played golf with presidents, Tour players including Arnold Palmer, and some of the world’s top celebrities such as Bob Hope.
In addition, Johnson was a relentless supporter of UNLV golf, helping establish the program that won the 1998 NCAA championship and served on the search committee that hired hall of fame coach Dwaine Knight. Johnson was also a huge junior golf proponent.
The journey of Southern Nevada Golf Association executive director Ann Sunstrum into the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame is unlike most inductees, and undoubtedly a surprise, even to her. Even as a non-golfer, Sunstrum has as much passion for the game as anyone.
Sunstrum, who got her start in golf by working for Las Vegas’ PGA Tour event, the Las Vegas Invitational, has made a positive impact on Southern Nevada golf over the last four decades.
She was a key visionary in the evolution of Mesquite, Nevada, into a top golf destination, and then led the Southern Nevada Golf Association to new levels of success.
She also is a dedicated volunteer with a passion for junior golf and other causes.
The mission of the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame is to celebrate and bring awareness to players, administrators, benefactors, groups, instructors, teams, and other worthy golfers who have served the game of golf in Las Vegas in a positive and meaningful way; whether through performance on the course, volunteerism, financial support, promotion, or other dedicated service. Our cause of choice is junior golf through scholarships and other support.
In 2022, the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame Bill and Susan Walters Scholarship awarded $10,000 in scholarships and the Hall of Fame scholarship committee helped the Southern Nevada Junior Golf Association award an additional $32,000 in scholarship awards. The committee was headed by Steve McCoy, son of Hall of Famer Mac McCoy, the longtime superintendent at Las Vegas Golf Club.