Nancy Lopez was all of 21 years old when she took the golf world by storm in 1978.

Her accomplishments included:

¯ Nine LPGA victories, including a record five in a row.

¯ Rookie of the Year.

¯ Player of the Year.

¯ And an appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

But she didn’t stop there.

Eleven years after that magical season, Lopez was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, and by the time she was through with competitive golf, she had earned 48 Tour victories and millions of dollars in prize money.

Not bad for the only child of an auto mechanic from Roswell, New Mexico.

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Peter Sullivan has played in the LINKS Charity at Moon Brook Country Club at least 20 times. And with the event, which has raised nearly $1.7 million for cancer care in the greater Jamestown community, approaching its 30th, and final, tournament next month, the Bemus Point resident decided that it should go out with a bang.

So he and Mike Roberts, who are the co-chairmen, went to work late last year to make this event, which began in 1990, something extra special.

Their efforts have paid off in a big way.

At 11 a.m. July 19, 26 LPGA Tour professionals will join 104 amateurs in a better-ball-of-four format. Among the group of pros will be a who’s-who of the game’s best, including, you guessed it, Lopez.

Joining her, among the “legends” group, are Jan Stephenson, Pat Bradley, Hollis Stacy, Donna Caponi, Val Skinner, Michele Redman, Rosie Jones, Laura Diaz, Cathy Johnston-Forbes, Lisa Depaulo, Audra Burks and Cindy Miller, a Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame inductee.

The weekend will begin with a welcome dinner on Sunday, July 18 at Northwest Arena in downtown Jamestown. The next day the LPGA pros will conduct a youth clinic from 8:30-9:30 a.m., chaired by Miller, and the tournament will begin with a shotgun start at 11 a.m. The day will be capped by an awards and recognition dinner at the National Comedy Center at 6:30 p.m.

Finally, at 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 20, a women’s forum will be held at Chautauqua Institution where Lopez and Tara VanDerveer, coach of the national-champion Stanford women’s basketball team and another Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame inductee, will be interviewed by Tory Irgang, executive director of the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation.

“I’m very excited about this event,” Sullivan said. “It just seemed like our town may embrace something like this, so this isn’t just Moon Brook, this isn’t just the hospital or just Jamestown. Now we’re including Chautauqua in the whole thing. … I think it’s going to be a big celebration for our city.”

In an effort to continue the legacy of LINKS Charity, the goal this year is to add to its endowment fund at WCA Foundation. The roots run deep, thanks to the efforts of Sondra Anderson and Mary Blair, who co-founded LINKS Charity; and executive directors Allen and Elaine Short and Bradley Van Riper and Becky Van Riper-Brooks.

Toss in support from a host of sponsors and supporters, it’s pretty clear that Sullivan, along with Roberts, are amped up for LINKS Charity next month.

Lopez’s appearance is clearly the headliner.

“If we could get her here, she would be the pillar of having this whole event become something really special to celebrate the end of this 30-year run that we’ve had,” Sullivan said.

Mission accomplished.

With a huge assist from Sullivan’s personal friend, Richard Smucker, the executive chairman of the board of JM Smucker Company, invited Lopez, who serves on the company’s board of directors, to LINKS Charity, and she accepted.

“(Smucker) is the one who really delivered,” Sullivan said. “Not only is he bringing Nancy Lopez here, but he and his wife are major sponsors of the tournament.”

Others have stepped up, too.

They include: Truck-Lite, UPMC; Cummins; United Refining Company; Hope’s Windows; UBS, the Wright Auer Group; USI; Shults Auto Group; Allied Alarm Services Inc.; Gebbie Foundation; Churchill; Northwest; the Evans Family; Matric Group; Chautauqua Patrons; Clark Patterson Lee; JMI; LSS; Tom Marra Family; David Melquist Family; and Rob Walter in care of Merrill Lynch; and Weber Knapp.

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Unique to the LINKS Charity is that every amateur in the field is a sponsor so, “everybody (expects) that they’ll be playing with a ‘legend,'” Sullivan said.

The issue, though, was how to make that logistically possible.

Sullivan and the committee came up with an answer.

“After nine holes, each of the pros are going to move up one group,” Sullivan said, “so that everybody will have at least nine holes with a legend. … The (amateur) gets to play with a different pro and the pros get to know different people.”

Perfect solution.

“When you play a round of golf with somebody,” Sullivan said, “you know them by the time the game is over.”

The LINKS Charity will conclude its remarkable 30-year run next month with one final round.

And now that the event is coming to a close, everyone will “know” what a legacy it leaves behind.