The United States Golf Association played a major role in the development of women’s sport in the U.S.
The USGA, at the time known as the Amateur Golf Association (AGA), was founded in 1894. The first U.S. Women’s Amateur was held a year later. The first was held in 1895, just a few years after the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open. Since then, the Women’s Amateur is held every year, with the exception of 1917-18 when it was suspended because of World War I and 1942-45 when it suspended due World War II.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur was the first major women’s golf tournament in the United States and one of its oldest championships.
Bel-Air Country Club, Los Angeles, will host the 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship beginning on Monday. The Robert Cox Trophy will be awarded to 156 golfers who compete for the trophy. It has a unique history.
The Robert Cox Trophy is the oldest trophy still awarded to a USGA champion. The Robert Cox Trophy is the only USGA award donated by a foreign country. It was given to Robert Cox, a Scotsman.
The first U.S. Amateur Women’s tournament featured 13 players and 18 holes. The men’s U.S. The original entry restrictions for the Amateur were restricted to USGA-affiliated clubs and international players affiliated with their national golf governing bodies. This policy was in place up until 1979.
Glenna Collett-Vare, a lifetime amateur who has won the Cox Trophy six times in a row, is the most decorated U.S. Women’s Open winner. JoAnne Carner is second to Vare, with five U.S. Amateurs. Carner’s combined eight USGA titles, including her two victories in the U.S. Women’s Open, and one in the U.S. Girls’ Junior are tied with Jack Nicklaus, and only Bob Jones and Tiger Woods have won more, each with nine.
Repeat winners have also been plentiful at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Beatrix Inkster, Alexa Stirling and Vare have won the U.S. Women’s Amateur 3 times in a row. Genevieve Hecker and Dorothy Campbell have also won back-to-back.
Many of the greatest female golfers have been identified by the U.S. Women’s Amateur. They’ve gone on to enjoy successful professional careers. Patty Berg, who won the first U.S. Women’s Open back in 1946, Babe Didrikson, Louise Suggs and Marlene Stewart-Streit, Anne Quast Sander and Barbara McIntire are among the many champions that have made golf history. They were all U.S. Women’s Amateur winners.
The U.S. Women’s Amateur has always been a major tournament for amateurs in women’s golf. Next week, the U.S. Women’s Amateur will add a new chapter to the history of women’s golf in the United States.
