Ron Taylor, South Carolina
Awarded 2022
Ron Taylor is a long-time member of the NHPA and after joining he immediately got involved and
began building the membership of South Carolina (SC). The state had only a few members and
only two sets of facilities to pitch on. He became the Assistant Regional Director (RD) for the
Carolinas and accepted the position of Secretary for the SC charter. During his tenure as an SC
officer, he was instrumental in increasing the membership from a dozen or so to close to 150
members. He also helped in the planning and building of some 10 or 12 pitching facilities. When
SC got its own RD he accepted that position which he held for many years. He promoted
horseshoe pitching throughout SC and surrounding states. He helped create the SC HOF and was
elected to the SC HOF in 1997.
In 2007 Ron and several other pitchers began formulating plans to create a new type of horseshoe
pitching tournament using a unique format and they hoped to attract the best pitchers to
participate. It became known as the “HP Pro Tour” and in 2009 they held the very first one. The
format involved 30 shoe games with a ringer only type of scoring. Right from the beginning it
became obvious that there was a lot of interest in expanding the tournament. Ron is the Director
of Operations for the now named “Horseshoe Tour” and has helped the “Tour” evolve into a
nation-wide set of tournaments. The tournaments are set up now to accommodate all levels of
pitchers and has different Divisions with different entry fees and payouts. All Tour events are
NHPA sanctioned and non-sanctioned events are often held in the preceding week which often
leads new NHPA membership for those that want to return for the main event. The Tour has a
large following and has helped promote horseshoe pitching everywhere they have gone. Ron has
helped grow our sport for many years.