By May, the trickle of entries had become a steady stream. When the June deadline for entries arrived and the results were tallied, the astonishing reality was that this championship had attracted a field of 686 players- more than the combined fields of the 1977 Women's Amateur, Women's Open, Senior Women's Amateur, and Girls' Junior. The entry figure was amazing for several reasons. First, this was a new championship that would need time to build interest. Secondly, some states didn't even have organizations to assist women public course players, conduct sectional qualifying, or raise funds, and the 686 were drawn from only 24 states.
Fund raising is a key part of the organization of the championship.
In a departure from the USGA's amateur status code, a qualifier for the WAPL may accept round-trip airfare and modest per diem expense money. The championship received a boost when Lori Castillo, the 1979 and 1980 champion, was selected as a member of the 1980 United States Curtis Cup team. By that year, the Women's Amateur Public Links was regarded as a highly competitive arena for some of the best amateurs in the country. Since then, Heather Farr, Danielle Ammaccapane, Cindy Schreyer, Tracy Kerdyk, Pearl Sinn, Tracy Hanson, Amy Fruhwirth, Jill McGill, Jo Jo Robertson, and all WAPL champions, also have been named to Curtis Cup teams. Pearl Sinn accomplished a unique double in 1988 when she won the Women's Amateur as well as the Women's Amateur Public Links.