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 entries 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 air fare and modest per diem expense money. In fact, for the first four years the championship was the personal property of two outstanding players. Fuiks won again in 1978 before turning professional. Lori Castillo won in 1979 and 1980, and at one time held or shared every individual record in the championship. Miss Castillo won 11 consecutive matches before losing in the second round in 1981.