In 1931 the US was nearly 2 years into The Great Depression.  The stock market had lost over 60% of its value and unemployment was over 16%. The future of the US economy was uncertain and the viability of Hermitage Country Club and golf courses across the country were in jeopardy.

That same year, Hermitage’s beloved head golf professional Tommy Galloway established a premier amateur golf tournament to attract the best amateur golfers in the region to compete at Hermitage. Local businessman and member Frederick S. Valentine generously donated a silver trophy for the event and The Valentine Invitational was established.   

In a letter to the Hermitage Board of Governors on July 30th, 1931, Valentine noted that he was donating the trophy to show his appreciation of the Board for creating a place of camaraderie and community at “a minimum of cost” to its members.  

In this time of great economic uncertainty and hardship, Valentine also noted that if the Board so wishes or finds it “necessary” the trophy could be melted down to make silver coins to finance the club’s needs.

To commemorate Tommy Galloway’s devotion, Frederick S. Valentine’s generosity, and the commitment of those early Hermitage Boards, a new Valentine Invitational logo has been created, a coin, to symbolize the success of The Valentine Invitational since 1931 and the survival of the trophy that could have so easily been melted into silver coins nearly a century ago.