Susie Maxwell Berning, 3-time U.S. Women’s Open Champion, Dies at 83

Susie Maxwell Berning, a three-time U.S. Women’s Open champion and World Golf Hall of Fame inductee who registered 11 LPGA Tour victories during a 33-year professional career, died on Oct. 2 at the age of 83. Berning, one of six players to claim three or more U.S. Women’s Open titles, won the championship in 1968, 1972 and 1973. She also is one of six golfers to successfully defend. Berning also captured the 1965 Women’s Western Open, then considered a women’s professional major, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2021.

"Susie was a true trailblazer from the moment she picked up a golf club,” said USGA CEO Mike Whan. “When I reflect on the incredibly short list of golfers – male or female – who have claimed three U.S. Open titles, alongside four Major Championships, it puts into perspective just how extraordinary her achievements were. Even more inspiring is the decision she made to step away from the competitive game to prioritize her family, a choice that resonates deeply with so many of us. Her legacy will forever be a source of admiration and respect."

Born in Pasadena, Calif., on July 22, 1941, Maxwell Berning spent the majority of her teenage years in Oklahoma City, Okla., where she discovered the game thanks to a runaway horse and a benevolent PGA professional.

Maxwell Berning’s family rented a house across the street from Lincoln Park, a 36-hole municipal golf facility that also had bridle paths on its periphery. Berning initially inquired about caddieing at Lincoln Park with her two older brothers, but the head professional, U.C. Ferguson, politely told her females didn’t do such things.

When her father was asked by a co-worker to tend to a pair of horses, Maxwell Berning took on the task of watching them. One day while walking a young colt, a train came whistling by, scaring the animal. The colt broke free and galloped onto the golf course, causing damage to a couple of greens.

This brought about a meeting with Ferguson, albeit under different circumstances. He initially thought Maxwell Berning was being vengeful for being denied a chance to caddie. A frightened and tearful 13-year-old said that wasn’t the case. Seeing that Maxwell Berning was proficient with horses, Ferguson asked if she could teach his young children how to ride.

Ferguson inquired about Maxwell Berning’s interest in golf, but she scoffed at the notion of playing “that silly game.”

Susie Maxwell Berning claimed the first of her three U.S. Women's Open titles in 1968 at Moselem Springs Golf Club in Pennsylvania. (USGA Museum)

Not until 1946 U.S. Women’s Open champion Patty Berg came to Lincoln Park for a clinic did Maxwell Berning finally have a change of heart. It was Ferguson who made the ask and when Maxwell Berning saw the joy and humor from Berg, she decided to take up a game that would lead to a fruitful career.

Given free instruction and equipment from Ferguson, Maxwell Berning became one of the state’s top players, eventually earning a scholarship to Oklahoma City University, where she competed on the men’s golf team. She decided to try professional golf after seeing two chief amateur rivals from Oklahoma, Beth Stone and Betsy Cullen, join the LPGA Tour.

That decision paid off as Maxwell Berning earned LPGA Tour Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 1964. Four years later, she earned the first of her three U.S. Women’s Open titles, edging Mickey Wright by three strokes at Moselem Springs Golf Club, in Fleetwood, Pa., just seven weeks after she married Dale Berning.

Her other two titles came at Winged Foot Golf Club’s East Course in Mamaroneck, N.Y., and the Country Club of Rochester (N.Y.), the former after opening with a 79, the highest first-round score by a champion in U.S. Women’s Open history.

In 1989 at the Konica San Jose Classic in California, Maxwell Berning and oldest daughter, Robin, became the first mother/daughter tandem to compete in the same LPGA Tour event. They did it again five years later at the Wegmans Rochester (N.Y.) LPGA Tour event. Robin eventually settled in Rochester, while youngest daughter, Cindy, resides in Walnutport, Pa., not far from Philadelphia.

After retiring from the LPGA Tour in 1996, Maxwell Berning became a noted instructor in Southern California and Colorado. She spent her last 20-plus years at The Reserve Club in Indian Wells, Calif., where she was made an honorary member.

She is survived by her two daughters, Robin Doctor and Cindy Molchany.

David Shefter is a senior staff writer at the USGA. Email him at dshefter@usga.org.

Susie Maxwell Berning, 3-time U.S. Women’s Open Champion, Dies at 83

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