109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2491

AN ACT

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds as follows:

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

4 of golf during the World War II era and his accom5 plishments as a player, a teacher, and commentator

6 are renowned.

7 (2) Byron Nelson won 54 career victories, in8 cluding a record 11 in a row in 1945, during his

9 short 13-year career.

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

11 Masters (1937 and 1942), 2 Professional Golf Asso12 ciation (PGA) Championships (1940 and 1945) and

13 the U.S. Open (1939).

14 (4) Sports journalist Bill Nichols recently

15 ranked the greatest seasons on the PGA tour for

16 The Dallas Morning News and picked Roanoke,

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

18 greatest season of golf in American history.

19 (5) In 1945, Byron Nelson accumulated 18

20 total victories, 11 of which were consecutive, while

21 averaging 68.33 strokes per round for 30 tour22 naments.

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

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

25 259, 29 shots under par for 72 holes.
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1 (7) Byron Nelson is one of only 2 golfers to be

2 named ‘‘Male Athlete of the Year’’ twice by the As3 sociated Press: in 1944, when he won 7 tournaments

4 and averaged 69.67 strokes for 85 rounds, and

5 again after his 1945 season.

6 (8) The World Golf Hall of Fame honored

7 Byron Nelson in 2004 by featuring an exhibit enti8 tled ‘‘Byron Nelson: A Champion . . . A Gentleman’’.

9 (9) Byron Nelson was selected for the Ryder

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

11 on that last occasion he led the United States Ryder

12 Cup team as team captain to victory over Great

13 Britain.

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

15 golf business, helping to develop the golf shoes and

16 umbrellas used today.

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

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

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

20 was eventually used for club and ball testing by the

21 United States Golf Association (USGA) and many

22 other manufacturing companies.

23 (12) Byron Nelson mentored many golf hope24 fuls, including 1964 Player of the Year Ken Venturi

25 and 6-time PGA Player of the Year Tom Watson.
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1 (13) Byron Nelson was one of the first golf an2 alysts on network television where his understanding

3 of the game in general, and the golf swing in par4 ticular, was demonstrably profound.

5 (14) Byron Nelson received the United States

6 Golf Association’s Bob Jones Award for distin7 guished sportsmanship in golf in 1974.

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

9 America presented Byron Nelson with the Richard10 son Award for consistently outstanding contributions

11 to golf.

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

13 Golf Endowment Fund has provided over

14 $1,500,000 in endowment funds to Abilene Christian

15 University in Abilene, Texas.

16 (17) Byron Nelson received the PGA Distin17 guished Service Award in 1993. This award is pre18 sented to an individual who has helped perpetuate

19 the ideals and values of the PGA.

20 (18) Byron Nelson has served as an honorary

21 chairperson for the Metroport Meals on Wheels since

22 1992.

23 (19) In 1994, the Golf Course Superintendents

24 Association of America presented Byron Nelson with
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1 the Old Tom Morris Award for outstanding con2 tributions to the game.

3 (20) Byron Nelson helped to develop the Tour4 nament Players Course (TPC) Four Seasons at Los

5 Colinas, Texas, site of the EDS Byron Nelson

6 Championship and the Byron Nelson Golf School,

7 into a world-class facility.

8 (21) The EDS Byron Nelson Championship is

9 the only PGA tour event named in honor of a pro10 fessional golfer and traditionally attracts the strong11 est players in the sport.

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

13 Championship has raised $88,000,000 for Salesman14 ship Club Youth and Family Centers, a nonprofit

15 agency that provides education and mental health

16 services for more than 2,700 children and their fam17 ilies in the greater Dallas area.

18 (23) In 2002, Byron Nelson received the pres19 tigious Donald Ross Award from the American Soci20 ety of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) for his sig21 nificant contribution to the game of golf and the

22 profession of golf course architecture.

23 (24) The United States Golf Association pre24 sented Byron Nelson the Ike Grainger Award for

25 volunteer service to the game of golf in 2002.
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1 (25) In 2002, the National Golf Foundation

2 presented Byron Nelson with the Graffis Award for

3 outstanding lifelong contributions to the game of

4 golf.

5 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

6 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The President

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

8 of Representatives shall make appropriate arrangements

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

10 medal of appropriate design to Byron Nelson in recogni11 tion of his significant contributions to the game of golf

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

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

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

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

16 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em17 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the

18 Secretary.

19 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

20 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in

21 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3

22 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at

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

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

25 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.

Passed the Senate September 27, 2006.

Attest:

Secretary.
109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2491

AN ACT

To award a Congressional gold medal to Byron

and a commentator.tions to the game of golf as a player, a teacher,Nelson in recognition of his significant contribu-