13 female golfers battle society and sometimes each other to create the Ladies Professional Golf Association.#kingsofdocs
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Yes I can that was my attitude if you told me I couldn’t do something I’ll show you I can do it a lot of people are like Lemmings I mean they’ll blindly follow and sometimes one of them gets out of the pack and that’s always scary to the other
Lemmings because it may prove that they maybe they were wrong thank God for the ones that go out and you know break away sometimes they had dreams they had the courage they wanted it you know it was a strong a strong group of ladies they paved the way for for the
Future having a all our golfing they were Pioneers in the really women’s sports not just golf really was the Forerunner of all of women’s sports did it feel like a sacrifice ever no you never think it’s a sacrifice she’s something you want to do never good question the obstacles that they
Overcame um just in a a male dominated world at that time where women were supposed to be you know in their in their houses cooking and cleaning and and raising children you know they were really um truly pioneers and we worked hard we didn’t anticipate that what would happen has
Happened the founders you know they’re they’re the reason that I’m able to do what I’m doing today tell me how do you feel about that that you made this happen 13 women 13 women getting together to form such an organization they had to be brave they had to be brave they had to
Be confident and they had to have passion when she called me whenever it was you’re going to do this I said well y’all better hurry cuz there’s only four of us left yeah out of 13 Chain little girl little girl all those pretty pretty little girl little girl you got those Girl little girl make you me like your ity B squeaky squeaky little girl little Girl I collect Ducks I have a duck I have 200 ducks at home of every substance that ever was produced in a dump I think Shirley is breakout she’s she’s got the right thing she her heart beats the right way she really says it like it is you
Know what I mean she’s very outspoken and uh opinionated she’s very smart she’s Priceless in the neighborhood the kids the boys caddy and on Monday they could play on the golf course free and they said if I had a golf club I could go
Play with them I was 11 years old and I found some golf balls and I sold them back to the golfers and got on the street car and went down into the city of Detroit to find a golf club for a dollar and I went to Griswold’s Sporting
Goods store and they had a big barrel of clubs and there were tall ones short ones bent ones wooden ones I didn’t know one from the other and I found one that was kind of short and kind of straight so I brought it home showed the caddies
And I said I got my club I can go on Monday and play with you and they all laughed at me because it was a Putter and the putter is the last Club you use to win or lose a tournament so I started at the end and I’m trying to get to the
Beginning I’m just an ordinary person it’s lived an ordinary life do you think about it sometimes no I never think about it here here’s the picture you got to get this picture look at that one can you get that in the in your story Marilyn is so nice that all through our
Years on tour I used to thought she was fake nobody could be that nice but I found out since then she really is that way she would ask the guy pumping gas what his name was where he lived how many people he had and he had a bad beat
Up old pair of shoes and she’d give him 20 bucks you rarely see somebody that really thinks there is a Santa Claus because that was it was oh shle grber well when I was 10 11 and 12 years of age I was the pitcher the coach and
The manager of a boy’s baseball team in Witchita Kansas and I came home from pitchy one day when I was 12 and my mother said how’d you do today dear and I took my mint and I threw it against the wall and I said oh a four-letter
Word beginning with s well she marched me into the laboratory and washed my mouth out with life boy soap and when my dad came home she told him what I had said and he said we better take her out to the witw country club in witw Candace
And teach her more ladylike sport so a bad word actually got me going into golf you don’t beat me unless you beat me just the way I was is the way I was and and the way I am I’m still that way today even at my Age she was a competitor very kind person if you knew her honest sincere has all the right uh values she had a dog named Dam It but uh she stayed within herself Louise yeah well the first set of clubs I go ever had or wooden shafts that they had in Pro Shop Old clubs that was stuck in a barrel and he sought them off to suit me and he used a bicycle tape for grips and
I remember him saw me wrap a club around the pine tree one time and said sis when you learn to be a lady on the golf course you can have your clubs back when you come apologize about a week later I went I’m I’m sorry Dad I won’t do that again and
I never did They’re going to ask you questions but try to just look at me okay when you answer okay I just want to keep you looking right I’ll pretend you’re a ventriloquist or when they ask a question I’ll just move my mouth okay she’s a good kid I like Marlene always have always Will she was a good putter good competitor she was she and her sister you know were quite the stars on the on the LPGA circuit my father he wanted two young boys because he saw the future in golf and he got two little run girls he wanted to teach us a skill that
Could earn us some money and get us out of Eureka sou Dakota he started me at 3 and a half put a golf club in my hand have you seen this that have you seen this this is my this is me this is my sister my father and my mother the Life
Magazine they wanted to show because we were the you know at that time I held all the records for the youngest ever to do something or other they put a doll in the shop then well I think they wanted to point out that at 13 I should be
Playing with dolls instead of trying to start a golf career I never played with dolls I was too busy that was the way they set it up I was the youngest player my sister was probably the next youngest she was 6 and a half years older than I so she
Would have been 14 there was never any jealousy she probably rooted for me more than she rooted for herself I played in the South coat state championship when I was seven that same year or the next year I played in the women’s Western open in Chicago I was
Kind of an odity or we both Were she was show Person she was she was she knew she was good and she told everybody she was good and I’m here and I’m going to Win she’s a real cut up she’s a jokester she’s a good person courage strength winner she didn’t care what she did or how she did it she did it that was babe babe zaharas was from bont Texas her father was a carpenter large family and had kind of a struggle getting
Along there was a series of hedges in her neighborhood one right after another and she would hurdle over the hedges leads the world as Champion girl athl this shows her Victory she even performed in vaille playing a harmonica anything to do to make a little money she always wanted to win she
Wanted to be the best and she went to Great Lengths to do that you better run hey you better run you better run child yeah you better run I think back about how I got into the game of golf and I was in grade school and I looked in the encyclopedia
Under Sports and there was a name there babe dieten and babe deetron did everything and in 32 in the Olympics she won medals I’m awfully glad to have been able to set this new hurdle Mark and hope do better some other Time and then she did other sports all kind of sports so I thought gee whiz she did all those things after winning in the Olympics she found that there was nothing to play in it was very frustrating to her because here she was proba the greatest woman
Athlete of all time and she couldn’t make a living doing it really there were no professional sports leads for Women when I went to college at the University of Kansas there was no girls golf team but my dad went to fog Allen the director of Athletics to ask if he could get some expense money for his daughter to play in the National Intercollegiate golf tournament which is
Going to be in Ohio State his reply was Mr Smith it’s too bad your daughter is not a boy there’s a boy’s junior Championship they wouldn’t let me play in it at first and the the paper the media got on them so bad that they were forced to let me
Play there was this boy I thought he was really cool you know he was 15 and so I beat him in the finals and he just never spoke to me again for a long while thank you very much bud you know Howard I taught bud how to play football is that
Right you know we played for the 50th Street tigers where was that Daddy Minneapolis Minnesota what did you play I played quarterback and he played tackle well Patty I know that the people are interested in how you hit those golf shots and for many years you’ve been known as one of America’s greatest
Putters Patty BG was women’s golf but in my day I mean I uh that’s all you’d heard about one them all one of the 1941 we had National Amur at Brooklyn Massachusetts and Patty being a professional was not allowed in the clubhouse believe it or
Not the one of the 1941 and 43 open Patty cuts that lead to one golf was a rich man’s game in that era you couldn’t compete unless you belonged to a organization or a private club it was very closed a new Clubhouse has recently been completed and for the enjoyment of
In those days it was kind of a class thing you know we were from the wrong side of the tracks the only openings for competition in that era was to have enough money to drive to Florida in the winter and play in private Invitational events which Marilyn and I never had that
Opportunity of course then during the War years everything changed oh I remember where I was where playing Kick the Can with the boys out in the street of course you were and I can see my dad coming out of the door and he said we’ve been attacked by the
Japanese so we just went back and played Kick the Can you know it didn’t mean much but my mother was born in Germany and somehow the people in the neighborhood knew that and they would throw rocks at her window records a few personal opinions on the timely question
Sports be discontinued for the dur during World War II there were no tournaments period men or women or there was no baseball nothing went on during World War II in competitions importance of sports has been challenged the value of the men were in the military women were expected to uh take
Over the job over here during the war we had the service when the draft all all the young men were gone so they hired women that work in the service station in those days they checked the oil washed the windshield you know check there and the
TI and this that and the other I worked for go Oil Corporation for 8 years and I put a tire behind my front seat when I have to go check on these stations and see everything was going on believe me my teeth chattered a couple of times when women began to respond
Convinced they could do factory work or anything within their strength that men could do for Uncle Sam women took up the slack Ros the riv and whatnot winner oneup Patty takes over the custody of the western open crown for the second time in 3 years a grand
Uphill fight climaxed by a triumph which for Thrills is exceeded only by this great moment as she signs up with the women’s Reserve Corps of the US Marines and promptly models her next new hat we hasten to admit Patty on you it looks good Betty Hicks served in the US Coast
Guard as a public relations officer Betty Jameson took a job with the Army Air Corp in San Antonio driving trucks Helen deweer was a member of the WASP women’s Air Service pilots and she actually flew B7 bombers over to England from the United States to drop them off
For the US men’s military to fly uh women were taking part in the war and these were all great golfers and they couldn’t just leave their job as a member of the military to play in golf tournaments well in World War II they weren’t allowed to make golf clubs they weren’t
Allowed to make golf balls because they were made out of rubber or badas until world the war was over there were no no new golf balls when the war ended the federal government and Industry in America were concerned about returning men to the jobs that women had held during the war
Women had carried a lot of the work burden in the United States now the men come home and they want to get the men back in those Jobs was that feeling behind it that I want to do something other than teach school or be a secretary or be a wife and mother I’m ready for my life to begin I want to have some Adventure babe zahari as famous athlete teas off in the All American
Championship at Chicago only seldom ever had tournaments where it was a mixed tournament where men and women played together that was a real real big thing because George S May allowed men amators men Pros men lady Pros lady am uh celebrities everybody could play
It was like a circus the the sun came up and you started playing at the end of the day they didn’t get finished you went the next morning and you played he brought the public interest into the game of golf Chicago’s annual Tander golf tournament as Byron Nelson his you
Actually had like Baron Nelson and they were great golfers and they were great names too and you were putting people out there whom everybody knew and that was fantastic golf the men were objecting to uh have equal pay Betty Hicks won the World open Byron Nelson won the men’s division wins this
Year is worth a cool $110,000 who what winnings and Betty Hicks gets $500 that was the Catalyst for forming the women’s professional Golf Association the wpga was set up by Ellen Griffin and hope signus then on the West Coast host there was Helen deweer and Betty
Hicks hope signus and her father owned a Gin Mill and he’s the one that put the money up for tournaments so they could play hope signus had money Ellen Griffin had determination and stick tutiven and they formed it so that they could bargain with sponsors like George Esme
And try to equalize the purses a little bit so that was in 1944 I think it was incredibly difficult because you had letters flying back and forth and it was really difficult for them to get anything off the ground and they did get a few tournaments off the
Ground finally had six tournaments they had the women’s Western open they had the women’s Texas open the US Women’s Open The Hard Scrabble Invitational in Arkansas the Tampa Women’s Open there was the title holders in Augusta Georgia at Augusta Country Club which was considered the women’s version of the Masters
They had their first US Women’s Open showing the for that one of the 1941 and 43 open a match play event it was a grueling contest they played about 36 holes a day and Patty finally won that I thought gee that would be great
As soon as I get out of high school I’m going to join the wpga well the wpga fizzled Dizzle out geographically you know it was too difficult for the to organize and I think there was quite a lot of dissent uh between what they should do in
1948 the wpga just sort of fell apart it’s because the women didn’t want to do the work according to Betty Hicks I wouldn’t agree with that I think they wanted to do the work I just I think they found it too difficult to agree on
What the work was they didn’t want to do all the pound housekeeping it took to run these championships it just started to crumble they did have disagreements as any lot of people will but I don’t think it was a lack of trying so very simple they didn’t have
The money but they were you know they were amazing Pioneer Women those women Women’s Amateur Golf has always done very well I think women’s professional golf was regarded very differently for women to even become professional golfers people didn’t like athletic women you know women weren’t supposed to do that we’re playing the women’s Western open in skyrest Country Club in the Chicago area in June of 194
9 and we’re sitting eating breakfast with babe and babe looked at me and she said listen kid why don’t you turn pro so I said well babe how do you do that and she stood up walked around the table and put her hand on my head just clunk I
Almost bit my tongue off clunk she said I pronounce you a pro go down there on the tea and tell them you’re a pro an amateur never has prize money there’s no prize money you get silverware if you took money you were a professional it seems to we looking here
That L had quite an amateur career she uh uh sort of ruled the uh the roost of amateur golf on the both uh the US side as well as over in the United Kingdom when I when the British it was the epitome of my amateur career you might
Say there was nothing else left that I was eligible to play in to win there were women who wanted to be professionals and there was nothing for them to play in I mean you could not make money as a professional because there weren’t any tournaments we were all of One mind that we
Wanted a place for women to do something they loved and make a living at it well maybe was we we were just dumb or stupid or something we just to play golf in 1948 lb icle with Wilson Sporting Goods uh got in touch with Fred corkran now Fred
Had been tournament director for the PGA Tour he was an agent he had great clients he had Ted Williams he had Sam snake she had babes of haras and she was the personality who came along and made it possible whatever babe was doing then people were interested whether she won
Or lost lost if she lost she was the headlines uh which The Other Women found difficult The Fabulous bab Dixon is the apple of the gallery’s eye as she turns in a fine performance over the gring 72 holes here she makes a smooth approach you had wonderful women golfers
I mean Patty Berg and Louise sugs were probably both finer golfers Patty Berg is making a strong finish Miss is holding off that’s enough to make any Challenger realize she’s up against the toughest competition in women’s golf they just had so much more in terms of hitting the golf ball I mean
She just hit the golf ball so much further than everybody else because babe was probably more like a man playing golf um people wanted to watch her so she went to Wilson sporting goods and said I want to tour and I want to be able to play against other competitors
She convinced Mr icle who was president of Wilson and Spalding and McGregor to hire Fred carran he wanted to further promote Sporting Goods equipment so it would put the name of those golf clubs out there those big staff bags it would say Patty Berg Wilson on the side in front of
Spectators they had a meeting at the ventian hotel in 1949 with Patty Berg babe and George the harus and Fred corkran and they decided they would really turn the wpga into the LPGA when we became the LPGA in 1950 at Rolling Hills Country Club in wit talk Kansas I was
15 it was more than money we wanted the world to recognize that women can be great golfers remarkable that those women got that off the ground He We were the group like a carnival and we went from town to town to town we did the whole thing or so we had physical struggles because we had to drive so far one of our trips was, 1600 M from Bane Washington to waterl that took almost 2
Days we didn’t have cell phones we had pigp paddles uh one was yellow one was red one was green and we’d wave it out the window and the food was green yellow was PE and red was Gas and if we saw a cop car behind a sign board we’d blink our lights so that the people behind us that know this is a cup you know we usually Caravan from place to place with three or four cars and Louise used Caravan sometimes with me
And you know how she talks she said now slow down I don’t like to go as fast as you and you can well imagine what went on from there Marlene heggy was driving my car and all of a sudden she slammed on the brakes and we sked sideways up to
This 18 wheel and when I looked up we had slid practically under the trailer I said get out I’m driving I don’t care how sleepy I am I’m better driver sleepy than you are awake supposedly to go there were no W But we only paid 18 people so what did the people in waterl do they passed a hat to round to the people and they got $100 for the last place gives me Goose buns to think about Marilyn Smith one of the tour’s most popular young lady shows why she is also
A top we were really good in that type of atmosphere when you put us in a big city no uhuh wasn’t time yet the tour back in those early days it was like a big family the nation’s dis staff swingers arrive early to get a little practice
Before teeing off on the final round of the 72 hole tournament we would go to a club and give a hour demonstration Clinic showing how people did things incorrectly and and then we’d show them how to do it correctly and then we would play nine holes with the
Pro the ladies Champion the men’s champion and as we played the hole we would explain how we were approaching the shots and we were teaching them a learning experience here we are a slice from left to right putting the visor in slicing position you can see see how important
The visor is see the club on the outside of the line hitting the ball now from left to right the more people we got involved in playing the more Spectators would want to come and watch us perform when we had these tournaments they would
Have a an evening for us to dress up and and come to the club and meet the people the Sponsors I got this so many cocktail parties I can’t tell you and I don’t drink I could make a drink last till the ice Melted inside the clubhouse we would model these clothes for the people that was that was another way of publicizing that we were feminine too we weren’t just you know we could dress up too sumon in the water do it in fact we got to the point sometimes where we had
To find them if they didn’t go so and we did and the women professionals had to talk to all these people and uh that certainly wouldn’t have suited Louise in anything you do where you rely on the public to pay your way you have to treat people nicely you have to have
Grace you have to not be a hotthead comeone out here looking here look you’re Alice that’s right and you’re Marley marleene turn around let the folks you know this is really something done not only are these they look like athletes and yet they’re beautiful you bet just beautiful and you slug these
Golf balls how much do you weigh I weigh 120 120 yes and you I weigh 106 with all my clothes on television has to be there we played the uh National open one time at Wingfoot in New York and so Alice and I had to go buy uh some skirts because slacks were
Not accepted women’s golfers couldn’t play wear slacks on the golf course it look too masculine I don’t know with more and more attractive Pros a lot of men are beginning to realize that the ladi’s pro tour offers a lot more to attract galleries than just good golf
It is a fact however that competitive Athletics uh tend to destroy all that is a natural in woman and all that which tends to make them attractive uh to men babe was quite aware of the fact that she needed to become more ladylike to be more Acceptable people didn’t like athletic women I think they still find it hard all through the decades they found it hard to deal with athletic women getting sponsorship was the hardest thing we depended on the Lions Club the cotan group and they would have us come there as an attraction so they would
Make money and they would put put up a price the first 25 30 years all we did is go from spot A to B to C whoever would put up some money for us to play for players ran the tour there was no paid staff we had a Treasurer who gave
Out the the money you know at the end of the tournament and then we had a tournament committee who went out and set up the golf courses lime off certain areas and did all that we had a pairings committee and then we had someone that called up after the tournament to
Associate a press to give the scores you know it was just a put together thing we didn’t get much press honey if we got any press it was on the back page and I always misspell my name my name has two ends on Maryland and they didn’t believe it they always chop that
Off as a professional we played a course and I looked down the Fairway and well where’s the grass and I thought what in the hell have I done the the kind of golf courses we played on in those days were certainly not like they are today so right now
Some of the fairways are better than most of the greens we played we played steel shafts Wooden Heads we only had one wedge we could play a tune with our wedge we played courses much longer than what they play today courses that were brand new and we were uh kind of a
Guinea pig before the men came then another course we played in the 1950 was a 60 mph wind and I was paired with Louise sugs and Shirley sport Shirley was going to take a three-wood shot to hit the ball well the wind blew her off balance and she missed the ball well we
Went just laughed and thought that was so funny you know well Louise plugged along and she had a 78 which is one of the best rounds of golf in 60 mile hour winds light the only way I know to describe it is you just took what you could Get shining over me yeah let your blessings from above they’re playing for their next meal for the next place they’re going to stay they’re playing for the love of it but they’re also playing to make it a job well we were supposed to be married in the house and taking care of children
And it wasn’t a norm to have a woman out on the golf course my friend are yeah but if I put my trust in Jesus we we overcame that we just didn’t pay attention to that well anything in those days in a skirt that was skinny halfway combed hair and stuff they whistled
At they didn’t know how quite how to take us cuz it was normal for a man to be an athlete it wasn’t normal for a woman to be an athlete like why would you want to do this it was all right to play for a silver pot I think when you became a
Professional that was regarded as really different and to play for money wasn’t nice as a woman generally speaking men have a hard time accepting a female athlete If U a woman could hit to the pen with the same club that a man uses she’d beat him every
Time course I was jumped on like you can imagine what by the press for saying that but that’s what I believed Louise was uh the first woman to play against men at a professional level Louise managed to win it she said that that particular day playing from
The same teas with the men after the 54 whole competition that ended she was the winner as she was walking out of the vent in the parking lot she saw Sam Sneed and he was sort of gruff and the head down and you know walking away and
Then he kind of turned back and had a few Kurt remarks and uh Louise took great pleasure in saying to Sam Sam I don’t know what the hell you’re bitching about because you weren’t even sucking so but he scratched out of there and left about a half ton of rubber on the
Cement Louise hugs and I were paired in a tum and I hooked the ball into the left rough and I said Louise I said this isn’t my ball and she said oh my God I was ass shot from for every shot you hit with the wrong ball she was really um
Militant about doing things the right way and everything she said Marlene I want to tell you she said I don’t know if anyone else would have done what you did because nobody would have ever known that meant so much to me that was a better gift than winning the tournament
Really to have somebody like Louise uh say that on the course I had no friends they anybody that I played was an enemy made no difference who it was in my nature competitive nature to to to win well Louise has probably told you about her with babe haven’t she yeah so I
Won’t go into that babe Not only was self-promoting she was all consuming of the space around her and uh that didn’t set too well with Louise I was paired with it to qualify for the Western Amur in U Indianapolis Chang shoes she came in and I got up and walked over and
I said Mrs Harris uh I’d like to introduce myself we’re paired together today and she looked at me up and down and said well so what well that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship y mighty de Louise sugs was a gem so far as golf a golf swing is concerned but the
Personality was babe and Louise didn’t have that personality found it terribly difficult to project they were very different personalities babe zaharas was a showoff very outgoing Louise sugs is very reserved Louise just wanted to do her thing and win and you know Quietly and Patty Berg was always able to project but you know babe just had so much more in terms of hitting the golf ball I mean she she just hit the golf ball so much further than everybody else and was so athletic I mean you couldn’t ever describe p Berger’s athletic she
Was a great golfer um but she wasn’t athletic and babe was had it not been for her uh the LPGA probably wouldn’t have started for another decade she went in the locker room one time and she said all right you girls I need to make more money than you do
Because I am the star babe dedri zarus and Patty and Patty cornered her afterwards and said bab you may be the star but every star’s got to have A Chorus Line world’s leading woman athlete teeing off in the final round with a three-hole lead but the sturdy Minneapolis redhead is right
After in a thrilling home stretch battle at Chicago Sky Crest course showing the form that one the 1941 and 43 open Patty cuts that lead to one hole with sharp shooting like this the babe isn’t missing them either quite a dingdong affair [Applause] at the end of the regular 36 holes the
Girls were all even it was shots like this that helped Patty Square the match with a highly favored Mrs aaras carrying the play into a hectic overtime duel Patty C the cup with her putt on the 37th to win the Western open for the third time equating the bab’s victories
In the same event somebody asked me one time do you all get together before the tournament starts and decide who’s going to win the tournament I said no if you ever seen three cats fighting over a plate of fish you’ll know Why I’ll trade you my heart for your heart baby give you all my kisses to boot I’ll never find any three more competitive women we Were bang bang bang bang bang bang bang Bang Louise was the one that dug in and worked she didn’t care if she got any credit for uh Patty liked credit and babe was uh the most charismatic bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang hi sport fans this
Is Howard Miller ready to take you around the nation for a closeup look at some great sporting scenes 50 stars led by babe did’s Open Championship babe holds the Rolling Hills course woman’s record with a 70 and today she’s a co- favorite again the other favorite is defending Champion Louise sugs last year
She won her first national open at Landover Maryland with a record 291 and still in there is Patty Berg of Minneapolis who won the first national open back in 1936 14 years ago a sponsor wouldn’t stand for not having babe and Patty and and myself uh and a few other people like
That because we both had red hair and about the same stature uh people start following me because they thought it was Patty Berg and then when they found out it wasn’t Petty birg they went somewhere else she was good with the crowds and and uh she did a she was
Fantastic I think I was closer to Patty um on a personal basis uh she was a very pleasant person to be with and outgoing and tried to promote the game of golf other than herself uh where I think babe was busy promoting but the main Gallery is following the
Babe again out to sew it up like a champion she saves her best round for the final day and plays amazing Golf the $1,250 mean 14,000 for the babe so far while amateur Betsy is happy to knows out Louise SS babe and Betsy two happy Last babe irritated some people that were serious because she was a cut up and she’d do some things sometimes to called gamesmanship to bother you and then she’d make fun of it later so it was hard to stay mad at her but you knew that she was going to try to do some
Stuff she always swore that she never got appearance money because of LPGA didn’t allow that still doesn’t allow it oh yes I would have said she definitely got a appearance for to get turn up at tournaments and would have asked for them and would have got them and maybe
Would have been resented for having got them Patty Berg said she never broke any rules and U Louise sug says otherwise Louise absolutely uh was the conscience of the rules even to a point where she refused to sign one of the bab’s cards after the event because she
Felt that she pressured one of of the rules committee people to to give her that favorable ruling to this day I don’t know how much appearance money she got but she told the story that she always gave it to the LPGA she did not that’s one of those things
That she and I came to blows about just about I wouldn’t have thought that um they found it easy to live with babe those women but they knew that she was their bread and butter so I mean you know you can’t knock your bread and butter you know
There’s a difference between being a buddy and respecting the talent there was a great respect for the talent when I first met babe was in Sacramento she had the greatest hazel eyes I have ever seen I mean they just they were right on you going through you
Towards you any which way but full of life but the Babe SS her to win with a new course record of 298 some said she’d been slipping this winter but the babe never played better golf in 1948 she had a pain in her side and instead of finding out what was the
Problem medically she ignored it and that went on for four years which seems unbelievable that um somebody could have that much pain and then go on for another four years before she did anything about it it was just a startling thing that this great athlete with this perfect body could have
Anything go so wrong and it was very hard Fred corkran after babes a harus got really sick he resigned the funds were dropped so he he left us and then um several of us took over his tournament directors to get to get tournaments well we did whatever we
Had to do we couldn’t afford a commissioner for for a few years and that’s when some of our arguments Started everybody had to come to the meeting and you discuss whatever you wanted to talk about and get up and argue about it and try to get in an agreement as to what we’re going to do there was a lot of uh disharmony in those meetings it must have been really
Hard oh some of them were screen fests women hold a grudge It’s Hard Men you know they go to a meeting and argue and cuss and swear but women hold a grudge and that’s not good you got to let it go we all came together in the end you
Know it was just a very passionate uh display of Opinions this article it came out in January 1954 she did it tongue in cheek but at the same time I think it did upset most of the women she wrote about Patty Berg the healthiest hypochondriac most of us get amusedly weary hearing of Patty Berg’s a uhhuh well
Okay Marlene Bower has never finished high school that’s neat but when I left the principal of the school he said you’re wasting your time here you’ll learn more on the tour so she didn’t tell the whole story that’s perfect outgoing Marilyn Smith sometimes gets so so associable with a tournament gy that
She forgets to hit her shots I had many opportunities to uh be engaged or married and I didn’t want to do that I wanted to just keep going all by myself that was the choice of me well I almost got married two or three times
You know and uh it’s very hard to to uh settle down you know when you’re traveling like that that would have been a big decision to quit I wasn’t in love with them enough to do that to quit the tour and marry him people like that that put other
People down they don’t like themselves and so they feel better when they can push somebody down a little further so they they’re taller I don’t think it endeared her to her fellow competitors but on the other hand it was some probably great publicity for the LPGA
I’m sure that babe was really annoyed by the article she told Betty Hicks that she would leave the tour and see how sugs earns the money George actually would not have let babe leave the tour because George was earning money with babe earning money the witchar country club in Kansas
Makes way for a new USGA Women’s Open golf champion with Mrs bab zaharas s by illness CER of and she collapsed in 1952 at a tournament in Texas and it wasn’t until 1953 that she was actually diagnosed with colon cancer you never thought of
Her as a victim or being sick she was a very good Trooper about that she took what life handed her and carried on after babe got cancer in 1953 and had the dramatic surgery that she had to have in order to survive everybody thought she was
Finished but she loved golf so much that she slowly began to come back in the Women’s National open near Boston bab and it must have been her strength her determination her uh that made her go on babe drops a six-footer to preserve her par and her big lead and she won by
10 strokes and I consider that the greatest Women’s Open victory of all time Mrs Zaharias has the crown wrapped up just 18 months ago she underwent an operation for cancer everyone said her career was over but here she is winning by a mile a margin of 12 Strokes with a
Score of 291 one of the most inspiring comebacks in all sports history USGA president Ike Granger presents the cup then babe offers some touching remarks I don’t like to keep uh bringing up this uh Hospital deal of mine uh but uh I was laying there in room 201 at the
Hotel du hospital and uh these reports were going out about that I never play Championship or tournament golf again and uh I laid in the bed and I say please God let me play again and he answered my prayer and I want to thank God for letting me win again it’s
Really last time I saw babe was at the women’s title holders in Augusta now she’d had her operation for cancer and things aren’t looking too good as the first time I saw I checked those out eyes those eyes were lifeless Now babe zaharia spent her last Christmas in Fort Worth Texas she was good friends with RL and Bertha Bowen RL flew them from bont um and babe got off this little plane and she still had on her pajamas in her night gown and babe
Said to Bera she said uh can you take me out to colon Country Club and Bera said yes I got birth a station wagon and they drove out they drove along this little dirt road that went up next to the second green and Bertha helped babe out of the
Car and she said I just wanted to see a golf course one more Time you know it was it was a it was it was Terri terrible for a lot of us well she died of cancer you know and um well that’s I don’t want to go through all That it was sad and it was sad that it would happened to somebody like her because she looked so strong and so healthy never missed a beat mentally till her dying day we all admired Her sorry she passed away I’m sorry any body passes away for that matter I’ll grieve for babe in my own way that was what I Did that was such a tragedy to us because she was our drawing card because she was there we were there she was the star and people came because they knew her and then they began to know us because of her people were afraid that maybe the LPGA Tour would fall apart
Because the LPGA had been sold on babe I think it was very difficult it was a huge blow for them we did all crazy things to try to get people to come watch us shle and I went to a boxing match again to try to get
Support we had to sit there and watch the fight and they’re punching each other and squirting the blood and get s g on Marland I got woozy and I couldn’t go into the ring but surely did she walked through those ropes they ring the bell and and this is Shirley’s fork and come
Out to the National open and see the golfers tomorrow or the next day and they all you know all the Box boo boo you know I don’t know if any of those boxing fans came but we did everything we could to get get publicity people are really staring you
And some are probably looking to hope that you foul up did we worry that we were going to survive I think every year we went home after the season we didn’t know what the next season was going to bring it was always a worry we had to get more players you got
To show that you’re producing like planting a plant is it going to grow are you going to feed it and it’ll grow it’s true that today men still monopolize the sport out of approximately 10 million golfers in the United States only 2 and a half million
Are women but ladies golf is growing in popularity and much of the credit for this growth goes to the LPGA the ladies professional Golf Association there are great players like Patty B and Betsy rolls and Mickey rice who have played well for many many years met the future of lady’s
Professional go really depends on the young Pros that are now just getting started I also feel that the uh the gals as time goes on will find their tour increasing not only in interest uh but uh the volume of the tournaments the amount of money they’re playing for and
So forth will also increase simply because uh golf has become so popular with the ladies in the United States going [Applause] You when I started back in ‘ 62 I think we had 30 35 players a week at best and now we have many times 80 and 90 players we’re going to all the PS and start out me And I think all of the players today uh have beautiful golf swings have a great will to win and desire we’re starting our progress now and I don’t think there’s any stopping I think we’re just we’re just climbing the ladder now we’re we’re just about there
I think uh all we can do now is go up Alia Gibson Darin is probably one of the outstanding tennis stars of all time she turned to professional golf in 1963 and has made a good showing for herself ala’s athletic skill under marvelous sense of humor have endeared her to both
Golf fans and the girls on the tour althia Gerson was the first africanamerican woman to play on the tour well Alia won Wimbledon twice which was extraordinary and then when she retired from tennis uh she decided she wanted to take up professional golf former US and Wimbledon Tennis champion
Althia Gibson darbin into professional golf now and I don’t know how she managed I mean how she managed even to play professional golf I don’t know but to manage as a africanamerican in those days really was a very difficult path to tread we were playing at a tournament in
Texas and they wouldn’t allow her in the clubhouse so Lenny wz was our tournament director and all of us decided to not play that at that course and move someplace else where she would be accepted we took care of each other you know no matter what I mean we didn’t
Believe in that we were that’s what we were fighting for was equality as as women in fact we uh boycotted three tournaments because they wouldn’t let ala change her shoes she’d had to change the shoes in the car so fin there were a couple of places that we did not play
Because of that Baton Rouge was one of them as you can well imagine this is indicative of a of a true champion uh those who can uh sustain stay out there and uh win championship after championship and when Renee pow came along uh after her it was still
Unbelievably difficult for Rene and she suffered a lot as well I think there were a lot of uh issues certainly in our country uh we had a lot of racial issues and I certainly had problems at hotels they had problems at restaurants they had problems sometimes just trying to get
Into the locker room at various clubs my peers on the tour were they were like a family if something if there was an issue and somebody knew about it they would always come to my my defense that’s one thing that the LPGA were very proud of we don’t care what color you
Are what we you’re accepted and the LPGA is um far more accepting than the PGA ever was the struggle of women in this country and the struggle of of PE of color in the country sort of run parallel which is something that I always sort of understood because I’ve
Been both I am both you know you know when I I think about growing up and being Hispanic and being a female there were times I couldn’t play at certain times and with respect to the men I think it’s you know it was definitely a man’s world back then they were Pioneers
In the in the really women’s sports not just golf but women’s sports I mean that really was the Forerunner of all of women’s sports you know we talk about Title 9 it came along long after after the LPGA was was Formed will you be my love somebody going to hold my head somebody is going to understand treat Me the opportunities weren’t there and I think that’s what’s been frustrating to the woman who wants to be an athlete and I think that perception is that a female is never a true athlete I think it’s harder for women to be athletes and when they succeed it’s more an Accomplishment at one Sheen was the only one off the green the Europeans were close but not close enough may I didn’t plan on it I didn’t wasn’t something that I came out this big announcement I just was tired of living in the closet um really wasn’t even talked about um
I think that you know there were some of the players probably knew and some didn’t and it was just an accepted thing that you know this this is who she is and she’s a hell of a player and let’s go let’s go play Golf I know when I was a rookie I thought wow you know we’re going to catch catch up with the guys and our purses are going to be close to what they’re making and now you know 2014 I think we’re about as far back as we were back
Then the purses between men’s and women’s is it’s always challenging I think you know obviously our Founders battled battle the same thing it’s still a current thing you look at some of the telecast and you watch the coverage and the way we’re talked about is we’re talked about
As females what we wear how we’re dressed how we act instead of our golf swings and the shots we can hit you know and that’s that’s something that we still struggle with and until you know we get to the point where we’re seen as athletes um we’re going to continue to
Have smaller purses as the guys the PGA Tours viewership today is probably uh you know three to some cases four times the viewership of a women’s event and as a result of higher viewership they can charge a higher sponsorship and as a result of higher sponsorship they can create a bigger
Purse I I want to see our players playing for more money Mone I want to see our players playing on a bigger stage um and getting the credit that they deserve people don’t know how good we are I want the girls you know 20 years from now to be playing for more money
And playing better golf courses playing the courses the guys play every year I think you know cuz I think we can you know people think that we’re not good enough but we can for we can play with those guys I think that’s probably the biggest
Message i’ like to give to uh you know to our daughter that it’s you know you have a dream and it can happen it really can you just have to you know go about it and do it um even with our son um I want him to know that obviously he can
Do it too but the girls can do it equally as well so get used to it I was a rookie in 1996 and I just won um the Sprint title holders tournament which was at that stage before the uh not including the US Open it was the
Biggest purse on the LPGA and I won $180,000 first place and um Louise was in the media center the first thing she said to me was um you know girl you won more money today than I today than I won in my entire career and uh you know that
Really puts it in perspective a 21-year-old you know um you know I thought I was loaded at the time too so um to think that um someone had won and accomplished that much in the game of golf and I’d just achieved financially what she had in in her whole
Career she said it with all the pride that a mom would have she was almost it was almost Overjoyed with with with the comment and I thought right there that’s what separates the LPGA from other sports these women take pride in creating those opportunities when a lot of other sports almost have a
Bitterness about the fact that they played in the wrong era I always you know people come to me and said oh aren’t you upset I mean God what could you makeing now if you done the same thing I said no I don’t look at things that way everything it’s has a
You know I really don’t they’re devoting a great deal of money to help promote Junior Girl gol and that’s that’s where we’re going to keep going forward getting new Young talents we made over $81,000 last year in this tournament we think we’re going to make over 100,000
This year and we’re going to give we gave $25,000 scholarships to help young girls go to college and hold your finish and four finger and thumb and to the club to the Target it’s just a wonderful opportunity to inspire young women for character and honesty and hard work and
Determination yeah the LJ’s mission is real simple we want to be the preeminent women’s Sports organization and we want to do that by attracting the best female golfers in the world be the best women’s organization bring in the best and put them on display and through that display
Effort make sure we leave the game better and more opportunistic for the next generation of women in golf we have five tours five tours not one tour we we have five tours we have a Japanese a Korean European Australian we have to learn your language right you’re going to teachers
Fact that women from all over the world go and make a living playing gol more than a living they can do incredibly well and they have to thank those women [Applause] Pioneers you’re playing Great get in we created the founders cup because personally for me I found I was I was gaining strength from learning about the founders and what drove them and what was important to them and I realized that that strength was still completely relevant today but I wasn’t sure that my
Young 19 20 21 year old players were getting that same opportunity to see hear and feel the strength that came from 60 years ago that’s almost too short don’t you think that’s true I think so [Applause] Yeah wonderful for playing thanks for wearing pink today say Founders Cup I think we started with 13 players look where we are now isn’t that something 13 Players She’s not you’re 87 no way you can’t be pushing like 57 and a half do you have any major regrets looking back not about golf yeah I guess so I would have liked to have learned a lot about music I’d like to learn how to arrange flowers I think that’s an art to
Be able to just you know you just can dump them in a base you got to this is coming down the hill yeah I think we’ll make this she’s a teacher at heart I mean you know she she’s just teaching from the minute she walks on the tea and
She still hits the you know Dead Center Square sweet spot of the golf club every time she swings the hill it starts coming this way when it comes over that hill so I’m a founder of the tour and a founder of the teaching division put your thumbs right on it see your hands
Are facing I get numerous prize buies but I get the the feeling that I’ve given something to to carry on the game of Golf she’s Priceless I hope she gets in the World Golf Hall of Fame she deserves to be in it why wouldn’t they put her in it part of it’s political I think honey I don’t know I don’t know anything about it I’m lucky I’m in Where is Shirley is she in here come over here front sure don’t get in the back get in the front get up here in the front please mine please M There thank you SM you’re a hero what a legacy you had how’s it feel to be I’m just an ordinary person an ordinary life thank you thank you now here’s something for you all oh thank I spend a lot of time talking to players about how to treat customers how
To treat those who are outside the ropes um what I really should have done now that I know Marilyn just introduced Marilyn and left the room soad she sends me a thank you note every time we talk even if it’s a phone conversation I’ll get a handwritten note saying thanks for
The time today Comm magnets to all of you before you go has the name of our tournament on it well I’ve met five presidents and uh been in all 50 states in 37 countries just because of golf looks what golf is given to me and uh it’s Awesome there’s my trophy My World Golf Hall of Fame trophy do you want me to hold that you want to picture that oh it’s heavy isn’t it it is heavy did you get it can’t hold it too long it’s my uh prize possession I guess you’d say something that’s
Special can can you can you come and get this out here I Will I got to give you a hug because body language tells me you’re a good person than you I’m serious the best we got let me just let you you have the right to heartbeat when I think of marene I think of longevity and golf you just can’t imagine that this woman could
Have gone on all those years Mrs Marina B sinks big one you know she’s played professional golf at top level all that time how did she do it I’ve no idea I mean quite remarkable woman it’s like I lived several different lifetimes because of the things that
Happen I don’t know how to describe it certainly nothing boring or mundane about It if I could play another round of golf with somebody of the original 13 it would be my Sister because I could see her Again uhhuh oh this is good babe and look at that hair do babe and Louise shaking hands that’s a good one after a tournament probably you know in 1988 Patty BG had taken the bus to attend a dinner honoring Louise sucks and she said to me she said you
Know I think Louise acted as if she was really glad I was there and she said I was happy to go and I was delighted that that she seemed happy I was there she said because you know Louise and I didn’t always get along and she Saidi
Think it was because I was a good friend of babes and she kind of settled back in the car seat and just stared out the window and said I think everything’s okay now on one of Louis’s visits to uh our club her Club having lunch she asked
Me if I would give her a tour and I brought her down here to the lower level and as she turned the corner from over here and she spotted this piece of artwork of uh the babe she stood there and her face got red and she says what
In the holy hell is this woman doing hanging on the wall of my club and there’s no artwork of me and I said Louise Louise please calm down this is the basement uh area of the club over my shoulder pretty soon there’s going to be an original piece of artwork of you and
That is on top of the babe where you have always been and how we always uh will see you and that seemed to calm her down in all fairness and due process of whatever without babe we probably bab’s Harris we probably wouldn’t have made it Louise sugs was
Probably the one that did the most through it all she was really dedicated not that that weren’t and she never got the credit that she she should have Gotten huh You know it’s the first time that I’ve ever men up there with big boys Thank you I think you have to keep looking and searching and someday you’ll find something you’re real spot you want to enjoy then you can sit down and rest I was blessed I’ve had a so many wonderful blessings because of golf and the people that I’ve met along the way and the
Travels I mean it’s just uh we were blessed by a lord or something because it’s bigger than ever now it’s pretty exciting um to be sitting here because you know if they haven’t weren’t doing what they were doing back then we wouldn’t be here we all are yes very
Proud as you can see the what’s happening today that’s something to be proud of I still feel very fortunate for to be able to play the game that I love and make a living from it and that’s due to the 13 women that started this for Us I think that all of us draw strength from if we think about it from what those women did uh we have to have the greatest respect for people who have laid the ground work for others to follow It Well to next year right
