Former Clemson great and Golf Channel personality to be inducted in SC Golf Hall of Fame

Former Clemson standout and NCAA champion Charles Warren and Golf Channel personality Kelly Tilghman have been chosen for induction into the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame.

The two will be enshrined Jan. 12 at Columbia Country Club.

Warren, a Columbia native who lives in Greenville, calls winning the 1997 NCAA Championship the victory he cherishes most among the many titles he earned. Introduced to the game by his grandfather, he learned the fundamentals from Hall of Fame pro Grant Bennett and honed his on-course expertise from pro Joey Graham.

Warren won the state high school championship at A.C. Flora, the acclaimed Southern Cross junior tournament, the Carolinas Amateur, the South Carolina Amateur and sparkled in college. In the pros, he won three Web.com tournaments and played eight years on the PGA TOUR. Warren is the first golfer, and ninth person overall, to be inducted into Clemson’s prestigious Ring of Honor.

Since leaving professional golf, he has been instrumental in fund-raising efforts for the Clemson golf program, statewide junior golf and The First Tee Program. He serves on the board of the Upstate First Tee and had been a member of the Players’ Advisory Council for both the PGA and Web.com Tours.

Tilghman is the third member of her family in the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame. She joins grandfather Melvin Hemphill, a famed teaching professional, and great aunt Kathryn Hemphill, a top player in the 1930s and ’40s.

Tilghman grew up in North Myrtle Beach around the game of golf, working at her parents’ course, Gator Hole. She played basketball and golf in high school and earned a golf scholarship to Duke University. In college, she won the Lady Paladin Invitational at Furman. Then from 1992-1996, she played professionally in Europe, Asia and Australia.

Tilghman joined the fledgling Golf Channel and worked for the network until resigning in March. Stepping on the scene quickly, she filled numerous on-air roles and in 2007 worked with Nick Faldo and Peter Oosterhuis, as the Golf Channel began televising PGA Tour events. Tilghman has been involved with the First Tee of Horry County and Brunswick, N.C. as well as the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies in Orlando, Fla.

This story was originally published September 4, 2018 at 12:35 PM.