Heather Farr (March 10, 1965 – November 20, 1993) was an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

on the

Early years

Born and raised in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, Farr was the elder of two daughters of Gerald D. (Jerry) and Sharon Farr. She and her sister Missy were introduced to golf by their father, a former

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

cowboy and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

veteran, and the family spent countless hours together at the public Papago Golf Course in east Phoenix. Farr won three state high school championships while at the all-girls

Xavier College Preparatory Xavier College Preparatory is a Catholic, all-female private high school in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, drawing students from 120 local schools. History Xavier High School was founded ...

, and is a member of the National High School Sports Hall of Fame and the azcentral.com Arizona High School Sports Hall of Fame. At a diminutive , she was nicknamed "

Mighty Mouse Mighty Mouse is an American animated Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. The character was originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short ''Th ...

" during her teenage years.

Golf career

College

Farr graduated from high school a year early in 1982 and was a top recruit with many scholarship offers. She chose to stay close and enrolled at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

in adjacent Tempe, where she played for the Sun Devils women's golf team. At ASU she became a well-known golfer, both in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and nationwide, winning the 1982

U.S. Girls' Junior The United States Girls' Junior Championship is one of the thirteen U.S. national golf championships organized by the United States Golf Association. It is open to amateur girls who are under 19 on the last day of the competition and have a USGA ha ...

and 1984

U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links The U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship, often referred to as the Public Links or the Publinx, was a women's amateur golf tournament, one of 10 individual amateur championships organized by the USGA and first played in 1977. The USGA o ...

. At the

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open, one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, W ...

, Farr tied for eleventh and was low amateur as an 18-year-old in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, then tied for fortieth in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. Farr played on the U.S. teams in the 1984

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 " ...

and

Espirito Santo Trophy The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation. The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fren ...

. She was an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n and was inducted into the ASU Sun Devils' Hall of Fame in 1990.

LPGA Tour

After three years at ASU, Farr turned pro in June 1985; she tied for eighth at the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekl ...

's qualifying tournament near

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

in October to earn her tour card, and began play in early

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. Farr's best finish on tour was a tie for third at the Mazda Classic at

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

in early

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, and she had six top ten finishes that season.

Breast cancer

With her pro career on the rise, Farr was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

at age 24 in July 1989. Her battle with cancer became national news for the next four years. She played on tour on a limited basis in the fall of

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, but more cancer was found in her spine and the base of her skull. In March 1991, Farr underwent a 13-hour operation to rebuild her vertebrae and stabilize her back with a metal rod. That August, she began working on her putting stroke, with hopes to return to the tour. In

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, she married Goran Lingmerth in March, and played six holes of a skins game at the

Sara Lee Classic The Sara Lee Classic was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1988 to 2002. It was played at Hermitage Golf Course in Old Hickory, Tennessee from 1988 to 1999. In 2000, the tournament moved to the Legends Club of Tennessee in Franklin, Tennessee ...

in April, but in May more cancer was found on her pelvis and skull. Through 1993, ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. Copies are sold at $2 daily or at $3 ...

'' newspaper of Phoenix kept a daily column which updated Farr's health condition. She became admired by many Arizonans because she kept hope of returning to the golf links soon, despite her ordeal. Beginning in August, she had numerous surgeries to relieve internal bleeding, and underwent surgery at Scottsdale Memorial Hospital-North on November 11 to relieve a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

; she died nine days later at age 28, surrounded by her family and many LPGA tour pros.

Legacy

Farr was posthumously named an "ambassador" of the Grayhawk Golf Club in Arizona, and her family established the Heather Farr Foundation. In addition to that numerous golf awards have been named after her. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, the LPGA established the

Heather Farr Player Award The Heather Farr Player Award is an award given each year since 1994 by the LPGA Tour to an LPGA golfer "who, through her hard work, dedication and love of the game of golf, has demonstrated determination, perseverance and spirit in fulfilling her g ...

to celebrate the life of Farr. The award "recognizes an LPGA Tour player who, through her hard work, dedication and love of the game of golf, has demonstrated determination, perseverance and spirit in fulfilling her goals as a player, qualities for which Farr is so fondly remembered". Farr is buried at St. Francis Cemetery in Phoenix, beside her father Jerry (1939–2014). Her younger sister Missy Farr-Kaye became the head coach of the women's golf team at Arizona State in June 2015, after many years as an assistant at their alma mater. Also diagnosed with breast cancer at age 30, she is a two-time cancer survivor (1998, 2008) and leads her sister's foundation.

Amateur wins (2)

* 1982

* 1984

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur *

: 1984 (winners) *

(winners)

Videos

* * *

References

External links

*
Arizona State University Athletics Hall of Fame – Women's golf

Maroon & Gold: A History of Sun Devil Athletics – Heather Farr
*
Papago Golf Course
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farr, Heather 1965 births 1993 deaths American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Arizona State Sun Devils women's golfers Golfers from Phoenix, Arizona Deaths from breast cancer 20th-century American women 20th-century American people