Louise Suggs

Louise Suggs
Suggs in 1958
Personal information
Full name Mae Louise Suggs
Born (1923-09-07)September 7, 1923
Atlanta, Georgia
Died August 7, 2015(2015-08-07) (aged 91)
Sarasota, Florida
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Nationality  United States
Residence Delray Beach, Florida, U.S.
Career
Turned professional 1948
Retired 1962
Former tour(s) LPGA Tour (co-founder)
Professional wins 61
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour 61 (4th all time)
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 11)
Western Open Won: 1946, 1947, 1949, 1953
Titleholders C'ship Won: 1946, 1954, 1956, 1959
ANA Inspiration CUT: 1983
Women's PGA C'ship Won: 1957
U.S. Women's Open Won: 1949, 1952
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 1951 (member page)
LPGA Tour
Money Winner		 1953, 1960
LPGA Vare Trophy 1957
Patty Berg Award 2000
Bob Jones Award 2007

Mae Louise Suggs (September 7, 1923 – August 7, 2015) was an American professional golfer, one of the founders of the LPGA Tour and thus modern ladies' golf.[1]

Amateur career

Born in Atlanta, Suggs had a very successful amateur career, beginning as a teenager. She won the Georgia State Amateur in 1940 at age 16 and again in 1942,[2] was the Southern Amateur Champion in 1941 and 1947,[3] and won the North and South Women's Amateur three times (1942, 1946, 1948).[4] She won the 1946 and 1947 Women's Western Amateur[5] and the 1946 and 1947 Women's Western Open, which was designated as a major championship when the LPGA was founded.[6] She also won the 1946 Titleholders Championship which was also subsequently designated as a women's major. She won the 1947 U.S. Women's Amateur and the next year won the British Ladies Amateur.[4] She finished her amateur career representing the United States on the 1948 Curtis Cup Team.[7]

Professional career

After her successful amateur career, she turned professional in 1948 and went on to win 58[8] additional professional tournaments, with a total of 11 majors. Her prowess on the golf course is reflected in the fact that from 1950 to 1960 she was only once out of the top 3 in the season-ending money list.

Suggs was an inaugural inductee into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame, established in 1967, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1979. She was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1966.[9]

She was one of the co-founders of the LPGA in 1950, which included her two great rivals of the time, Patty Berg and Babe Zaharias. Suggs served as the organization's president from 1955 to 1957.

Honors

The Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award, given annually to the most accomplished first-year player on the LPGA Tour, is named in her honor. In 2006 Suggs was named the 2007 recipient of the Bob Jones Award, given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. In February 2015 she became one of the first female members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.[10]

Amateur wins

Professional wins

LPGA Tour wins (61)

LPGA majors are shown in bold.

Major championships

Wins (11)

YearChampionshipWinning scoreMarginRunner(s)-up
1946Titleholders Championship+14 (80-77-77-80=314)2 strokesUnited States Eileen Stulb
1946Women's Western Open2 upUnited States Patty Berg
1947Women's Western Open4 & 2United States Dorothy Kirby (a)
1949U.S. Women's Open−9 (69-75-77-70=291)14 strokesUnited States Babe Zaharias
1949Women's Western Open5 & 4United States Betty Jameson
1952U.S. Women's Open+8 (70-69-70-75=284)7 strokesUnited States Marlene Hagge, United States Betty Jameson
1953Women's Western Open6 & 5United States Patty Berg
1954Titleholders Championship+5 (73-71-76-73=293)7 strokesUnited States Patty Berg
1956Titleholders Championship+14 (78-75-75-74=302)1 strokeUnited States Patty Berg
1957LPGA Championship+5 (69-74-74-68=285)3 strokesUnited States Wiffi Smith
1959Titleholders Championship+9 (78-73-75-71=297)1 strokeUnited States Betsy Rawls

(a)=Amateur

Team appearances

Amateur

  • Curtis Cup (representing the United States): 1948 (winners)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "LPGA Founder Louise Suggs Passes Away at Age 91". LPGA. August 6, 2015.
  2. ↑ "History of the GWGA". Georgia Women's Golf Association. Archived from the original on 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  3. ↑ "WSGA Champions 1911–2004". Women's Southern Golf Association. Archived from the original on 2007-09-20. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  4. 1 2 "Louise Suggs Full Career Bio" (PDF). LPGA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  5. ↑ "Amateur Championship Winners 1901–2003". Women's Western Golf Association. Archived from the original on 2007-09-18. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  6. ↑ "Women's Western Open - Winners". About Golf. Archived from the original on 2006-03-23. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  7. ↑ "Previous Curtis Cup Matches 1932–2002". United States Golf Association. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
  8. ↑ Nichols, Beth Ann (July 23, 2013). "Biographer adds 3 missing titles to Suggs' resume". Golfweek.
  9. ↑ "Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Members by Year" (PDF). Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 5, 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Princess Royal among first women to join St Andrews". BBC Sport. February 10, 2015.
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