Nanci Bowen
Inducted 2016
Nanci Bowen of Travelers Rest, S.C., is a former touring player and major champion on the Ladies Professional Golf Association, and is currently teaching the game in Greenville, S.C. As a seasoned golf professional, she brings valuable experience and wisdom tothe students she teaches.
Born in Tifton, Ga., Bowen attended Tift County High School. As a junior golfer, she competed in many competitions administered by the Georgia State Golf Association, winning four consecutive Georgia Girls' Championships along the way. Now in its 37th year, Bowen won the second Girls' Championship played in 1981 at Coosa Country Club in Rome. She then added titles in 1982 (Country Club of Columbus), 1983 (Snapfinger Woods Country Club in Decatur) and 1984 (Houston Lake Country Club in Perry).
Bowen was awarded a full golf scholarship to the University of Georgia, where she was a two-time All-America selection, In 1987, Bowen earned individual runner-up honors at the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championship, and in 1989, finished sixth at the NCAA Championship.
During her collegiate career as an amateur golfer, Bowen was a semifinalist at the 1987 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship played at Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington, Rhode Island. Also as an amateur, she qualified for and competed in four U.S. Women's Open Championships. She was the winner of the 1988 Trans-National Championship.
Bowen turned professional and joined the LPGA Tour in 1990. She captured her first professional victory at the Nabisco Dinah Shore in 1995, one of the LPGA's major championships. In 2002, she crossed the $1 million mark in career earnings. She was a member of the LPGA Tour Player Executive Committee from 1999-2001, and served as its vice president in 2001.
Past initiatives Bowen has been involved with include the Nanci Bowen Charity golf event benefitting Hospice, Oncology services and transitional care in Tift County; and a volunteer golf instructor for kids with Autism in 2010 and 2011. She served as athletic director at Wesleyan College in Macon, Ga., from 2007-2009.
Bowen currently resides in Travelers Rest, S.C.
