Virginia Van Wie (February 9, 1909 – February 18, 1997) was an American amateur

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er, best known for winning three U.S. Women's Amateurs, 1932–34. The Illinois-born golfer was the daughter of wealthy parents, and learned the game at the Beverly Country Club, and during the summers she would go with her parents to summer homes in Michigan and Florida, and compete with the best. Van Wie was a student of golf instructor

Ernest Jones Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst. A lifelong friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud from their first meeting in 1908, he became his official biographer. Jones was the first En ...

Early life

While at the age of 16 and still attending Lindblom High School in Chicago—in 1925 when the school did not have a golf team—Van Wie first emerged as an extraordinary golfer. In the summer that year, the newspapers first noticed Van Wie when she won the Western Michigan championship and then won the Western Junior championship, and upset several top golfers in other tournaments.

Golf career

In 1926, Van Wie beat the national champion,

Glenna Collett Glenna Collett Vare (June 20, 1903 – February 3, 1989) was an American World Golf Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame golfing champion whom the Hall calls the greatest female golfer of her day, and who dominated American women's golf in the 1920s. Biog ...

, for the East Coast Florida championship, and began a string of three Chicago District golf titles. At the 1928 and 1930 U.S. Women's Amateurs, Van Wie lost in the finals to

. In the 1929 event, she tied for the medal for lowest score in the qualifying rounds.

U.S. Women's Amateur

Van Wie broke through to national fame in 1932, when she beat Collett for the first of her three consecutive national amateur titles. After winning her final championship in 1934, and based on her performance for the entire year, she earned the 1934

Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year The first Athlete of the Year award in the United States was initiated by the Associated Press (AP) in 1931. At a time when women in sports were not given the same recognition as men, the AP offered a male and a female athlete of the year award to ...

and was proclaimed the "world's greatest female golfer."

Curtis Cup

Van Wie was a member of the American team that won the first

Curtis Cup The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match. It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and The R&A and is contested by teams representing the United States and " ...

played at the Wentworth Golf Club in England in 1932 and was part of the team that won it again in 1934.

Later life

Van Wie retired in 1935 without defending her national title, and then taught golf in the Chicago area for more than thirty years.

Death and legacy

Van Wie died on February 18, 1997, aged 88, at her home in

Big Rapids, Michigan Big Rapids is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,601 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Mecosta County. The city is located within Big Rapids Township, but it is politically independent. Big Rapids is home o ...

. In 1950, she was inducted into the Women's Golf Hall of Fame.

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing the United States):

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

(winners),

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

(winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanwie, Virginia American female golfers Amateur golfers Winners of ladies' major amateur golf championships Golfers from Chicago Robert Lindblom Math & Science Academy alumni 1909 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American women