Roberta Bolduc Appointed Chairman Of USGA Women's Committee


January 17, 2007

Far Hills, N.J. - Roberta Bolduc of Longmeadow, Mass., has been appointed to serve a one-year term as chairman of the United States Golf Association's Women's Committee.  She succeeds Marcia Luigs of Carmel, Ind., who served consecutive one-year terms.

Bolduc takes over as chairman in 2007 after serving as first vice chairman of the 16-member Committee for the past two years. Barbara Douglas of Scottsdale, Ariz., has been appointed to a one-year term as vice chairman.

Thirteen other members were reappointed to another one-year term. They are: Christi Dickinson of Paradise Valley, Ariz.; Cece Durbin of Winnetka, Ill.; Carolyn Hooper of Hockessin, Del.; Pat Kaufman of Fort Washington, Md.; Brigid Shanley Lamb of East Hampton, N.Y.; Martha Lang of Birmingham, Ala.; Kathy Oven of Clarks Summit, Pa.; Dot Paluck of Springfield, N.J.; Ede Rice of Edina, Minn.; Gail Rogers of Santa Cruz, Calif.; Peggy Runnette of Pittsburgh, Pa.; Laura Saf of Lincoln, Neb.; and Tinker Sanger of Hydes, Md.

Robin Weiss Donnelley, left, receives the medalist award from Roberta Bolduc at the 2004 USGA Senior Women's Amateur Championship. (USGA Photo Archives)

The only new member appointed to the Women's Committee is Martha Kirouac of Marietta, Ga.

The Women's Committee, which is appointed annually by the USGA Executive Committee, represents the Association in matters relating to women's golf.  Its principal responsibilities include overseeing the administration of the women's championships conducted by the USGA, making recommendations to the Executive Committee regarding key policies and strategies to enhance the game, and supporting the development and promotion of women's golf.

Bolduc has been a member of the Women's Committee since 1997. She was chairman of the Senior Women's Amateur Championship Committee in 2003 and 2004 and has served on the USGA Handicap and Women's Handicap Procedure Committees. She served as chairman of the 1995 U.S. Girls' Junior Championship held at Longmeadow Country Club, where she is a former member of the Board of Governors and where she served as the club's first woman president from 1998-2001. She has served on the Women's Trans National Golf Association Executive Committee and the Women's Golf Association of Massachusetts (WGAM), and is a past president of the Women's Eastern Golf Association.

She played in the inaugural U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship in 1987 and has played in nine USGA Senior Women's Amateurs. In addition, she was the 1999 and 2000 WGAM Senior champion and the 1995 Women's Eastern Senior champion.

Bolduc and her husband, Bob, have one daughter, Kathleen, and three grandchildren. In addition to her numerous golf activities, she serves on the board of trustees for Bay Path College and the Baystate Health Foundation and is a founding director of the Ronald McDonald House of Springfield (Mass.). She is a 1965 graduate of Marymount College of Kansas.

Douglas has been a member of the Women's Committee since 1993. Prior to joining the Women's Committee, she served on the Women's Amateur Public Links Committee.  She has served on the Sectional Qualifying Committee and been chairman of the Women's Regional Affairs and the Women's Amateur Public Links Championship Committees. She presently chairs the Women's Open Format Committee and serves as a member of the Women's Strategic Planning Committee, International Team Selection Committee and the Future Sites Committee.

She has been and continues to be involved in minority golf, and served as president of the National Minority Golf Foundation from 1999 to 2005. Prior to joining the NMGF, Douglas pursued a career at the IBM Corporation, where she held numerous general management and executive positions.

Douglas is a member of the board of directors of the National Minority College Golf Scholarship Fund and the Executive Women's Golf Association and a member of the executive committees of the Arizona Golf Association and the Junior Golf Association of Arizona. In addition, she is a member of the advisory board for Golf for Women and currently is a member of the Board of the Banner Health Golf Council, the fundraising arm of the LPGA Safeway Classic.

Kirouac won the 1970 U.S. Women's Amateur and played on the 1970 and 1972 USA Curtis Cup teams. She also was captain of the victorious 2004 Curtis Cup team. Kirouac is a four-time Rhode Island Women's Amateur champion and counts among her many victories the Mexican Women's Amateur, Trans-Mississippi Women's Amateur, Georgia Women's Amateur, Harder Hall Invitational and the Women's Southern Amateur. She was inducted into the Atlanta Athletic Club Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 2006.

She was a volunteer for the Georgia State Golf Association (GSGA) prior to her employment there starting in 1996.  She served as a volunteer member of its Board of Directors and was the first woman elected to its Executive Committee. She currently serves as senior director of course rating and member services for GSGA and also serves on the USGA Course Rating Committee.

Kirouac, who attended California State College-Fullerton and Odessa College in Texas, has two grown daughters, Amy and Ginny. Her late husband, Bob, is one of only five golfers to have played in the U.S. Junior Amateur five times.

The USGA is the national governing body of golf in the United States and Mexico. These nations together comprise more than half the world's golfers and courses. The Association's most visible role is conducting 13 national championships, including the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Senior Open. Ten additional USGA national championships are exclusively for amateurs, and include the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Women's Amateur.

The USGA also writes the Rules of Golf, conducts equipment testing, maintains an official Handicap System and administers an ongoing "For the Good of the Game" grants program, which has allocated more than $53 million over the last 10 years to programs that seek to grow the game. For more information about the USGA, visit www.usga.org.