Betty Jameson

Elizabeth May Jameson (May 9, 1919 – February 7, 2009) was an American professional golfer. She was one of the thirteen founders of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) in 1950.[2] She won three major championships and a total of thirteen events during her career, one as amateur and twelve as a professional. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Betty Jameson
Personal information
Full nameElizabeth May Jameson
NicknameBetty
Born(1919-05-09)May 9, 1919
Norman, Oklahoma
DiedFebruary 7, 2009(2009-02-07) (aged 89)
Boynton Beach, Florida
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Nationality United States
Career
CollegeUniversity of Texas
Turned professional1945
Retired1970
Former tour(s)LPGA Tour (Founder)
Professional wins18
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour13[1]
Other5
Best results in LPGA major championships
(wins: 3)
Western OpenWon: 1942, 1954
Titleholders C'ship5th: 1956, 1961
Women's PGA C'ship3rd/T3: 1956, 1958
U.S. Women's OpenWon: 1947
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame1951 (member page)
Commissioner's Award
(LPGA Founders)		2000

Amateur career

Jameson was born in Norman, Oklahoma and graduated from Dallas' Sunset High School in 1939. She started playing golf at age 11. According to her obituary in the New York Times, her mother gave her 50 cents for a greens fee and another 50 cents to rent a set of clubs at a public golf course in Dallas when she was 11 years old.[3] She won the 1932 Texas Publinx title at the age of 13 and the Southern Championship when she was 15. She won the U.S. Women's Amateur in 1939 and 1940. She won the Women's Western Amateur in 1940 and 1942. In 1942, she also won the Women's Western Open, a major at the time, while still an amateur.

Professional career

Jameson turned professional in 1945. She was one of the thirteen women who founded the LPGA in 1950. She won a total of thirteen events, including three major championships. In 1947, she won the U.S. Women's Open with a 295 total at the Starmount Forest Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, marking the first time a female golfer scored lower than 300 in a 72-hole tournament. She won the 1954 Women's Western Open again. In 1967, when the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame was created, Jameson was one of the six inaugural inductees.[4] The LPGA recognized her induction year into the Hall of Fame of Women's Golf, 1951, as her official induction year into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame. She competed in her final LPGA event, the Burdine's Invitational, in 1970.

Jameson conceived the idea of annually honoring the golfer with the lowest scoring average on the LPGA Tour and, in 1952, donated a trophy for that in the name of Glenna Collett Vare.[4] She was inducted into the Women's Sports Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1999, and was listed as "...as one of the (LPGA) association’s top 50 players and teachers."[3] In 2004, August 14 was proclaimed "Betty Jameson Day" in Delray Beach, Florida, to commemorate her career accomplishments.

Jameson had to stop playing golf, other than doing some occasional chipping and putting, because of pain in her wrists caused by carpal tunnel syndrome. She took up painting for her own enjoyment and sold a few works to friends. However, according to her obituary in the New York Times, she was reportedly destitute when she died at her home, which was then in Boynton Beach, Florida.[5][6]

Professional wins

LPGA Tour wins (13)

Other wins (5)

Major championships

Wins (3)
YearChampionshipWinning scoreMarginRunner(s)-up
1942Women's Western Open9 & 7 Phyllis Otto
1947U.S. Women's Open−9 (76-75-74-70=295)6 strokes Polly Riley (a), Sally Sessions (a)
1954Women's Western Open6 & 5 Louise Suggs

See also

References
  1. LPGA All-Time Winners List Archived December 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "About the LPGA - Our Founders". LPGA.
  3. Litsky, Frank (February 9, 2009). "Betty Jameson, an L.P.G.A. Founder, Dies at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  4. Lemon, Del. "Jameson, Elizabeth May". Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  5. "Original LPGA founder passes away at age 89". Golf Channel.
  6. "Boynton Beach's Betty Jameson, LPGA founder and Hall of Famer, dies at 89". Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. February 7, 2009. Archived from the original on March 14, 2009.
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