Rivaling St. Andrews

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Depending on each visitor's golf interests, it takes approximately 90 minutes to two hours to soak in all of the facility's exhibits. Among the pieces of history - artifacts, pictures, equipment, paintings, videos, quotes emblazoned on walls - to experience are a Bobby Jones wing, walking the same stone bridge seen along the 18th fairway at St. Andrews, and a replica of the Wilson 6-iron that astronaut Alan Shepard used to hit a golf ball on the moon on February 5, 1971.

"The most exhilarating shot of my golfing life," said Shepard.

Undoubtedly, one of the most exhilarating spots for visitors is a large upstairs room that contains 109 green lockers with the names of Hall members engraved on gold plates. There's no telling what a peek inside any locker might reveal.

Hale Irwin has only a dusty old golf bag with nine clubs that he used as a kid. At Betsy King's locker, there's just a Bible opened to the second chapter of John. Nancy Lopez has an oversized 8-iron and a Barbie doll, symbolic of the gift that her father used to give her when she played well.

You'll also find the MacGregor bag and clubs that Jack Nicklaus used in the 1960s, plus a fly fishing rod that was custom-made for him.

People travel world wide to play the famous #17 at TPC Sawgrass outside Jacksonville Florida.

But no locker is more chilling than the one belonging to the late Lloyd Mangrum, the 1946 U.S. Open champion who served at the D-Day invasion and Battle of the Bulge in World War II.

Mangrum's locker contained two dog tags, a Purple Heart, a Battle Star and a $1 bill torn in half. He gave one half of the dollar to a fellow soldier, who was lost in battle, in hopes that they'd reunite after the war. Mangrum's family donated his half of the torn bill to the Hall of Fame.

On October 30, five more players or contributors - Vijay Singh, Larry Nelson, Henry Picard, LPGA co-founder Marilynn Smith and sports marketing pioneer Mark McCormack - will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame and will have lockers installed in their honor.

Golf, which has the rare distinction of enshrining some players while they're still active, elected Singh on the 2005 PGA Tour ballot, but he opted to defer his induction until this year. Singh had collected 28 PGA Tour victories, including two PGA Championships and a Masters title, at the time of his selection.

Nelson, who didn't take up golf until age 21 after a military stint in Vietnam, made the Hall largely on the strength of three major championships (1983 U.S. Open, '81 and '87 PGA Championship) among his 10 PGA Tour victories.

Picard, who passed away in 1997, captured 26 PGA Tour events and also served as a mentor to Ben Hogan during his early days as a professional. Twenty of Picard's wins, including the 1938 Masters and 1939 PGA Championship, came during a stretch from 1935-39. One of Picard's students, Hall of Fame member Beth Daniel, will give his introductory speech at the ceremony.

Both Smith and McCormack were inducted under the Lifetime Achievement category. Smith is one of 13 original founders of the LPGA. McCormack, who passed away in 2003, is the founder of IMG and helped initiate the industry of sports management and marketing. Palmer, who was McCormack's first client, is scheduled to give his introductory speech.

The induction ceremony is the marquee annual event for World Golf Hall of Fame, but it's hardly the only reason to visit this museum of golf history. As more tourists and golf enthusiasts make the pilgrimage to northeast Florida, they're discovering that the combination of resort golf, THE PLAYERS Championship and the Hall of Fame is a tough package to beat.

"The sport needs a place like this," said Peter. "We think we're building a corner of the world that is pretty formidable for any golf fan."