The USGA Did Not Create The US Womens’ Open

I was amused by a USGA ad with Mike Whan talking about how proud the USGA was of the tournament, which extends back to 1946.

The US Women’s Open does in fact extend back to 1946. But what Whan didn’t mention is that it wasn’t created by the USGA. Indeed, the USGA didn’t take it over until 1953.

And then it shortchanged the tournament for decades.

The US Women’s Open was founded by the Women’s Professional Golf Association in 1946. The first event was a match play contest at the Spokane Country Club. The $19,700 purse was contributed by a men’s fraternal organization out of slot machine proceeds.

Patty Berg won 5&4.

The WPGA was chartered in 1944. Among its star players were Patty Berg, Lousie Suggs, Betty Jameson and Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

The WPGA folded in 1949, and the newly formed LPGA assumed responsibility. The legendary thirteen Founders of the LGPA included the WPGA stars and nine others.

The USGA took over the US Women’s Open in 1953. The purse at that first USGA Women’s Open was $7,500.

The slot machine guys put up more than two and a half times that.

The USGA’s shortchanging of the US Women’s Open continued until recent years when purses finally reached some level of parity and the tournaments are scheduled on some of the same iconic venues as the men.

Better late than never, I suppose.

What Whan should have said is:

We are proud to be the heirs of the US Women’s Open, which was created in 1953 by the pioneering women of the WPGA, then later run by the LPGA before the USGA finally realized the inequity of its championships.