Rise of the LPGA: A Trailblazing Journey in Women's Golf

On September thirteenth, nineteen fifty in Wichita, Kansas, thirteen women got together and organized the Ladies Professional Golf Association better known as the LPGA, which included legendary women's golfers Patty Berg, Betty Jamison and Babe Dickerson Zaharis and led to one of the greatest women's professional league in the world. We're going to dive into how it all started today on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide to a rapid deep dive into sports history every day. And today's trivia question is how much money did the top earner make that first year of the LPGA. Now, in eighteen ninety three, the very first women's golf association was formed in the Ladies Golf Union in the UK, and they organized tournaments such as the Women's Amateur Championship and the Ladies British Amateur Open. And it was around till twenty seventeen when it merged with the Royal and Ancient Golf Association of Saint Andrew's. But the first organization in America was in eighteen ninety seven with the American Ladies Golf Association although it would later fade away over time, it would be a great predecessor for the LPGA, and in eighteen ninety five, the US held their very first Women's Amateur Championship. Although there was only thirteen entries, it was a great start. Now, the LPGA was actually preceded by the WPGA, the Women's Professional Golf League, which was founded in nineteen forty four but stopped after a limited touring in nineteen forty eight, which left a void for women's golfers. So thirteen women golfers got together at the Rollings Hills Country Club in Wichita, Kansas to talk about forming the LPGA so they could have their own association just like the men's PGA, and this included great players such as Berg, Betty Jamison, and Babe Dickerson Zaharis who we covered in a previous episode, and Patty Burg would serve as their first president, and all thirteen founding members were voted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, and six of them had already been inducted individually. And their first tournament would be in nineteen fifty at the Tampa Bay Women's Open held at the Palma Sierra Golf and country Club and the winner was an amateur named Paul y Riley, who be all the professionals that had attended, and the organization continued to grow and in nineteen twenty six, the LPGA hosted their first tournament, their first tournament outside of the United States, in Havana, Cuba, at the Havana Open. And over the years they have continued to grow and they have annual majors in the Sevron Championship, the US Women's Open, the Women's PGA Championship, the Women's British Open, in the Avion Championship, and in nineteen fifty one they actually established the Hall of Fame for Women's Golf and the four charging members were Patty Berg, Betty Jensen, Luis Thuggs, and Babe Saharis, and over time it eventually merged into the World Golf Hall of Fame, and in nineteen fifty three they would actually start giving out year the awards as they gave the Vera Award to the player with the lowest season average, and in nineteen sixty six they would give the award for the Player of the Year. Now that first year in existence, their top earner that year was Babe Dickerson Zaharis, who won eight tournaments and won a total of fourteen thousand, eight hundred dollars, which is equivalent today to over one hundred and eighty thousand dollars. Not too bad for back in nineteen fifty for a new, upstart organization, and over the years the winnings would stead of the increase, and in nineteen ninety six the top earner for that year was Carrie Webb of Australia. She won four tournaments and was the first woman to have a year the earnings of over one million dollars, and in just five years later an a coastorm stand what became the first woman to win two million dollars in one year, and the most a woman has won on the tour was Laurna Ochoa of Mexico who in two thousand and seven won four point three million dollars after winning eight tournaments, and in two thousand and twenty three was the first year that the tour's total prize money was over one hundred million dollars, proving that the LPGA did not just set out to be an offshoot of the LPGA, yes, but it gave options and opportunities to women's golfers that weren't there before. We've covered Babe Dickerson and Ani constorm Stand before as they played against the men, but they didn't have to as they were making their own money and competing in a sport that they loved. Now, did they want to go against the best in the world, Yes, but that didn't mean they had to, as both of them dominated the LPGA and grew it to what it is today as the oldest and most predominant women's professional league in the United States. Now, the LPGA as a whole is a governing body that acts for women's golf. It sets the rules guidelines to participate in events, monitors professional conducts of its members, and oversees the rankings and qualifications for the tournaments, and it is in charge of enforcing the rules of golf throughout its tournaments. It also has a role of educating and nourishing future players throughout and they actually started the Teaching Club Professional Division. Today, the LPGA has over seventeen hundred golfers in over fifty countries and as of twenty twenty two, there is an estimated six point four million female golfers around the world. And I want to thank you for listening to today's Daily Sports History. If you like this, please make sure you subscribe wherever you're listening so you don't miss an episode, because we'll be back on Monday with more Daily Sports History. And did you catch the answer to today's trivia question how much money did the top earner make that first year of the LPGA? And the answer is the first year of the LPGA, Babe Zaharis was the top earner, earning fourteen thousand, eight hundred dollars