William A. Roquemore
Inducted 1998
William A. “Bill” Roquemore was born in Macon, Ga., on December 21, 1923. Roquemore parlayed a small seed-cleaning plant, known today as Patten Seed Company, into a turfgrass sod and seed business with worldwide sales. Today, his sod farms cover over 15,000 acres, located primarily in Georgia and South Carolina. Roquemore was also recognized as the mastermind behind the Canongate golf courses. He saw the need for golf courses to offer people an affordable round of golf, and so, in 1965, he opened the Canongate Golf Club near Palmetto, Ga. Roquemore has given hundreds of families in the Southeast the opportunity to play golf at a top-quality facility, while staying within a middle-class budget. In 1995, the National Golf Foundation presented the Jack Nicklaus Golf Family of the Year Award to the Roquemore family for their contributions to the game of golf. Roquemore died in July 1997.
