Lynn Janson (2021) - Hall of Fame - Michigan State University Athletics

Lynn Janson

Induction:
2021
Class:
1970

Lynn Janson
Men's Golf (1968-70)
East Lansing, Mich.
MSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2021

HIGHLIGHTS:
• Three-time All-American (1968-70)
• Two-time All-Big Ten (1969-70)
• Helped lead MSU to its first Big Ten team title in 1969 and placed third as an individual
• Played in 14 major golf championships, including seven U.S. Opens

HALL OF FAME FEATURE: CLASS OF 2021

For Lynn Janson, golf and Michigan State always went hand in hand. The East Lansing native grew up just across Grand River Avenue from Old College Field and it's where his first memories of the game come to mind.

"There was a practice green on Old College Field, right were the Red Cedar River takes a turn," Janson described. "They had two bunkers. So from my house, we could walk. If the water level was low enough, you could walk across stones and you were right there. I could practice all I wanted there."

All that practicing at the former Old College Field range and later Forest Akers Golf Course helped make Janson into one of the best golfers in MSU history. Janson became a three-time All-American and two-time All-Big Ten performer and led the Spartans to the program's first Big Ten Championship in 1969.

"Bruce Fossum was determined to put together a good team and start winning," Janson said. "Winning the Big Ten Championship was a goal and it was expressed right when we got here. We had myself, Lee Edmundson and Rick Woulfe, so we had some good players and Bruce as determined that we were going to do some winning. I have to give Bruce a lot of credit."

While golf is the sport in which Janson would excel, growing up it wasn't always his top priority.

"I played baseball well enough; I played my freshman year and played all positions," Janson said. "I was an All-State basketball player, but golf didn't come that easily. It really didn't. I liked it right away and got serious about it at age 12 or 13, but I had to work at it.
"I decided that if I was going to do something beyond high school, it was going to be golf, so that's what I worked at."

As Janson's game continued to flourish, he knew that what was his de-facto home course, Forest Akers, would turn into his official home course, electing to attend MSU and play collegiately for the Spartans.

"It was pretty much Michigan State automatically," Janson said. "I knew the guy that ran Forest Akers, and after that I got to know Bruce Fossum really well. So, I knew those people and it was Michigan State all the way. I knew some of the older guys that went to Michigan State, so it was always Michigan State."

Janson's standout career at Michigan State, along with his equally impressive non-collegiate showings, which included winning the Michigan Amateur Championship in 1968, put him on a path to compete with some of the best players in the world for the rest of his life.

Janson went on to play in seven U.S. Opens, seven PGA Championships, one Senior PGA Championship, one Senior U.S. Open and nearly 30 total PGA Tour events in all.

"It was really quite thrilling," Janson said of his seven U.S. Open appearances. "The first one I played in 1974 was at Winged Foot and I made the cut. The next year I also made the cut and got paired with Arnold Palmer in round three in a twosome. That was obviously a real thrill. I think he was in his late 40s at the time and was starting to be at the end of his really great career."

Early on in his pro career, Janson and another up and coming 18-year-old from Spain, were paired together in a PGA Tour qualifier.

"I got paired with Seve Ballesteros," Janson said. "So that was a nice memory and I only missed getting my Tour card by two strokes after 72 holes. Neither of us got our cards that year, he was young. The next year, he won the event and got on the PGA Tour at age 19 and went on to become the world's number 1 golfer."

Janson's life in golf has taken him around the state, down to Florida and back to Michigan, where he resides part of the year after having purchased Hastings Country Club, which was in distress, in 2011.

It's at his club where Janson now passes on his knowledge and works to grow the game he loves. Janson became involved with the PGA Jr. League early on at Hastings as a way to get kids into golf and has seen his efforts, and those like him, produce substantial results for the game.

"My second year there we had a team of 12 kids in our PGA Jr. League, which was just getting started across the country," Janson said. "There were 1,600 kids across the country that played that year. Now, there are about 70,000 kids that play in the PGA Junior League across the country. Some of these kids will play golf for the rest of their life. There are some kids that started with us in 2012 that now play college golf."

Janson is the first Michigan State men's golfer to be inducted into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame.