'Duck' Swann Elected to Georgia Golf Hall of Fame | News

Marietta, Ga. - Former Georgia Tech golfing great Albert J. "Duck" Swann, who won the 1948 SEC championship and captained the 1949 SEC champion Yellow Jacket team, has been elected to the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame along with three others, the Georgia State Golf Association announced Monday.

Swann, from Macon, Ga., a lifelong amateur who found success on the course as a junior and collegiate golfer, and later as a senior competitor, is being inducted posthumously and joins  Laura Coble of Augusta, one of Georgia's most accomplished competitive golfers with numerous state, regional and national titles, John B. "Sonny" Ellis of Atlanta, a popular amateur golfer who combined a successful playing career with years of service to the game; and Lowell Fritz of Dalton, a beloved instructor of the game who has influenced the careers of countless junior golfers during a long tenure at Dalton Golf and Country Club, in this year's class.

The Georgia Golf Hall of Fame Induction Banquet and Ceremony will take place on Saturday, January 19, 2013, at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek.

The Atlanta Athletic Club holds a long and storied place in the history of golf in the state of Georgia, as the home club of the greatest amateur golfer of them all, Bobby Jones, along with no less than 13 other members of the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame. The club hosted its third PGA Championship in 2011, and in 2014 will host the U.S. Amateur, its sixth USGA national championship.

Swann's golf career spanned from his college days at Georgia Tech to an international senior championship in his later years. He was a dedicated servant of the game and of charitable causes in his community.

A Maconite throughout his life, Swann played on the Lanier High golf team and, at 16 years of age, won the 1941 Macon City Championship. In 1942, Duck won several Georgia Interscholastic titles. After serving as an Air Force pilot in World War II, Duck won the Southeastern Conference Championship in 1948 and was medalist in the Southern Intercollegiate Tournament. He served as captain of the Yellow Jackets' 1949 SEC title team.

After two years of flying during the Korean conflict, Duck settled into several businesses in the Macon area. In 1958 he was elected to Georgia Tech's "All Time" golf team and into the Georgia Tech Athletic Hall of Fame in 1964.

Swann's golf career blossomed again upon the time he turned senior amateur age of 55 in 1980. In 1983, Duck had his most significant victory at Walton Heath in England, as he became the first American to capture the British Senior Open Amateur Championship. Also during the same year, he won the Georgia Seniors title and qualified for the match play portion of the USGA Senior Amateur Championship.

The following year, he won the Legendary Senior Amateur in Birmingham, and was runner-up at the American and Georgia seniors. In 1987, he won the Western Seniors.

Swann was a member of golf organizations and charities throughout his life, including the American Senior Golf Association, state Walter Hagen Cancer Tournament committee, National Kidney Foundation Tournament, Middle Georgia Golf Championship board and the Children's Hospital Celebrity Golf Tournament. He was a past president of Idle Hour Club where his quick wit and love of golf made him an all-time favorite.