“We had 300 kids show up for that event,” Blackmon said. “Heather and Missy put on a show for them. They were young, too. Heather was in her teens, but Missy couldn’t have been more than 9.”

Heather graduated from high school a year early in 1982. She would later be inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame. Only two other golfers were in that Hall – Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. That summer, she captured the U.S. Girls’ Junior, defeating Caroline Kreggi 2 and 1 at Greeley Country Club in Colorado.

“Our ‘little sister’ was as mighty with her fight against cancer as she was on the course,” said LPGA Hall of Fame member Hollis Stacy. “She and I were U.S. Girls’ champions, so we shared that bond as well. Then my mom, Tillie, served on the USGA Girls’ Committee so our sisterhood was enhanced. I still keep in touch with her sister, Missy, the head women’s golf coach at ASU.

“Heather was a fierce competitor. You could see it in her walk. She was sweet as heck, but a fierce competitor.”

It wasn’t quite a swagger, although you could be forgiven for calling it that. Long strides with a bullseye determination, Heather didn’t so much walk as stalk, a mountain lion in pleated shorts and a high-brimmed visor.

At 18, she was low amateur in the 1983 U.S. Women’s Open at Broken Arrow Country Club outside Tulsa, Okla. She finished 11th overall in that championship.

Then in 1984, she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links and was the leader of the U.S. squad in the Curtis Cup.

The Americans traveled to East Lothian, Scotland that year for the Curtis Cup’s second playing at historic Muirfield (site of the 2022 AIG Women’s Open). Great Britain and Ireland fielded its strongest team in a generation, led by a wily Englishwoman named Laura Davies.

Heather won two of her three matches, including a foursomes victory over Davies and a 6-and-5 thumping of Beverly New. In the closest Curtis Cup in 26 years, the USA defeated GB&I 9½ to 8½. If a “Player of the Match” had been recognized, no one doubts that it would have been Heather.

“She didn’t hit the ball that far, but she would grind you down,” Juli Inkster said when remembering her friend. “I played with her quite a bit and she was always feisty. She never gave up. She kind of had a little bit of Rosie Jones in her in that she was like a little gnat, always buzzing around and never quitting. And boy could she really putt.”

At 20, Heather was the youngest player in her rookie class on the LPGA Tour.

“You Have to Keep Working”: The Life and Legacy of Heather Farr

You remember her smile.

“Never give up. Keep fighting.”

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