Kat Salley, 96, Hall of Fame golfer influenced women’s sport
May 29, 2025
Kathryn Wallace Salley died May 21 in Columbia surrounded by family. She was 96.
Known as Kat, she was born Oct, 20, 1928, in Benson, N.C., the daughter of Charles and Kate Wallace. She was just 15 years old when her father was killed in the South Pacific during World War II.
Her mother went on to serve as CEO of Wallace Concrete Pipe Co. for the next 25 years.
These experiences shaped Kat into a woman of self-discipline, resilience and determination. She was valedictorian of Columbia High School and graduated summa cum laude from the University of South Carolina in 1949. She entered medical school in Charleston as the only female, where she ranked first in her class after the first year.
There, she met her future husband, Julian Alexander “Nat” Salley, her anatomy lab partner. When they decided to get married, they approached the dean to explain one of them would be dropping out. He looked at Nat and said, “We will miss you.”
Mrs. Salley withdrew from medical school, tutoring Nat along the way and enabling him to graduate second in the class. She taught histology to the medical students for the three remaining years.
Mrs. Salley was the best athlete in the family. In the late 1950s, she turned her focus to golf and motherhood with the same intensity she brought to academics. Taking up the game at age 30, she won the Forest Lake Club Championship two years later. She won it 14 more times over five different decades, with her final championship win at age 72. She also won numerous championships at Spring Valley, Wildwood and Columbia Country Club, and captured several city and state titles.
She was inducted into the S.C. Golf Hall of Fame in 1984. She served as president of the S.C. Golf Association, the Women’s Senior Golf Association, and the Women’s City Golf Association. During her leadership, she implemented the USGA women’s slope handicap system across golf courses throughout the state and played most of them. She was an inspiration to female golfers statewide and played a pivotal role in advancing women’s golf in South Carolina.
Mrs. Salley was the ultimate “boy mom.” At 39 weeks pregnant and shooting doves at Rainbow Farms, she went into labor and nearly delivered her third son, Mark, in the field – hence the name. She raised her sons to be independent and adventurous, involved them in every sport imaginable and participated in many of those herself.
Kat was the quintessential tomboy. As a young girl, she could often be found climbing trees, while her older sister, Jean, played with dolls in the yard. For a time, neighbors assumed the Wallace family had an older daughter and young son.
As a teenager, she dove from the tallest cliff at Green Hole. As a young woman, she frequently hunted ducks, quail and doves near the Congaree Swamp. She went by herself often during the middle of the school week, leaving a note for her sons that their lunch was in the refrigerator.
After her wedding ring was stolen, she used the insurance money to buy a bird dog and named him “Diamond.” When her son’s cat was chased up a tree, she shinnied 30 feet up the tree to rescue.
In her 70s, she retrieved a trapped pet snake from the engine block of a car, lying on her back and reaching up into the engine.
She is survived by her sons, Alex, Chuck (Susan) and Mark (Jane); her grandchildren, Josh (Taylor), Trey, Charles, Ella (Lee), Alex, Dylan (Caitlyn), Jackson (fiancée Hannah) and Eliza; four great-grandchildren and three nieces.
In addition to her husband, her sister, Jean Wallace Blount, and her daughter-in-law, Anne Richie Salley, died before her.
A private burial will be held at High Creek on the Congaree River in Calhoun County. A celebration of her life will be held June 8 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Forest Lake Country Club.
Memorials may be made to the Congaree Land Trust, P.O. Box 5232, Columbia, SC 29250; First Presbyterian Church, 1324 Marion St., Columbia, SC 29201; or the S.C. Wildlife Federation, 1519 Richland St., Columbia, SC 29201.
Condolences may be sent at dunbarfunerals.com.
