Mae Louise Suggs (September 7, 1923 – August 7, 2015) was an American professional golfer, one of the founders of the LPGA Tour and thus modern ladies' golf.

Amateur career

Born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, Suggs had a very successful amateur career, beginning as a teenager. She won the Georgia State Amateur in 1940 at age 16 and again in 1942, was the Southern Amateur Champion in 1941 and 1947, and won the

North and South Women's Amateur The North and South Women's Amateur Golf Championship is an annual golf tournament held since 1903 at the Pinehurst Resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina. An invitational tournament, participants are chosen based upon their performance in national ama ...

three times (1942, 1946, 1948). She won the 1946 and 1947

Women's Western Amateur The Women's Western Amateur is an amateur golf tournament for women. It is organized by the Women's Western Golf Association, which also organized the Women's Western Open from 1930 to 1967. It is one of the oldest women's amateur tournaments in th ...

and the 1946 and 1947 Women's Western Open, which was designated as a major championship when the LPGA was founded. She also won the 1946 Titleholders Championship which was also subsequently designated as a women's major. She won the 1947 U.S. Women's Amateur and the next year won the British Ladies Amateur. She finished her amateur career representing the United States on the 1948 Curtis Cup Team.

Professional career

After her successful amateur career, she turned professional in 1948 and went on to win 58 additional professional tournaments, with a total of 11 majors. Her prowess on the golf course is reflected in the fact that from 1950 to 1960 she was only once out of the top 3 in the season-ending money list. Suggs' victory in the

1957 LPGA Championship The 1957 LPGA Championship was the third LPGA Championship, held June 6–10 at Churchill Valley Country Club in Blackridge, Pennsylvania, a suburb east of Pittsburgh. It concluded on Monday, after rain washed out play on Saturday. Louise Sugg ...

made her the first LPGA player to complete a career Grand Slam. Suggs was an inaugural inductee into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame, established in 1967, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1979. She was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1966. She was one of the co-founders of the LPGA in 1950, which included her two great rivals of the time, Patty Berg and Babe Zaharias. Suggs served as the organization's president from 1955 to 1957.

Honors

The Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award, given annually to the most accomplished first-year player on the LPGA Tour, is named in her honor. In 2006 Suggs was named the 2007 recipient of the

Bob Jones Award The Bob Jones Award is the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. It is named in honor of Bobby Jones. Winners *1955 Francis Ouimet *1956 William C. Campbell *1957 Babe Za ...

, given by the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. In February 2015 she became one of the first female members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.

Amateur wins

*1940 Georgia Women's Amateur, Southern Women's Amateur *1942 Georgia Women's Amateur,

*1946

*1947 Southern Women's Amateur,

, U.S. Women's Amateur *1948

, British Ladies Amateur

Professional wins

LPGA Tour wins (61)

*1946 (3) Titleholders Championship, Women's Western Open (as an amateur), Pro-Lady Victory National Championship (as an amateur, with

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory an ...

) *1947 (1) Women's Western Open (as an amateur) *1948 (1) Belleair Open *1949 (4) U.S. Women's Open, Women's Western Open,

All American Open The All American Open was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour in the 1940s and 1950s. It was played at the Tam O'Shanter Country Club in Niles, Illinois. It was run by George S. May and was originally known as the Tam O'Shanter National Open. From ...

, Muskegon Invitational * 1950 (2) Chicago Weathervane, New York Weathervane * 1951 (1) Carrollton Georgia Open * 1952 (6)

Jacksonville Open The Greater Jacksonville Open was a PGA Tour event that was played from 1945 until 1976. Shortly after World War II, the Jacksonville Open began play as a PGA Tour event in Jacksonville, Florida at the Hyde Park Golf Club until it was discontinu ...

Tampa Open The Tampa Open is a defunct Grand Prix affiliated tennis tournament played from 1981 to 1983. It was held in Tampa, Florida in the United States and played on outdoor hard courts from 1981 to 1982 and on indoor carpet courts in 1983. Finals ...

Stockton Open The Stockton Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour, played only in 1952.LPGA Tournament Chronolog ...

, U.S. Women's Open,

, Betty Jameson Open *

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugosl ...

(9)

Betsy Rawls Open The Peach Blossom Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1953 to 1966. It was played at the Spartanburg Country Club in Spartanburg, South Carolina. Betsy Rawls, Spartanburg native, hosted the event. Winners ;Peach Blossom Invitational *1 ...

, Phoenix Weathervane (tied with Patty Berg), San Diego Open,

Bakersfield Open The Bakersfield Open was a golf tournament on the Nike Tour. It ran from 1990 to 1993, and was played in Bakersfield, California. In 1990 and 1991, it was played at Bakersfield Country Club Bakersfield Country Club is an 18-hole private golf ...

, San Francisco Weathervane, Philadelphia Weathervane, 144 Hole Weathervane, Women's Western Open * 1954 (5)

Sea Island Open The Sea Island Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1954 to 1963. It was played in Sea Island, Georgia at the Sea Island Golf Club from 1954 to 1957 and 1963 and at the Cloister Country Club from 1958 to 1962. Winners ;Sea Island Women' ...

, Titleholders Championship,

, Carrollton Georgia Open,

Babe Zaharias Open The Babe Zaharias Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1953 to 1967.LPGA Tournament Chronol ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijiangs ...

(5) Los Angeles Open,

Oklahoma City Open The Oklahoma City Open Invitational was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour that played at various clubs in Oklahoma City. The tournament first played in the 1920s under the name Oklahoma City Open. After a hiatus of nearly three decades, the PGA ...

, Eastern Open,

Triangle Round Robin The Triangle Round Robin was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1953 to 1962. It was played at several different courses on the East Coast of the United States. For its first nine years it was played using a "round robin" format, similar to th ...

, St. Louis Open *

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

(3) Havana Open, Titleholders Championship,

* 1957 (2)

LPGA Championship The Women's PGA Championship (branded as the KPMG Women's PGA Championship for sponsorship reasons) is a women's professional golf tournament. First held in 1955, it is one of five majors on the LPGA Tour. It is not recognized as a major by the ...

Heart of America Invitational The Heart of America Invitational was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1955 to 1962. It was played in Kansas City, Missouri area. Tournament locations Winners ;Heart of America Invitational *1962 Mickey Wright ;Kansas City Open *1961 Loui ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

(4)

Babe Zaharias Open The Babe Zaharias Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1953 to 1967.LPGA Tournament Chronol ...

, Gatlinburg Open,

, French Lick Open * 1959 (3)

St. Petersburg Open The St. Petersburg Open (russian: Открытый Санкт-Петербург) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tou ...

, Titleholders Championship, Dallas Civitan Open *

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

(4) Dallas Civitan Open,

, Youngstown Kitchens Trumbull Open, San Antonio Civitan *

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

(7) Naples Pro-Am,

Royal Poinciana Invitational The Royal Poinciana Invitational was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour in 1961 and 1962. It was played at Palm Beach Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida, a Dick Wilson and Joe Lee-designed Par-3 course. The tournament was one of the first in profes ...

, Golden Circle of Golf Festival, Dallas Civitan Open,

Kansas City Open The Kansas City Open Invitational, which played as the Kansas City Open for most of its history, was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was played in the greater Kansas City area in the late 1940s and 1950s. A total of four clubs hosted the ...

, San Antonio Civitan,

* 1962 (1)

LPGA majors are shown in bold.

Major championships

Wins (11)

(a)=Amateur

Team appearances

Amateur * Curtis Cup (representing the United States): 1948 (winners)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Suggs, Louise American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of ladies' major amateur golf championships Winners of LPGA major golf championships World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Golfers from Atlanta Golfers from Florida Sportspeople from Delray Beach, Florida 1923 births 2015 deaths 21st-century American women