Northern State Athletics Hall of Fame
The history of golf at Northern State begins with Pat Fors. The professor emeritus of health and physical education at NSU guided the Wolves' first golf team in 1975 to a perfect 6-0 record. Fors coached the team the next 21 years before retiring in 1996. Her dedication to athletics and physical education doesn't end with being a coach and teacher.
Fors, who received her master's degree from Northern in 1957, didn't have the opportunity to participate in competitive sports while in college as women do today. At the time, women interested in sports could join the Women's Recreation Association. Fors made the most of that organization, participating in volleyball, basketball, softball and tennis. As a teacher fresh out of college with her bachelor's degree in 1953, she formed a modern dance group with high school students. Since then, she has presented numerous instruction aerobic or social dance programs for use in physical education classes. Fors has also promoted the importance of physical education sincec the 1950s through presenting programs, clinics and research, as well as researching and writing articles for journals and newspapers. She helped organize NSU's first Women's Golf Classic in 1990, a fund-raiser for women's athletic scholarships. In 1992, she was appointed Northern State's first NCAA Senior Women's Athletic Administrator.
Fors was honored with the South Dakota Association for Health PHysical Education, Recreation and Dance Honor Award in 1994, the Central District AHPERD Honor Award in 1995, and was the Royal Order of the Gyps' Coach of the Year in 1995. She has also received an American Red Cross appreciation award.
