IIB 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4902 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 10, 2006 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

Urban Affairs 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Byron Nelson Congres3 sional Gold Medal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds as follows: 

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

7 of golf during the World War II era and his accom8 plishments as a player, a teacher, and commentator 

9 are renowned. 

10 (2) Byron Nelson won 54 career victories, in11 cluding a record 11 in a row in 1945, during his 

12 short 13-year career. 

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

14 Masters (1937 and 1942), two Professional Golf As15 sociation (PGA) Championships (1940 and 1945) 

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

17 (4) Sports journalist Bill Nichols recently 

18 ranked the greatest seasons on the PGA tour for 

19 The Dallas Morning News and picked Roanoke, 

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

21 greatest season of golf in American history. 

22 (5) In 1945, Byron Nelson accumulated 18 

23 total victories, 11 of which were consecutive, while 

24 averaging 68.33 strokes per round for 30 tour25 naments. 


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

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

3 259, 29 shots under par for 72 holes. 

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

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

6 Associated Press: in 1944, when he won 7 tour7 naments and averaged 69.67 strokes for 85 rounds, 

8 and again after his 1945 season. 

9 (8) The World Golf Hall of Fame honored 

10 Byron Nelson in 2004 by featuring an exhibit enti11 tled ‘‘Byron Nelson: A Champion . . . A Gen12 tleman’’. 

13 (9) Byron Nelson was selected for the Ryder 

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

15 on that last occasion he led the United States Ryder 

16 Cup team as team captain to victory over Great 

17 Britain. 

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

19 golf business, helping to develop the golf shoes and 

20 umbrellas used today. 

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

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

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

24 was eventually used for club and ball testing by the 


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1 United States Golf Association (USGA) and many 

2 other manufacturing companies. 

3 (12) Byron Nelson mentored many golf hope4 fuls, including 1964 Player of the Year Ken Venturi 

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

6 (13) Byron Nelson was one of the first golf an7 alysts on network television where his understanding 

8 of the game in general, and the golf swing in par9 ticular, was demonstrably profound. 

10 (14) Byron Nelson received the United States 

11 Golf Association’s Bob Jones Award for distin12 guished sportsmanship in golf in 1974. 

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

14 America presented Byron Nelson with the Richard15 son Award for consistently outstanding contributions 

16 to golf. 

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

18 Golf Endowment Fund has provided over 

19 $1,500,000 in endowment funds to Abilene Christian 

20 University in Abilene, Texas. 

21 (17) Byron Nelson received the PGA Distin22 guished Service Award in 1993. This award is pre23 sented to an individual who has helped perpetuate 

24 the ideals and values of the PGA. 


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1 (18) Byron Nelson has served as an honorary 

2 chairperson for the Metroport Meals on Wheels since 

3 1992. 

4 (19) In 1994, the Golf Course Superintendents 

5 Association of America presented Byron Nelson with 

6 the Old Tom Morris Award for outstanding con7 tributions to the game. 

8 (20) Byron Nelson helped to develop the Tour9 nament Players Course (TPC) Four Seasons at Los 

10 Colinas, Texas, site of the EDS Byron Nelson 

11 Championship and the Byron Nelson Golf School, 

12 into a world-class facility. 

13 (21) The EDS Byron Nelson Championship is 

14 the only PGA tour event named in honor of a pro15 fessional golfer and traditionally attracts the strong16 est players in the sport. 

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

18 Championship has raised $88,000,000 for Salesman19 ship Club Youth and Family Centers, a nonprofit 

20 agency that provides education and mental health 

21 services for more than 2,700 children and their fam22 ilies in the greater Dallas area. 

23 (23) In 2002, Byron Nelson received the pres24 tigious Donald Ross Award from the American Soci25 ety of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) for his sigVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:44 May 11, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4902.RFS H4902

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1 nificant contribution to the game of golf and the 

2 profession of golf course architecture. 

3 (24) The United States Golf Association pre4 sented Byron Nelson the Ike Grainger Award for 

5 volunteer service to the game of golf in 2002. 

6 (25) In 2002, the National Golf Foundation 

7 presented Byron Nelson with the Graffis Award for 

8 outstanding lifelong contributions to the game of 

9 golf. 

10 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

11 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

12 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem13 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

15 medal of appropriate design to Byron Nelson in recogni16 tion of his significant contributions to the game of golf 

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

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

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

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

21 ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em22 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 

23 Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

2 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

3 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

4 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

7 and the cost of the gold medal. 

8 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

9 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu10 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

11 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

13 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

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

16 SALE. 

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

18 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

19 Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be nec20 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

21 to this Act. 

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

23 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 


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1 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

2 Enterprise Fund. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 9, 2006. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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