The introduction given for Andree Martin by SMWGA member Cindy Choate when Andree was inducted into the Maine golf Hall of Fame.

I met Andree, that’s Andree with two ee s, when as a high school student, she competed in SMWGA tournaments. She was talented and focused with an even temperament. She would laugh off a bad shot and move on with a shrug of her shoulders. She went off to college in Florida and I lost touch with her.

Imagine my surprise at reading her name in a national women’s golf magazine. It had to be the same Andree with two ee s. She was being honored as one of 50 top women instructors in the country…..an honor which she has repeated four times. We reconnected a year ago when she returned to Maine for a summer Guest teaching job at Prouts Neck.

Andree approached me with the idea of offering a golf clinic for women and girls to raise money for the SMWGA Scholarship Fund. The clinic would be staffed with female pros many of whom had started golf competing in Maine. Andree was determined to give back in her home state where she had been “encouraged to play the game and realize a dream that a young woman could succeed in the golf industry”. I was impressed with her “can do” attitude and excitement about the coordinating the event. Andree has given her time and contagious enthusiasm to make the dream a reality. In two years the clinic has taught 175 women and has provided scholarships to ten college students.

Andree has compiled an impressive resume in the golf industry during the past 20 years. I’d like to mention a few highlights which may not have reached Maine. She began her career as Assistant to Ping Golf Chairman John Solheim, then moved on to the Achusnet Company in the position of Marketing Administrator for the Titleist brand. She is well known for her dedication to junior golf, her teaching skills and business sense.

This reputation evolved when in 1989, as Executive Director of the fledgling LPGA Urban Junior Golf Program in Los Angeles, she designed and operated a program which involved over 500 inner city children. Her goal was to teach a community how to help children to reach goals beyond their wildest dreams and to come back and teach the next generation how to do the same. Having been told that her program model was too expansive, Andree found a way to make it happen. Her determination caused her to ignore her own safety during the Rodney King riots in South Central LA. Once getting police approval, she drove through the riot torn area to pick up children and take them away to play golf. Andree stayed in contact with parents by phone. They were amazed that she was willing to go into their community under those circumstances to help their kids. As a result of her dedication, the program doubled in size and “volunteers came out of the woodwork” to participate. The model has expanded to 4 other cities. Andree ranks the program as her proudest accomplishment. Don’t tell Andree that something can’t be done, she will find a way to make it happen. She was awarded a commendation by the City of Los Angeles for her work.

In 1995 Andree moved to Denver, CO to develop the “Everyone Can Play” program for Denver Junior Golf. A journalist remarked, “Wherever Andree Martin goes, junior golf flourishes”. She was awarded the Golf Digest Junior Golf Development award twice, in 1993 and 1996.

While junior golf has been a special interest, Andree has worked with students of all ages and abilities during her 11 years as Director of Instruction at Holly Ridge Golf Links in NC and this summer at The Promontory Club in Park City, Utah. Additionally, she has conducted schools and clinics across the country. One of Andree’s students wrote me a description of a lesson with Andree. A former tennis player, the student asked Andree to straighten out her swing as she kept fading the ball. The student said in frustration, “I sure wish this was just a topspin forehand”! Andree thought a moment, then placed a ball down by the woman’s left foot and told her that the ball represented a tree. She instructed the student to hit a “topspin forehand around the tree”. Mission accomplished.

Andree has been recognized for her work in The New York Times, USA Today, on ABC News, and CNN. We are very fortunate to have this Maine native representing us throughout the country and amongst us. While she has lost a bit of her Maine speak, listening carefully, I have heard her say, It’s y’alls turn to hit, but also, “I found YAW ball” ! You can take a woman out of Maine BUT you can’t take Maine out of a woman!

Andree, it is my pleasure and my HONOR to present you for induction into the Maine Golf Hall of Fame.