I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4779 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2006 

Mr. BURGESS (for himself and Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

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 The 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 03:56 Feb 23, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4779.IH H4779

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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), two Professional Golf As8 sociation (PGA) Championships (1940 and 1945) 

9 and the U.S. Open (1939). 

10 (4) Professional Golfer 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 round 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 31 tour18 naments. 

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

20 a record 62 for 18 holes and 259, 29 shots under 

21 par for 72 holes. 

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

23 be named ‘‘Male Athlete of the Year’’ twice by the 

24 Associated Press: in 1944, when he won 7 tourVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:56 Feb 23, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4779.IH H4779

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1 naments and averaged 69.67 strokes for 85 rounds, 

2 and 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 Gen6 tleman’’. 

7 (9) Nelson was selected for the Ryder Cup 4 

8 times—in 1937, 1939, 1947 and 1965, and on that 

9 last occasion he led the United States Ryder Cup 

10 team to victory over Great 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 helped to develop the Tour4 nament Players Course (TPC) Four Seasons at Los 

5 Colinas, Texas, site of the Verizon Byron Nelson 

6 Classic and the Byron Nelson Golf School, into a 

7 world-class facility. 

8 (15) The Byron Nelson Classic is the only PGA 

9 tour event named in honor of a professional golfer 

10 and traditionally attracts the strongest players in 

11 the sport. 

12 (16) Since its inception, the Byron Nelson Clas13 sic has raised $82,000,000 for Salesmanship Club 

14 Youth and Family Centers, a nonprofit agency that 

15 provides education and mental health services for 

16 more than 2,700 children and their families in the 

17 greater Dallas area. 

18 (17) 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 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

24 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

25 the House of Representatives and the President pro temVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:56 Feb 23, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4779.IH H4779

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1 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

3 medal of appropriate design to Byron Nelson in recogni4 tion of his significant contributions, to the game of golf 

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

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

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

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

9 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em10 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 

11 Secretary. 

12 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

13 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

14 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

15 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

18 and the cost of the gold medal. 

19 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

20 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu21 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

22 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

24 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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


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

2 SALE. 

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

4 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

5 Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be nec6 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

7 to this Act. 

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

9 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

10 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

11 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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