Diana Morgan brings heart and soul to the Ohio Junior Girls’ Championship at Marion Country Club in Marion, Ohio. She has played a role in every tournament since 1977. She says that she doesn’t do much, but she has worked as an organizer, liaison, greeter, scorer, scrap booker and friend to the players and tournament organizers.
Diana has been the face of the event since its founder and her great friend Kay Wigton died in a traffic accident in 1998. Morgan and LPGA Professional, Andy Fischer were the ones who helped Wigton when she started the tournament in 1977, giving her daughter Melinda Wigton and other girl golfers around the state a place to compete. It was the first of its kind in Ohio for junior females and held annually at Marion Country Club.
When Kay Wigton died, Morgan and other friends took it upon themselves to make sure the tournament didn’t die with her. A year later the Women’s Ohio State Golf Association took over operation, and kept it at MCC as Morgan continued to volunteer for the event which grew to mean so much to her.
Diana Morgan is the keeper of the history of the tournament and the maker of the scrapbooks. She has one for every year of the tourney and sets them up in displays around the clubhouse for the current players to see the legacy that’s been left for them. She also provides activities for the participants to leave their thoughts or future players. But where she really wants to be is at the registration table and the scorer’s table and around the clubhouse and ever present at the awards stand. She has helped provide an avenue for the young girls of Ohio to gain valuable tournament experience, while meeting new friends, and showing off their skills as potential collegiate prospects.
We are pleased to present the Betty Kirby Peppard award to Diana Morgan for her dedication to the Ohio Junior Girls’ Championship.
(Excerpts from Marion Star article by Rob Purdy, July 12, 2020)