Louise Suggs

Mae Louise Suggs (born September 7, 1923) is a veteran American professional golfer and one of the founders of the LPGA Tour and thus modern ladies' golf.

Amateur career

Suggs was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She had a very successful amateur career. She was Georgia State Amateur Champion in 1940 and 1942, cite web
title = History of the GWGA
publisher = GWGA (Georgia Women's Golf Association)
url = http://www.gwga.org/History/History_031006.htm
accessdate = 2007-04-15] Southern Amateur Champion in 1941 and 1947. cite web
title = WSGA Champions 1911 - 2004
publisher = WSGA (Women's Southern Golf Association)
url = http://www.womens-southerngolfassociation.org/prevchampions.htm
accessdate = 2007-04-15] and won the North and South Women's Amateur Golf Championship three times (1942, 1946, 1948). cite web
title = Louise Suggs Full Career Bio
publisher = LPGA (LPGA Tour)
url = http://www.lpga.com/content/2007PlayerBiosPDF/Suggs-07.pdf
accessdate = 2007-04-15] She won the 1946 and 1947 Western Amateur Championship cite web
title = Amateur Championship Winners 1901-2003
publisher = Women's Western Golf Association
url = http://www.wwga.org/past_champions.htm
accessdate = 2007-04-15] and the 1946 and 1947 Western Open which was designated as a major championship when the LPGA was founded. cite web
title = Women's Western Open - Winners
publisher = About Golf
url = http://golf.about.com/od/majorchampionships/p/wwesternopen.htm
accessdate = 2007-04-15] She also won the 1946 Titleholders Championship which was also subsequently designated as a women's major. She won the 1947 United States Women's Amateur Golf Championship and the next year won the British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship. She finished her amateur career representing the United States on the 1948 Curtis Cup Team. cite web
title = Previous Curtis Cup Matches 1932-2002
publisher = USGA (United States Golf Association)
url = http://www.curtiscup.org/2004/history/previous_matches.html
accessdate = 2007-04-15]

Professional career

After her successful amateur career in she won three tournaments, she turned professional in 1948 and went on to win 55 professional tournaments, including 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 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 is also a member of the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame.

She was one of the cofounders of the LPGA in 1950. Fellow cofounders included her two great rivals of the time, Patty Berg and Babe Zaharias. She served as the organization's president from 1955 to 1957.

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, given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.

LPGA Tour wins (58)

*1946 (2) Titleholders Championship, Women's Western Open (as an amateur)
*1947 (1) Women's Western Open (as an amateur)
*1948 (1) Belleair Open
*1949 (4) U.S. Women’s Open, Western Open, All-American Open, Muskegon Invitational
*1950 (2) Chicago Weathervane, New York Weathervane
*1951 (1) Carrollton Georgia Open
*1952 (6) Jacksonville Open, Tampa Open, Stockton Open, U.S. Women’s Open, All-American Women’s Open, Betty Jameson Open
*1953 (9) Tampa Open, Betsy Rawls Open, Phoenix Weathervane (tied with Patty Berg), San Diego Open, Bakersfield Open, San Francisco Weathervane, Philadelphia Weathervane, 144 Hole Weathervane, Women's Western Open
*1954 (5) Sea Island Open (The Cloister), Titleholders Championship, Betsy Rawls Open, Carrollton Georgia Open, Babe Zaharias Open
*1955 (5) Los Angeles Open, Oklahoma City Open, Eastern Open, Triangle Round Robin, St. Louis Open
*1956 (3) Havana Open, Titleholders Championship, All-American Open
*1957 (2) LPGA Championship, Heart of America Invitational
*1958 (4) Babe Zaharias Open, Gatlinburg Open, Triangle Round Robin, French Lick Open
*1959 (3) St. Petersburg Open, Titleholders Championship, Dallas Civitan Open
*1960 (4) Dallas Civitan Open, Triangle Round Robin, Youngstown Kitchens Trumball Open, San Antonio Civitan
*1961 (5) Royal Poinciana Invitational, Golden Circle of Golf Festival, Dallas Civitan Open, Kansas City Open, San Antonio Civitan
*1962 (1) St. Petersburg Open

LPGA Majors are shown in bold.

ee also

*Golfers with most LPGA Tour wins
*Golfers with most LPGA major championship wins

Notes and References

External links

* [http://www.lpga.com/player_results.aspx?id=677 Official biography page at LPGA.com]
* [http://www.gshf.org Georgia Sports Hall of Fame]
* [http://golf.about.com/od/golferswomen/p/louise_suggs.htm Louise Suggs biography at About.com]

Persondata
NAME=Suggs, Louise
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Professional Golfer
DATE OF BIRTH= September 7, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH= Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.