II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2491 

To award a Congressional gold medal to Byron Nelson in recognition of 

his significant contributions to the game of golf as a player, a teacher, 

and a commentator. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 3, 2006 

Mr. CORNYN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional gold medal to Byron Nelson in 

recognition of his significant contributions to the game 

of golf as a player, a teacher, and a commentator. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Byron Nelson Congres5 sional Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) Byron Nelson was a top player in the sport 

9 of golf during the World War II era and his accomVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:47 Apr 04, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2491.IS S2491

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1 plishments as a player, a teacher, and commentator 

2 are renowned. 

3 (2) Byron Nelson won 54 career victories, in4 cluding a record 11 in a row in 1945, during his 

5 short 13-year career. 

6 (3) Byron Nelson won 5 majors, including 2 

7 Masters (1937 and 1942), 2 Professional Golf Asso8 ciation (PGA) Championships (1940 and 1945) and 

9 the U.S. Open (1939). 

10 (4) Sports journalist Bill Nichols recently 

11 ranked the greatest seasons on the PGA tour for 

12 The Dallas Morning News and picked Roanoke, 

13 Texas-resident Byron Nelson’s 1945 tour as the 

14 greatest season of golf in American history. 

15 (5) In 1945, Byron Nelson accumulated 18 

16 total victories, 11 of which were consecutive, while 

17 averaging 68.33 strokes per round for 30 tour18 naments. 

19 (6) At the Seattle Open in 1945, Byron Nelson 

20 shot a record 62 for 18 holes and the world record 

21 259, 29 shots under par for 72 holes. 

22 (7) Byron Nelson is one of only 2 golfers to be 

23 named ‘‘Male Athlete of the Year’’ twice by the As24 sociated Press: in 1944, when he won 7 tournaments 


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1 and averaged 69.67 strokes for 85 rounds, and 

2 again after his 1945 season. 

3 (8) The World Golf Hall of Fame honored 

4 Byron Nelson in 2004 by featuring an exhibit enti5 tled ‘‘Byron Nelson: A Champion . . . A Gentleman’’. 

6 (9) Byron Nelson was selected for the Ryder 

7 Cup 4 times—in 1937, 1939, 1947 and 1965, and 

8 on that last occasion he led the United States Ryder 

9 Cup team as team captain to victory over Great 

10 Britain. 

11 (10) Byron Nelson was also a pioneer in the 

12 golf business, helping to develop the golf shoes and 

13 umbrellas used today. 

14 (11) In 1966, True Temper created the ‘‘Iron 

15 Byron’’ robot to replicate Byron Nelson’s swing in 

16 order to test the company’s equipment, but the robot 

17 was eventually used for club and ball testing by the 

18 United States Golf Association (USGA) and many 

19 other manufacturing companies. 

20 (12) Byron Nelson mentored many golf hope21 fuls, including 1964 Player of the Year Ken Venturi 

22 and 6-time PGA Player of the Year Tom Watson. 

23 (13) Byron Nelson was one of the first golf an24 alysts on network television where his understanding 


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1 of the game in general, and the golf swing in par2 ticular, was demonstrably profound. 

3 (14) Byron Nelson received the United States 

4 Golf Association’s Bob Jones Award for distin5 guished sportsmanship in golf in 1974. 

6 (15) In 1974, the Golf Writers Association of 

7 America presented Byron Nelson with the Richard8 son Award for consistently outstanding contributions 

9 to golf. 

10 (16) Since 1983, the Byron and Louise Nelson 

11 Golf Endowment Fund has provided over 

12 $1,500,000 in endowment funds to Abilene Christian 

13 University in Abilene, Texas. 

14 (17) Byron Nelson received the PGA Distin15 guished Service Award in 1993. This award is pre16 sented to an individual who has helped perpetuate 

17 the ideals and values of the PGA. 

18 (18) Byron Nelson has served as an honorary 

19 chairperson for the Metroport Meals on Wheels since 

20 1992. 

21 (19) In 1994, the Golf Course Superintendents 

22 Association of America presented Byron Nelson with 

23 the Old Tom Morris Award for outstanding con24 tributions to the game. 


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1 (20) Byron Nelson helped to develop the Tour2 nament Players Course (TPC) Four Seasons at Los 

3 Colinas, Texas, site of the EDS Byron Nelson 

4 Championship and the Byron Nelson Golf School, 

5 into a world-class facility. 

6 (21) The EDS Byron Nelson Championship is 

7 the only PGA tour event named in honor of a pro8 fessional golfer and traditionally attracts the strong9 est players in the sport. 

10 (22) Since its inception, the EDS Byron Nelson 

11 Championship has raised $88,000,000 for Salesman12 ship Club Youth and Family Centers, a nonprofit 

13 agency that provides education and mental health 

14 services for more than 2,700 children and their fam15 ilies in the greater Dallas area. 

16 (23) In 2002, Byron Nelson received the pres17 tigious Donald Ross Award from the American Soci18 ety of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) for his sig19 nificant contribution to the game of golf and the 

20 profession of golf course architecture. 

21 (24) The United States Golf Association pre22 sented Byron Nelson the Ike Grainger Award for 

23 volunteer service to the game of golf in 2002. 

24 (25) In 2002, the National Golf Foundation 

25 presented Byron Nelson with the Graffis Award for 


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1 outstanding lifelong contributions to the game of 

2 golf. 

3 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

4 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President 

5 pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House 

6 of Representatives shall make appropriate arrangements 

7 for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold 

8 medal of appropriate design to Byron Nelson in recogni9 tion of his significant contributions to the game of golf 

10 as a player, a teacher, and a commentator. 

11 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 

12 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

13 of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 

14 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em15 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 

16 Secretary. 

17 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

18 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

19 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

20 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

21 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

22 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 

23 and the cost of the gold medal. 


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1 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

2 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu3 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

4 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

5 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

6 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

7 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

8 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

9 SALE. 

10 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

11 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

12 Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be nec13 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

14 to this Act. 

15 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

16 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

17 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

18 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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