The U.S. Women’s Amateur is the oldest and most prestigious championship open to amateur female golfers in this country. Throughout its 125-year history, it has stood as a testament to the talent, spirit and leadership exhibited by its competitors, and has served to elevate the status of women’s golf in the United States. The USGA Golf Museum is proud to celebrate this championship’s important history through the preservation of artifacts, library materials, footage and images.
This list includes nine of our favorite U.S. Women’s artifacts included in the Museum’s world-class collection:
The First Championship Trophy, 1895 U.S. Women’s Amateur
Though the U.S. Women’s Amateur is considered one of the USGA’s three original championships that were first contested in 1895, the inaugural playing was hastily arranged. This silver pitcher was awarded to the first champion, Lucy Barnes Brown, upon her victory over 11 competitors at the Meadow Brook Club in Hempstead, N.Y. Her winning score of 132 was called “one of the best ever by a woman in this country” by the New York Herald.
Brown was a member of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, a club that cultivated many of the winningest female players at the turn of the 20th century, including three-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Beatrix Hoyt. In 1896, Robert Cox donated the perpetual U.S. Women’s Amateur trophy that the USGA currently awards to every champion. .
Margaret Curtis’ Cleek, 1897 and 1907 U.S. Women’s Amateurs
Margaret Curtis and her sister, Harriot, profoundly impacted American golf as both players and promoters of the game. Margaret used this cleek on her way to capturing the first of her three U.S. Women’s Amateur titles in 1907, defeating sister Harriot in the final match. She also used it in one of her earliest appearances in the championship in 1897 at the age of 13.
Outside of golf, Margaret cared deeply about improving the lives of others. A trained social worker, she joined the Red Cross in France to aid displaced families during World War I, earning the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest civilian honor.
Ann Gregory’s Contestant Badge, 1956 U.S. Women’s Amateur
In 1956, Ann Gregory became the first African American to compete in the U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Women’s Amateur. Though she lost her first-round match, 2 and 1, to Carolyn Cudone at Meridian Hills C.C. in Indianapolis, Ind., Gregory made history.
In everyday life and on the golf course, Gregory elevated the status of African Americans with grace and courage during an era of discrimination. The Museum acquired this badge, worn by Gregory when she competed in the 1956 U.S. Women’s Amateur, from the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Foundation, as it was one of Babe’s most prized possessions.
Wedge used by Juli Inkster, 1980-1982 U.S. Women’s Amateurs
Since Juli Inkster produced three consecutive U.S. Women’s Amateur championships from 1980-82, the Northern Californian has captivated fans with her fearless style of play and come-from-behind victories. With her husband as her caddie, Inkster’s final match in 1982 against Cathy Hanlon showcased her incredible ability to go low when necessary: Inkster recorded five birdies and an eagle over an eight-hole stretch, eventually defeating Hanlon, 4 and 3.
Despite a long and successful professional career, crowned by two U.S. Women’s Open championships in 1999 and 2002, Inkster still considers her career-launching performances at the U.S. Women’s Amateur to be her greatest accomplishment. Known for her precise short game honed through hours of dedicated practice, Inkster donated her PGA R-91 wedge used during her Women’s Amateur victories to the Museum in 1984.
Babe Didrikson Zaharias’ Putting Cleek, 1946 U.S. Women’s Amateur
Babe Didrikson Zaharias found fame as the greatest female athlete of the 20th century, winning two gold medals in track and field at the 1932 Olympics and barnstorming with men’s baseball and basketball teams early in her career. When Zaharias first dedicated herself to golf in the early 1940s, there were few tournaments open to female professional golfers. But her leadership, talent and larger-than-life personality helped give rise to the fledgling Ladies Professional Golf Association and a lasting pro-circuit for women.
However, it was as an amateur that Zaharias honed her game and cemented her legacy as a one of the game’s best golfers. In 1946, she used this putting cleek, a club she considered one of her favorites, to win the 1946 U.S Women’s Amateur. From 1946 to 1947, she would win 13 consecutive tournaments, including the 1947 Ladies British Amateur, becoming the first American to capture the title. .
Spoon Used by Glenna Collett Vare, 1922, 1925, 1928, 1929, 1930 and 1935 U.S. Women’s Amateurs
Glenna Collett Vare was America’s first female golf hero, earning the title “Queen of American Golf,” by her contemporaries and the press. Vare dominated women’s golf in the 1920s, winning six U.S. Women’s Amateurs between 1922 and 1935. Respected for not only her exceptional play and athletic swing, Vare embodied the ideals of amateurism and sportsmanship.
She won multiple international women’s championships, including the Canadian Amateur and French Ladies Amateur, and was a member of six USA Curtis Cup Teams. Vare acquired this James MacGregor Special spoon when she first took up the game as a teenager and used it in all six U.S. Women’s Amateur victories, donating it to the Museum in 1938.
Pearl Sinn’s Wedge, 1988 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 1988 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links
With her victories at the 1988 U.S. Women’s Amateur and U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links (WAPL), Pearl Sinn became the first woman to win two USGA championships in the same year. Sinn and her family emigrated to the United States from the Republic of Korea when she was nine years old, and she learned to play golf on a nine-hole par-3 municipal course in Bellflower, Calif. A member of the Arizona State University golf team, Sinn’s victories proved the success of Title IX and the WAPL’s purpose of providing an alternative championship for public-course female amateurs.
In 1989, Sinn selected her Roger Cleveland wedge to donate to the Museum because of its important role in changing the momentum of her first match at the 1988 U.S. Women’s Amateur when she made a chip-in birdie on the ninth hole. She said, “I felt as though it played a big part in building my confidence towards eventually winning the championship.” Sinn followed up her record-breaking year by winning the 1989 WAPL for her third USGA championship title.
Louise Suggs’ Low Qualifying Scorer Medal, 1947 U.S. Women’s Amateur
Known for her exceptional length off the tee and smooth swing, Georgian Louise Suggs rose to national fame as one of the South’s most talented players. By the time she reached the 1947 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Franklin (Mich.) Hills C.C., Suggs had held five of the major amateur titles of the era. Suggs needed only 30 putts on her way to leading the field in the championship’s qualifying round, posting a 2-over-par 78, for which she received this medal. Suggs would turn professional in 1948, and, in 1950, join Zaharias as one of the LPGA’s 13 founding members.
Titleist Golf Ball used by Ann Quast, 1963 U.S. Women’s Amateur
As women’s professional golf gained support and recognition in the 1950s and 1960s, a generation of accomplished golfers competed against one another on the women’s amateur circuit. Anne Quast was one of these elite competitors, known for her intelligence, grit and her ability to mount dramatic comebacks.
Quast holds many records, including the largest winning margin in any women’s USGA championship, defeating Phyllis Preuss, 14 and 13, in the final of the 1961 U.S Women’s Amateur. Quast used this golf ball in the 1963 U.S. Women’s Amateur to win her third championship in six years. Quast remained a mainstay of USGA amateur competitions well into the 1990s, playing in eight Curtis Cups between 1958 and 1990 and winning the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur in 1987, 1989, 1990 and 1993. .
Victoria Nenno is the USGA Museum’s senior historian. Email her at vnenno@usga.org.
