When Louise Suggs passed away at age 91 last week, the tributes to one of the founders of the LPGA paid homage to not only her skills as a golfer but as an ambassador for the game, particularly as a leader in the formation of the women’s game.
Aside from the plethora of records that Suggs established, she also stood up to some of the game’s greatest men’s players, most notably Ben Hogan and Sam Snead. In doing so, she earned respect for women and played a large role in one of the LPGA’s quirkiest records.
In 1946 as an amateur, she teamed with Ben Hogan to win the Pro-Lady Victory National Championship at the famed Medinah (Ill.) No. 3 Course. When she beat Hogan on the back nine in the first round – from the same tees – he was a bit taken aback by her outstanding game. She gained a life-long friend and Hogan would later tout Suggs’ game as one of the best he had ever seen.
That led to the February 1961 Royal Poinciana Invitational in West Palm Beach, Fla., Suggs won the 54-hole event on a par-3 course against a 24-player field that included golf greats such as Patty Berg and Betsy Rawls and top men’s players Snead, Henry Picard, Lew Worsham, Tommy Armour, Dow Finsterwald and Gardner Dickinson. The course had holes measuring from 108 to 215 yards and a water hazard on many holes. Snead, then age 48, finished third and was said to be so upset that he burned rubber as he exited the parking lot.
The loss led to an oddity the following year when Snead returned to West Palm Beach as the lone male participant among 14 LPGA players for the February 1962 tournament. Snead rallied on the final day and beat Mickey Wright by five strokes, making the PGA Tour’s all-time victory leader also the only man to win a LPGA event.
Some other nuggets about Suggs:
- Baseball was the family game for the Suggs. Her grandfather owned the successful Atlanta Crackers, the minor-league team that preceded Atlanta getting Major League Baseball in 1966 when the Braves moved from Milwaukee. Her father, John, played with the Crackers and was a pitcher who went to spring training with the New York Yankees in 1923 alongside greats such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. John opened a golf course in Lithia Springs, west of Atlanta, soon after Louise’s birth in 1923 and she began playing at age 10.
- Suggs was 5 when Atlanta's Bobby Jones won the Grand Slam in 1930. She modeled her swing after Jones’ and was one of the last people to play a round with Jones at Augusta National. She could often be found under an umbrella outside the clubhouse during the Masters.
- Suggs won 11 major championships in her career, behind only Patty Berg (15) and Mickey Wright (13). Her 61 career wins rank fourth on the LPGA career victory list.
- At age 33, Suggs was the first woman to complete the Career Grand Slam with a victory at the 1957 LPGA Championship in Pittsburgh at Churchill Valley Country Club. She won three legs (Titleholders, Western Open and U.S. Women’s Open) before the LPGA was formed in 1950. Only Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan completed the career accomplishment prior to Suggs and it would be five more years before Mickey Wright achieved the feat. Twelve women and men have completed the Career Grand Slam, most recently Inbee Park two weeks ago.
- Three of the 13 women who founded the LPGA in 1950 survive. They include Marlene Bauer Hagge (81), Marilynn Smith (86) and Shirley Spork (88).
- Suggs was one of seven women selected to join The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews in February after the R&A decided to end its male-only membership rule which had been in place for 260 years. The others included Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Dame Laura Davies, Renee Powell, Belle Robertson MBE, Lally Segard and Annika Sorenstam.
- It’s appropriate to remember Suggs this year as the LPGA Rookie of the Year award is named in her honor. There have been four wins by rookies this year on the LPGA, including two by Sei Young Kim and one each by Hyo Joo Kim and Minjee Lee.
Historic Portland Classic
While we’re on the topic of historic events, this week’s Cambia Portland Classic carries a lot as the longest-running non-major tournament on the LPGA. The first event, which ended on Oct. 1, 1972, was won by Kathy Whitworth. She also won the 1973 event at Portland Golf Club en route to a LPGA high 88 career victories. The only year that the tournament was not held was 2001 when it was canceled the week of the 9/11 tragedies.
Columbia Edgewater Country Club, this week’s site, has also been the most frequent venue, hosting the event for a 29th time this week. Columbia Edgewater is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. Edgewater’s 18th hole is a demanding par 4 that measures 393 yards and has a pond guarding the left front and bunkers on the right of the green.
Ernst’s Portland roll
Austin Ernst is from South Carolina and won the NCAA Women’s Championship in 2011 while at LSU, but the Northwest might be her favorite location. The 23-year-old is 26-under par and has a 68.75 stroke average in eight rounds at Columbia Edgewater Country Club. That includes her first career LPGA victory last year and a course record-tying 62 in 2013 during her rookie season en route to a T9 finish.
“I’m very confident when I step on this golf course,” Ernst said last year. “I love it. I don’t know what it is that fits my eye. But I just really enjoy playing it.”
Another player to keep an eye on is two-time champion Suzann Pettersen who has placed in the top four four times in her career.
Etc.
Keep an eye on Portland amateur Gigi Stoll this week. The recent high school graduate, bound for her freshman season at Arizona, made the cut last year by birdieing the 36th hole. She shot a 63 in the amateur qualifier last month to gain entry this week. … Brittany Henderson received a sponsor’s exemption this week and her younger sister Brooke shot a 68 in qualifying on Monday to earn a spot in the field. Brooke has used all of her sponsor exemption opportunities this year (including next week’s Canadian Pacific Women’s Open). They both missed the cut at the Manulife LPGA Classic in early June in their first time playing together in a LPGA event. … The two largest women’s golf events in the country are taking place 13 miles apart in Portland this week at Columbia Edgewater and Portland Golf Club. The U.S. Women’s Amateur began on Monday at Portland Golf Club, with defending champion Kristen Gillman, 17, in the field. She beat Brooke Henderson last year in New York. … Don’t blame Juli Inkster for looking over her shoulder this week. The U.S. Solheim Cup captain will be working for Fox Sports 1 this week at the U.S. Women’s Amateur as the second-to-last event for American points takes place at the LPGA event. … Golf Channel will show all rounds live this week – 5-8 p.m. EDT on Thursday and Friday and 5-7 on Saturday and Sunday.
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