1890 – 1900

Women Discover the Joy of GolfToday we know thatexercise is good foreveryone’s health – boys
and girls, men and women.

E N T H U S I A S M

As such, women have the freedom
to participate in sports. With hard
work, determination, anda healthy dose of the
In the late 1800s,
competitive spirit, they
only about 100
push the boundaries ofwomen in thewhat is possible. Why?
United States
Because of a love andplayed golf.
enthusiasm for sports!

Since the late 1800s,
opportunities for women
to play golf have grown
immensely. Today, millions
of women of all ages andfrom all around the world
enjoy and compete,
thanks to the hard work,
perseverance, andespecially the enthusiasmthat generations of women
have had for the game.

But that was not always the case.

Imagine being told that you can’t do something you love to do. Or that you are forced
to wear clothing that makes it hard to do what
you love to do. Or that you can’t find anyone
to join you in your favorite activity.
How would you feel? Frustrated? Lonely?
Sad? Angry?
Then you know how many women felt in theearly years of golf.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Women Discover the Joy of Golf . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The Bravery of the Modern Girl . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Finally! Women are Free to Vote . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Golf for International Friendship . . . . . . . . . . . 8
A Professional Tour for Women . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Popularity of Women’s Golf Grows . . . . . . . . 12
Great Women Golfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Attention Teachers!

The FREE teacher guide for Character of a Champion:
Women Winning Freedom on the Fairways is available
as a PDF file. To get your copy please call the Museumat (908) 234-2300.

Playing Against the Odds

At the end of the nineteenth century, when ourcountry was already 100 years old, women werediscouraged from playing sports. Many doctors of
the time believed that too much physical activity
was bad for women.
In the 1890s, a
popular magazine of
the time called The
Ladies Home Journal
challenged that idea
by asking, “If very
young children andvery old men cancompete in golf,

2 CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS

finding both pleasure and healthful exercise in it,
why should it not be played also by women?”
Eventually, a few sports were deemed acceptablefor women to play, and golf was one. “It has theadvantage of giving plenty of moderate andhealthful exercise, without any of that otherexertion that tennis may call forth and which
every young lady is not equal to,” claimed
Outing magazine in the 1890s.
USE THE NEWS: Imagine you lived at the turn of the20th century. Write a letter to the editor of The Ladies
Home Journal either in support of women playing golf
or in defense of keeping golf a sport for men only.

“ No one who has wielded a club can forget the feeling of … self-satisfaction which was experienced
by the sight of the clean-hit ball soaring into a wall of azure, a tiny, white speck in the far distance.”
P R O F I L E

I N

E N T H U S I A S M

I– The Gentlewoman’s Book of Sports, 1892

n 1894, an enthusiasm forgolf led a group of womenin New Jersey to form a golf clubfor women. They named it theMorris County Golf Club. Once thecourse was built, 200 men were allowed“associate” membership.

Beatrix Hoyt

The 1900 Ladies Teamat the Morris County Golf ClubWith the 1895 launch of the U.S.
Women’s Amateur Championship came champions that
attracted fans and admiration.
Beatrix Hoyt was only 16 whenshe qualified and won the second
U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in
1896. She went on to win the next two years.
Until 1971, Beatrix Hoyt held the distinctionof being the youngest woman golfer to win
this championship.

Beatrix’s enthusiasm, youth, andathletic exuberance brought attention
to the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. There were so many fansfollowing her progress on the coursethat officials had to put up ropes to keep the
spectators from getting too close.
Beatrix’s enthusiasm and love for her chosen
sport was infectious. As the world followed
her every stroke, more and more womenpicked up clubs to give the game a try.

Playing By The Numbers

The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, had restricted times that women could play golf on theircourse. Do the math to reveal when women could and could not play.
Even numbered answers are YES, odd numbers are NO.
After 2:00 p.m. on weekdays: 35 + 135 + 18 =❏ YES ❏ NO
Anytime on Saturdays: 164 + 21 + 22 =❏ YES ❏ NO
Holidays: 187 + 37 + 91 =❏ YES ❏ NO

Soon, the men wanted to expand thecourse. In a meeting in 1895, they
managed to get a man
elected president of theclub, replacing Miss
Cornelia Howland, theclub’s first president.
Eventually, all theofficers of the club were
replaced by men. They
offered her the post ofhonorary president, but
Miss Howland angrily
refused and quit the club.
In 1895, a national championship for
women was created by the USGA; the U.S.
Women’s Amateur Championship. This
was the same year of the first U.S. Men’s
Amateur Championship as well.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur Championshipbrought more attention to golf, and more
women began to take up the game.

Let’s Talk!

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, golf was one of
the few acceptable sports for women, but few
clubs allowed them. The clubs that did allow
women often had limited days and times women
could play. Would this affect how well women
could play? How so?

CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS 3

1900 – 1920

The Bravery of the Modern GirlD

espite being frowned
upon for the desire toplay golf. Despite the factC O U R A G E

that there were few places andopportunities to play. Despite thefact that their clothing made playing evenmore difficult. Despite allof these obstacles, women
By thekept playing golf in theearly 1900s.
year 1900,
It took commitment andcourage to pursue the joyof golf in the face ofsocial criticism.

the number ofwomen attending
college had goneup over 700%
from 1870.

WOMEN WANT TOCOMPETE

After the establishment of the USGA’s U.S.
Women’s Amateur Championship in 1895,
the enthusiasm for golf in the United States
grew, and grew quickly.
Women’s rights activist, golfer, and author,
Lillian Brooks, charged that women needed
more competitions
to improve. She
wrote, “with all our
new independence
and liberty andpower, men stillwatch over us withthe old chivalry.”
Women golfers soon
demanded that they
have more control
over the game they
loved to play. The
USGA Women’s Committee was formed in
1917, giving women a greater say in where
and how the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship was conducted. In 1926, the Women’s Committee would take over the runningof the championship.

Would you like to playgolf wearing this?

Up until the 1920s, women wore clothing thatmade playing golf much harder for them thanmen. Lillian Brooks referred to the discomfort
women’s golf outfits made them feel as a“tyranny of clothes.”
But it wasn’t just the skirts that were a problem. Player’s
blouses were made with long sleeves and stiff, starchedcollars. On top of all this, women were expected to wear
jackets, heavy shoes and broad-brimmed hats held in placewith hat pins or veils tucked under the chin.

An early
gutta-percha
golf ball.

The above article from The Baltimore Sun shows thatearly women golfers faced challenges posed by theirclothing. How much do you think all those
clothes weighed?

USE THE NEWS: Skim through the newspaper to look for acts of courage. Summarize who, what, when, where and why.

4 CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS

“ The modern girl is very brave. Independence is her watchword. She resents the ideaof clinging, helpless femininity, and sturdily fights her own battle in the world.”
P R O F I L E

I N“There is no flabbiness or
gentleness usually foundin feminine play. She
smacks the ball withabsolute confidence andbeautiful precision; andproduces when necessary
a powerful back-spin thatwill make even a longiron shot sit down like apoached egg upon thegreen.”– O.B. Keeler, 1920

C O U R A G E

course, she became one of the greatest golfersof her time. She enjoyed competing, even witha neighbor boy who would also become one of
the world’s greatest champions, Bob Jones.
In fact, she is known as the “Girl Who Beat
Bobby Jones.” She was 12 and he was six;
she beat him in a local tournament. But Frank
Meador, who was acting
as scorer, awarded the cup
to young Bob, saying,“We couldn’t have a girlbeat us.”This didn’t stop Alexa.
She bravely continued to
improve her game andopportunities for womenin golf.
Stirling and Jones remained friends
and friendly competitors throughout their lives.

HOW I BECAME A CHAMPION
Replace the missing words to reveal Alexa Stirling’s secret.

Alexa Stirling

Alexa Stirling’s parents built a home near the
East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta so their daughters could “grow up in the health-giving atmosphere of outdoor sports of nearly all kinds.”
At 18, Alexa was a semi-finalist in the 1915
U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship. In
1916, she won the first of her three national
championships. One year later, she was electedto the first USGA Women’s TournamentCommittee.
Stirling had a natural talent for golf. Combinedwith her family’s support and access to a golf

“I have been asked many times why
I spent _________ standing in one place,hitting ball after ball in the _________
direction. The answer is this: it has always
been my theory that as _______________
in the __________________ of all musicalinstruments is gained only by constant__________________ and ________________,
the same rule holds good in attempting toattain perfection in the performance of________________ shots.”

I– Mary Ross,1915

n the early part of the20th century, the world
was changing, and with it
opportunities for women.
WORLD WAR I

Between 1914 to 1918, American men
were sent to Europe to fight World War I.
Women stayed home and went
to work in factories to support
the war effort.
Golf competitions virtuallyended. The USGA suspended
its three championships, theU.S. Open, the U.S. Amateur
and the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
When the war ended, thenumber of women working
outside the home had nearly doubled.
Women were now earning their own
money and finding satisfaction in their
independence from parents and husbands.

Let’s Talk!

In 1916, the night before Alexa Stirling’s first
Women’s Amateur Championship win, she
did something that would establish her
reputation for good sportsmanship. Her
opponent, Mildred Caverly, was worried about
her mashie shot. Alexa took her to the practicearea to help Mildred with the shot, which was
one of Alexa’s favorites. The next day Mildred
came close to beating Alexa and some people
thought she should not have helped her
opponent. What would you do?

CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS 5

1920 – 1940

Finally! Women are Free to VoteA

lexa Stirling was ayoung woman withintelligence and ambition,

F R E E D O M

who was not afraid to voice her
opinions.
She wrote about how clothing
and golf courses favored men.
“As women’s shots are always,
on the average, shorter than men’s
she must use less advantageous
clubs than his, the hazards aremisplaced for women, andgenerally continue so after thetees have been put forward.”

In the 1920s more
women began toobtain college
degrees, drive cars,
and work outside
the home.

Many women, like Alexa, had grave concerns
about women not being taken seriously.
They couldn’t even vote. But after decadesof struggle, the 19th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution was ratified in 1920, giving
women the right to vote.

ARRESTED FOR VOTING?

On Election Day, Nov. 5, 1872, Susan B.
Anthony walked into her polling place andvoted. Two weeks
later, a U.S. marshal
knocked on her door.
He told Susan that
he had a warrant for
her arrest. She wascharged with voting
without the right tovote.
In 1872, by U.S. law,a person had to be 21 years or older to vote.
Susan was born in 1820. Was she old enoughto vote? Susan met two other requirements
for the right to vote. She was a U.S. citizen
and she had never been convicted of a felonycrime. Why was she arrested for voting?

Free to Move!

Women golfers in the 1920s started to hit the ballharder and drive it farther than a woman had before.
One reason was the change in golf clothing for women.
By the late 1920s, clothing was changing in every sport suchas the one-piece bathing suit and the sleeveless tennis outfit.

Fashion followed women’s increased
freedoms in the 1920s.

USE THE NEWS: Freedoms are different in different parts of the world. Use today’s
newspaper to locate three articles that describe local, national or global freedom –or where freedom is being denied.

6 CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS

– Margaret Mead, recalling her college days in the 1920s

P R O F I L E

I N

F R E E D O M
The American Golfer wrote of how she went after the ball“with a grim determination and wallops it hard, and if she gets
into a bad place, why she wastes no time worrying or thinkingof consequences, but just keeps her mind on the ball, goes
after it and wallops it hard again.”
Between 1922 and 1935, Glennaremained one of the world’s leading
women golfers, winning six U.S.
Women’s Amateur Championships.

WORDSEARCH

Find the words in the puzzle. Then find them on pages 6 and 7.

Glenna Collett Vare

Alexa Stirling inspired a new generation of women
golfers. One of these was Glenna Collett Vare who
saw Alexa play in a Red Cross exhibition in 1917.
Glenna loved sports and her family gave her the
freedom to play. As a young girl, she played
baseball with her brother Ned. At 13 years old, sheplayed her first game of golf with her father andshe was hooked, “As I came off the course … mydestiny was settled. I would become a golfer.” Herexperience batting a baseball gave her a powerful,golf swing. In 1919, she won her first round matchin the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.

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The cost to be a serious golfer was$100 to $400 a year, making golf asport for the wealthy.

This began to change
when public, ormunicipal, golf courses
opened in greaternumbers. Publiccourses allowed people
to play golf without
joining a club or paying
large membership fees.
This gave more people,
including women,
access to playing golf.

“She taught us a new game,” asserted
another champion golfer, Dorothy
Campbell Hurd. “Before Glenna, weladies used to aim just for the green.
Glenna showed us that ladies canplay for the flag.”

COLLEGECOMPETITIVEDECADESIn 1915, the medianhousehold income in the
U.S. was just $687 a year.

STRENGTH
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In 1910, there were only 25 public golfcourses where people could play without
large membership fees. By 1920, the numberof these courses tripled. By 1931, there were
543 public courses in 46 states. An estimated
two to three million people were playing thegame by then.

Let’s Talk!

Glenna Collett Vare played baseball with her
brother and learned how to move her bodyand develop physical strength to compete.
Should girls and boys play on the same ordifferent teams? What are the advantages
or disadvantages of separatingteams by gender?

CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS 7

1920 – 1930

Golf for International FriendshipWomen didn’t justwant to play golf.

I N N O V A T I O NEarly on, they showed a zeal forcompetition that was contrary to
the era’s view of women as
docile. They wanted opportunities tocompete and, through competition,
excel.

Laurence Curtis, President
The Curtis Cup
Left to right:of the United States Golf
l
w
Hill,
Vare (U.S.),boerlv
is a si
Association in 1897-98,
Wethered, Morganof Paul Revere
encouraged his cousins,(GB&I) during the1932 Curtis Cup atHarriot and Margaret Curtis,
design.
Wentworth.
to take up the game of golf.
The sisters fell in love with golf
and competition – even against each other.
Harriot won the
Woman’s Amateur
Championship in
In 1905, Margaret and Harriot were two of eight
1906 and Margaret
American women who traveled to England to
defeated her older
compete. The American women only won a single match
sister in 1907.
against their British competitors, but left wanting more
Margaret woncompetitions to promote international friendship in theagain in 1911
world of women’s golf.
and 1912.
They had an innovative idea! The idea was to hold aninternational women’s competition. For years people
talked about it, but the necessary funds were scarce.
The Curtis sisters didn’t give up. In 1927, the sisters
donated a trophy for an international match.
The chart below shows the difference
between the women’s par and men’s par for
In 1931, the Ladies Golf Union of Great Britain agreed tosimilar length courses in 1930 and 2015.
regular matches with the U.S. and the USGA sponsoredthe American team. The official series began the following
Compare the charts. Estimate the difference
year at Wentworth Golf Club in England, with the United
between the men and women’s par in 1930
States beating Great Britain 5½ to 3½.
championships. Repeat for 2015.
Since then, the Curtis Cup has fostered international
1930 CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTCOURSEPAR
competition and friendships. Many winners of the U.S.
Women’s Amateur Championship have been members
U.S. OPEN (MEN) 6,609 YARDS 72
of Curtis Cup teams — an innovation that has lasted
U.S. AMATEUR (MEN) 6,515 YARDS 70
more than 80 years!
U.S. WOMEN’S AMATEUR 6,635 YARDS 81

The Curtis Cup

Curtis Cup
teams
throughthe years.
Above:
1930.
At left:
2014.

CHANGING PAR

2015 CHAMPIONSHIP EVENTCOURSE

PAR

U.S. OPEN (MEN) 7,695 YARDS 70
U.S. AMATEUR (MEN) 7,234 YARDS 70
U.S. WOMEN’S AMATEUR 6,360 YARDS 72

The Curtis sisters left their beloved game a legacy –the Curtis Cup. The inscription on the Cup reads:“To stimulate friendly rivalry among thewomen golfers of many lands.”

USE THE NEWS: Look through the newspaper to locate an article about a 21st century innovation.
Use the information in the article to invent trivia questions and quiz a friend or family member.

8 CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS

“ Golf is my game and I love it. I’d play it with rocks if I had to.”P R O F I L E

I N

I N N O V A T I O N

W– Margaret Curtis

omen’s shots, on
average, are shorter
than those of men. Despite

that, women played their national
championship at the same yardage
as their male counterparts. Rather

than adjust the placement of tees andyardages so women could hit similar shots
into the greens, women were forced toadapt their games tothe courses.

In addition to spearheading thedevelopment of Cypress Point Golf
Club, Marion Hollins suggested holeNo. 16, which required a shot overthe Pacific Ocean, be a par 3 rather
than a par 4. This is now one ofgolf’s most famous holes.

Marion Hollins

Marion Hollins was one of America’s finest
female golfers in the 1920s and an innovatorin golf course design.
At 20, she was therunner-up in the 1913 U.S.
Women’s Amateur Championship. She won thatcompetition in 1921 andcaptained the victorious
U.S. Curtis Cup team in
1932.
In 1924, she founded the Women’s National
Golf & Tennis Club in New York, and built acourse designed specifically to suit the female
game. The total yardage was 5,990 yards, andpar was 73.

“I felt a course of this kind should
not be the usual standard type designed formen because it is impossible for women
players, despite the great advance made by
their sex during the past few seasons, to copewith a man’s course on equal terms with parof even bogey.”
Marion traveled extensively to study courses.
She used the average carry distance of Alexa
Stirling’s drives, about 175 yards, to determine
the placement of hazards and tees. Her goal
was to, “create a course that would bring out
the best in women’s golf without sacrificing
length or hazards.”
Marion’s concept of a women’s-only course
was revolutionary, but financial problems
arising in World War II forced the club toclose.

Alexa Stirling in theJanuary 1917 issue of
Golf Illustrated wrote,“All the best courses
laid out in recent years
have been constructedon the most scientificlines, and as is natural,
have been designed formen. Consequently all
distances, traps, bunkers
and greens have beenmeasured for men alone.”Let’s Talk!

As the 1930s wore on, the most prestigious
golf events for women were only open toamateurs. While some tournaments, such as
the Titleholders Championship, were open to
professionals, they did not offer women prize
money until 1948. With no opportunities to
win money or endorsements, how could
women golfers make a living? Why would not
being able to make a living make it hard for
women to excel at playing golf?

CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS 9

1940 – 1950

A Professional Tour for WomenOn September 13, 1941,
when Betty Hicks
won the U.S. Women’s

P E R S E V E R A N C E

Amateur Championship, she wasawarded the trophy on the porch of
The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.
Why the porch? Even in
1941, after getting the rightto vote and other freedoms,
women were still not allowedin the clubhouse itself.

The years
1940-1945 saw
a 10% increasein the female
workforce.

During World War II, the USGA
cancelled all of its championships
and wouldn’t start them again until after thewar. It was hard to find golf balls or clubs
during the war, as the War Production Board
stopped their manufacture.

SERVING ON THE HOMEFRONTOne of the first professional women golfers,
winner of the Women’s Western OpenChampionship in 1939 andone of the 13 founders of
the Ladies Professional
Golf Association, Helen
Dettweiler, served her
country as a WASP
(Women Airforce Service
Pilot) from 1943 to 1944,
logging 750 hours ferrying
B-17s from factories
to military bases tofree male pilots forcombat roles.
In 1946, Helen joined
another female pilot,
Jacqueline Cochran,to design a nine-holegolf course in Indio,
Calif.

British Champion
golfer, Pam Barton,shown during her
training for the
Volunteer Ambulance
Service in England.

World War II, Women and Golf
December of 1941 witnessed events that would change awoman’s role in society, the world of golf and the historyof the world. The United States entered World War II.

War is not won by soldiers alone. Because the men were atwar, women were needed to fill jobs at home. They worked
in factories, served in the military, raised money for war
bonds, planted Victory Gardens, rolled bandages and more.
By the end of the war, the number of married women
holding jobs had doubled and the age of the female labor
force rose. Women found satisfaction in working outside
the home and after the war, they wanted to keep working
and enjoying new found freedoms.

Women took
on the jobs
previously
held by men
allowing
industry to
expand andmeetwartimeneeds.

USE THE NEWS: Locate articles in the business section about contemporary companies and thepeople who manage them. What leadership roles are filled by females?

10 CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS

“ Golf in wartime has a mission–to help keep us fit and to aid war charities. If it is patriotic
to be in shape physically, mentally, and spiritually, then it is patriotic to play golf.”
P R O F I L E

I NAnne Quast Sander

Anne Quast Sander persevered by playing inover 90 USGA events and won sevenchampionships. She played on eight Curtis
Cup teams.
At 13 she played on the boys’ golf team at herhigh school because there wasn’t a girls team.
Her determination to play and win wasevident at that young age, “the guys on theteam weren’t very good, but some players
from the other schools were excellent. Since I
did not like losing, I began practicing harder.”As a student at Stanford University in the
1950s, she was not treated the same as maleplayers. After winning the 1958 U.S.
Women’s Amateur Championship, sheapplied for a fee waiver. Stanford’s athletic

P E R S E V E R A N C E
director turned her
down, saying, “awoman’s place isin the classroom
or the kitchen. The
next thing you
know, you’ll be on
the football field.”
Undeterred, Annecontinued tocompete andwould have one of
the most impressive careers of any golfer,
male or female. With seven USGA
championship wins, Anne ranks behind only
Bob Jones and Tiger Woods [nine], JoAnne
Gunderson Carner and Jack Nicklaus [eight].

Timeline to a Tour of Their Own
1944: Betty Hicks Wins All-American OpenBetty Hicks won $500 in war bonds in thewomen’s division of The All-American
Open Championship. This event was hosted
by George S. May, an American businessman andgolf promoter at his club, the Tam O’Shanter
Country Club. By contrast, Byron Nelson, thewinner of the men’s division, won $10,000.

1949: LPGA Formed
The WPGA was failing due to a lack offunding. Two top golfers of the day, Babe
Zaharias and Patty Berg formed the Ladies
Professional Golf Association. They were able
to get Wilson Sporting Goods and a women’s
sportswear company, Weathervane, tosponsor the organization and prize money.

1944: Women’s Professional Golf Association Founded
To combat inequality in women’s competitions, Betty Hicks (at right), Hope Seignious and Ellen Griffin, founded
the Women’s Professional Golf Association (WPGA) in November 1944. According to Hicks, “Our objectives wereto promote money tournaments for women, which Hope would do, and for Ellen and myself to promote golf for
women in schools and colleges.”
The WPGA didn’t earn enough money through clinics, exhibitions and ticket sales to survive. Hope Seignious
used her own family money to fund it for a while. But the professional women golfers were struggling to findan audience and sponsors. Many people still did not think women should play professional sports.

J– USGA President George Blossom, Jr.

ust before the war began,
there were four small
tournaments for women thatawarded prize money totalinga mere $500. Between 1944
and 1953, events led to the
U.S. Women’s Open Championship – the pre-eminent professional
competition for women.

Let’s Talk!

Think of jobs today – pilots, soldiers, engineers,
doctors, bus drivers, technicians, teachers, etc.
Are there any contemporary careers unique toonly men or only women? What might be areason why certain careers are more popularwith one gender than the other?

1953: Weathervane
Pulls Sponsorship
Alvin Handmacher ofWeathervane sportswear
pulled his sponsorship of
the women’s tournaments
after players staged a sit-in
protesting low prize
money.

1953: USGA Steps Up
The USGA took over the running of the LPGA
Women’s Open, but with no sponsors, womencompetitors had to do more than just play golf.
They had to set up the courses, make the pairings,
enforce the rules, give out the checks and more. It
wasn’t easy. Before each tournament, clinics werescheduled as well as parties for sponsors. These
meant more work for the players, but they helped
to build a fan base, attract funding and open thedoor for more opportunity for women golfers.

CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS 11

1950 – 1980

Popularity of Women’s Golf Grows
By the 1950s, socialchange was stirring.
Women and people of

I N C L U S I O N

color were seeking equal treatment
in all areas of American life.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s
Montgomery bus boycott in
1955 ignited the Civil Rights
Movement. In 1961, President
Kennedy established thecommission on the Status of
Women to examine issues of
equality in employment,
education and more.

In 1953 only
a handful of
women played
professionalgolf.

All people looked to bring into reality thesecond paragraph of the United States
Declaration of Independence which states:“We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, thatthey are endowed by their Creatorwith certain unalienable Rights, thatamong these are Life, Liberty and the
Pursuit of Happiness.”

WINNING FOR WOMEN

Mickey Wright dominated professional golffrom 1961 to 1964, winning 44 tournamentsin those years.
She worked hard,
traveled extensively
and faced the stress ofsponsors threatening tocancel events if she did
not play. And they
expected her to win
every time.
Mickey rose to thechallenge, attracted
more women to the world of golf and paved
the way for the aspiring professional women
after her.

Blasting out of asand trap, Mickey
Wright went on to
win the 1958 U.S.
Women’s OpenChampionship.

Title IX: Equality for Women in Sports!
In 1972, the United States Congress passed the
Education Amendments Act, which put in placerules for schools receiving money from thefederal government. One part of the Act, called
Title IX, banned sex discrimination in schools,
including sports.

Schools with sports programs for boys, had tohave equal sports programs for girls. Title IX
changed the world of women’s sports, including
golf.

Kathy Whitworth

With equality in school sports the law of the land,
girls began to get better coaching, facilities, andopportunities. The result? Women started playing
better.
However, inequality in prize money continued.
In 1972, the year Title IX was passed, Kathy
Whitworth was the top money earner on the
LPGA Tour with $65,000, while Jack Nicklausof the PGA Tour won $320,000.

In 1971, about 294,000 girls in the U.S. participated in high school sports. By the year 2000, thenumber was 2,675,874 – a 900 percent increase.

12 CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYSUSE THE NEWS: Using the sports section,
create a graph to compare the number ofarticles featuring female athletes vs. maleathletes. Which gender has more coverage?

“ My tax dollars are taking care of the big course, and there’s no way you

can bar me from it. Just send the police out to get me.”T

– Ann Gregory, paying her green fees for a “white” public course in Gary, Indiana

P R O F I L E

I N

he work to establish a
women’s professional
tour continued into the

I N C L U S I O N

Ann Gregory

1950s. At the same time, thewomen’s amateur game wasattracting more and more women.

Ann Gregory never won a USGA
event, but she paved the way forother African-American golfers.
Jolyn Robichaux, a friend ofAnn’s, said she “dispelled many
myths that black women couldn’t
play golf.”
Orphaned as a child and raisedby a white Southern family,
Ann took up golf in 1942 in her
mid-20s. She became known as
she won tournaments in her native
Indiana and in United Golfers
Association (UGA) events. The
UGA was a group of AfricanAmerican professional golfers
who operated a separate seriesof professional golf tournaments
for blacks during the era of racial
segregation in the United States.
On September 17, 1956, Ann teed
off in the U.S. Women’s Amateur
Championship, becoming the first
African-American woman to playin that event.
Ann, because of her skin color,
was not allowed to attend a dinnerat the 1959 U.S. Women’s
Amateur Championship. In Tulsa,
Okla. in 1960, a hotel would nothonor her reservation.
Ann did not let these and otheracts of discrimination deter her
and her love of golf. “It was better
for me to remember that the flaw
was in the racist, not in myself.”

The National Golf Foundation found thatthe number of women playing golf
increased 52 percent from 1948 to 1958.
In this same time period, the number ofmen and juniors participating in golf also
increased, but not asmuch as women.

PIONEERS OF INCLUSION
Use this secret code
to reveal the nameof two pioneering
women golfers.

=A
=B
=E
=G

=H
=I
=L
=M

=N
=O
=P
=R

=S
=T
=U
=W

This former U.S. and Wimbledon tennis champion was
the first African-American woman to join the LPGA.

Business Week noted
in 1955 that “while
golf used to be asnooty pastime,
indulged in mostly
by male members of
the carriage trade,”its patrons now
numbered an “estimated five million
factory workers, school teachers, grocery
clerks, housewives, and businessmen of
all ranks.” The article also highlighted
increased participation by blacks and theelderly.
Women also proved to be good forbusiness. A club professional in New Yorksaid, “Today women take more lessons thanmen. If it weren’t for the women, the proswouldn’t make the living they do today.”The second African-American woman to join
the LPGA is currently the head professional
at Clearview Golf Club in Ohio.

Let’s Talk!

Should prize money and lucrative sports
contracts be the same regardless of genderindentification?

CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS 13

YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW

Great Women GolfersIn the late 1800s, very few
women played golf.
Today, golf is enjoyed by

Annika Sorenstam, a retired Swedish
professional golfer, is regarded as thegreatest modern female golfer. She has
89 worldwide victories including three
U.S. Women’s Open Championships
and is the only LPGA player to shoot59 in an official tournament. Winnerof countless other awards, shechanged the way women’s golf
was played, viewed and covered.

millions of women around theworld.

ANNIKA BASSADORSORENSTAM

BORN: 1970 • SWEDEN

In 2008, Annika became just thesecond ambassador in the historyof the USGA. The first was Arnold
Palmer. As ambassador, Annika provides
an important connection between the public and the
USGA and makes the game more relevant and accessible
to golfers of all skill levels.

WHAT IS NEXT FOR WOMEN?
According to USGA Ambassador Annika
Sorenstam, “If you want to play, you haveto play with boys. If you want to stickaround, you have to beat them.”
The new generation of women golfers,
like Annika, believe that the day when
women have true equality on the
fairway – when they can score andearn the same money as men – is not
too far away.

EIGHT-TIME USG
A CHAMPIONJOANNECARNER
BORN: 1939 •USA

Michelle Wie won her firstmajor at the 2014 U.S. Women’s
Open.

JoAnne Carner was an icon in women's golf
during the 1970s and 1980s. She originally gained
national notice in 1956 when she won the U.S.
Girls’ Junior Championship.
JoAnne started winning amateur events in her
teens and compiled one of the finest amateur
records of any woman golfer. She turned
professional at the age of 30, and continued
making records well into her 60s. Her 43 victories
on the LPGA Tour led to her induction in the World
Golf Hall of Fame. She is the only woman to have
won the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship, U.S.
Women’s Amateur, and U.S. Women’s Open titles,
and was the first person ever to win three different
USGA championship events.

Se Ri Pak
was thefirst Korean
golfer to
make animpact on the
LPGA Tour.

USGA AM

Prior to Lucy Li, Michelle Wie was
the youngest player to qualify fora USGA amateur championship.
In 2003, at the age of 13,
Michelle became the youngest
player ever to win a USGA event
for adults, the Women’s Amateur
Public Links Championship.
In 2005, she became the firstfemale golfer to qualify for a
USGA national men’s tournament. Growing to a height of 6feet, the “Big Wiesy” became
known for her long drives. Heraverage drive was about 275
yards at the age of 21.

NER

LPGA TOUR WIN

MICHELLE

WIE

• USA
BORN: 1989

ER
R WINN
U
O
T
A
G
LP

SE RI

PAK

1977
BORNT:H KOREA
SOU

Within 10 years of joining the LPGA, Se Ri had qualified for theHall of Fame. At 30 years old, she became the youngest living
player inducted. She has 25 LPGA Tour victories including 5
major championships. Se Ri opened the door for dozens of
Korean golfers who followed her to America, starting one of
the most important trends in women’s golf at the turn ofthe 21st century.

Read the golf cards we created on this page. Then answer the following questions:
1. How many different
countries do thesegolfers represent?

2. What obstacles did
some of these
women overcome?

3. How old were they
when they played
professionally?

14 CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS

4. List ways these womenare different from women
who played in the 1800s.

“ If everything was given to you, it wouldn't feel as good when you achieve it.”– Annika Sorenstam, USGA Ambassador

From humble beginnings, Nancy Lopez attracted
new fans to the game of golf. Thousands of people
became part of “Nancy’s Navy,” showing up at
events to cheer her on.

IS CUP TEAM
1976 U.S. CURT

NANCY

LOPEZ

Lucy Li made golf history in 2013, when at
10 years, 10 months and 4 days she became
the youngest golfer to qualify for the U.S.
Women’s Amateur Championship.

Nancy Lopez had 48 LPGA Tour victories, winning
three major championships over her career.
Reaching that level of skill didn’t come easy. Her
high school didn’t have a girl’s golf team, so Nancy
wanted to play on the boy’s team. Her family had tothreaten a lawsuit. At first the boys weren’t surethey liked having a girl on the team. In the end, it
was the boys on the opposing teams that had thebiggest problems with her. They didn’t like being
beaten by a girl!

YOUNGEST QUALIFIER

LUCY

LI

• USA
BORN: 1957

At age 11, she currently holds the record as
the youngest golfer ever to qualify for the U.S.
Women’s Open Championship. Lucy ishomeschooled and spends the wintermonths training in Florida. Even though herparents have tried to interest her in otheractivities, all she wants to do is play golf and isoften found happily skipping down fairways.
Her dedication has already earned her a placein golf history.

BORN: 2002
• USA

Mariah Stackhouse was the first African-American woman toplay in the Curtis Cup.

CUP TEAM
IS
T
R
U
C
.
.S
2014 ULP G A TO

MARIAHU

LORENAR WINNEROCHOABORN: 1
981 •Mariah started playing golf at the age of 2. She played in her first
tournament at the age of six and debuted her professional career in2016 at the age of 23. While becoming one of the leading up-andcoming young golfers, she maintained a 4.0 average at Stanford
University and helped her school win the NCAA title in 2015.

E
S
U
O
H
K
C
STA
94 • USA
9
1
:
N
R
BO

MEXICO

Lorena Ochoa was the first Mexican-bornwinner on the LPGA Tour in 2004.
Lorena dominated the Tour from 2003 to2010 before retiring at age 28. She launcheda foundation that has benefited hundreds of
Mexico’s underprivileged children. While hergolf achievements are significant, she is also
known for her contributions to humanity,
starting a grow-the-game program not justin Mexico, but throughout Latin America.

At 17 years-old, Lydia Ko became theyoungest-ever Number 1 ranked
woman professional golfer.
In 2015 when she won the EvianChampionship in France, she became
the youngest woman to win a major
championship. As of October 2016,at the age of 19, only 38 LPGA Tour
players have won more titles.

Let’s Talk!

YO U N G E S T

LYDIA

KO

#1 PL AYERBORN:NEW ZE1A997
LAND

When describing an athlete whoplays fair, respects fellow athletes
and follows the rules of the game,
we use the term “sportsmanship.”Should we use the term
sportswomanship to be moreaccurate? Why or why not?

CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS 15

Fill in the missing words. Then matchthe letters to the numbers and spell
the answer to the question.

Q: WHO IS KNOWN AS “THE MOTHER OF GOLF”?

Hint: Her portrait hangs in a golf museum in St. Andrews, Scotland and she was one of the first women known to have played golf.
ANSWER:
1

10

4

2

7

12

9

1. In the late 1800s, only about 100

9

3

6

1

13

11

8

3

2

Attention Teachers!

TEXT CREDITS:

5. In 1920 with the ratification of the 19th Amendment, women got the right to

7.

.

3

is known as the “girl who beat Bobby Jones.”

6. The Curtis Cup competition promotes international

.

5

.

6

had to play on her high school boy’s
golf team because there was no girl’s team at the time.
7

8. With the passage of Title IX,
for boys and girls.

8

The FREE teacher guide for Character ofa Champion: Winning Freedom on the
Fairways is available as a PDF file.
To get your copy, please call theMuseum at (908) 234-2300.

formed a golf club for women.

3. In 1941, Betty Hicks was given her U.S. Women’s Championship trophy on the4

11played golf.

2. In 1894, a group of women in

4. Alexa

5

USGA Museum
77 Liberty Corner Road,Far Hills, NJ 07931(908) 234-2300
www.usgamuseum.com
Open Tuesday to Sunday
10 a.m. — 5 p.m.
Closed Mondays and major holidays

had to have equal sports programs

9. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, women’s clothing made playing golf
for women than for men.
10. Margaret Curtis loved golf. She said she would play it with

10

11

11. Mariah Stackhouse was the first African-American woman to play on theteam.
12. During WWII, the War Production Board stopped the manufacture of.

9

if she had to.
1213

16 CHARACTER OF A CHAMPION: WOMEN WINNING FREEDOM ON THE FAIRWAYS

Page 2: Hudson, Women in Golf, 6; John Gilmer Speed, “The Game of Golf
for Women,” The Ladies Home Journal, June 1894, 9.
Marcia Chambers, The Unplayable Lie: The Untold Story of Women andDiscrimination in American Golf (New York: Pocket Books, 1995), 12.
Page 3: Lady Greville, ed., The Gentlewoman’s Book of Sports (London:
Henry and Co., 1892)
Page 4: Lilian Brooks, “Woman’s Game of Golf” The New York Times, June
10, 1900
The Baltimore Sun, June 12, 1940.
Lilian Brooks, “Woman’s Game of Golf” The New York Times, June 10, 1900.
Page 5: Mary E.L. Ross, “Golf as a Profession for Women,” Golf, December
1915, 358
Alexa Stirling, “Alexa Williamson Stirling: An Autobiography,” Golf
Illustrated, March 1917, 17.
Pamela F. Emory, “Alexa Stirling: The Girl Who Beat Bobby Jones,” Links,
April [no year], 36, article in the USGA Alexa Stirling file.
Alexa Stirling, “My Game of Golf,” Country Life, Volume 42, 1922, 65.
Page 6: Alexa W. Stirling, “A Plea for the Woman Expert,” Golf Illustrated,
July 1917, 23.
Page 7: Catherine Gourley, Flappers and the American Woman:
Perceptions of Women from 1918 Through the 1920s (Minneapolis, MN:
Twenty-First Century Books, 2008), 30.
Ned Vare, “Glenna: She Was, Simply, The Queen,” 1988 U.S. Women’s Open
program, 126, in USGA Glenna Collett Vare file; Glenna Collett, Ladies in
the Rough (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928), 23.
Bill Fields, “A Place in Time,” Golf World, November 28, 1997, 18.
Vare, “Glenna,” 126; Martin, Fifty Years of American Golf, 126.
Page 9: Tim Horgan, “Science, Not Fashions, Helped Women’s Golf –Margaret Curtis,” unidentified clipping in USGA Pamela Fox Emory Papers,box 2, folder 3.
George Bahto, “The Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair
Macdonald,” 2002, 206-209.
W.H. Tucker, Jr., “A Dream that Came True - The Women’s National Golf andTennis Club at Glenhead, N.Y.,” Golf Illustrated, March 1924, 67.
Alexa Stirling, Golf Illustrated, January 1917
Page 11: George B. Kirsch, Golf in America (Chicago: University of Illinois
Press, 2009), 123.
Joan Flynn Dreyspool, “Conversation Piece: Subject: Babe and George
Zaharias,” Sports Illustrated, May 14, 1956, 84.
Kahn, The LPGA, 27-28.
Marilynn Smith with Bob Cayne, Have Clubs, Will Travel (Goodyear, AZ:
Ambassador Publishing, 2012), 6-7.
thepnga.org/the-story-of-anne-quast-sander-hall-of-fame-inductee1999-part-1/
Anne Sander, interview by Alice Kendrick, April 14, 2004, USGA Oral
History Collection, 45.
Page 13: usga.org/articles/2016/01/the-natural--ann-gregory.html
Interview transcript in the USGA Rhonda Glenn Collection, Box 2, folder 14.
Gregory, interview by Rhonda Glenn, 7.
Joan Flynn Dreyspool, “It’s a Mad World and We Love It,” Sports Illustrated,
August 17, 1959, 39; Kirsch, Golf in America, 141.
Dreyspool, “It’s a Mad World and We Love It,” 40-41.
Page 14: inc.com/mandy-antoniacci/10-empowering-quotes-forfemale-leaders-from-condoleezza-rice-and-the-lpga.html
inc.com/mandy-antoniacci/10-empowering-quotes-for-femaleleaders-from-condoleezza-rice-and-the-lpga.html

PICTURE CREDITS:

The pictures in this supplement are either from the USGA archives or are in
the public domain unless stated here.
Page 2: The Ladies Home Journal: Getty Images.
Page 12: Kathy Whitworth: Des Mones Golf Association.