Outstanding Amateurs

It is less and less likely that todays’ golfers of exceptional ability will maintain amateur status throughout their competitive careers. With a full slate of golf tours offering increased prize money as well as opportunity for lucrative commercial endorsements, the lure of turning professional is overwhelming for truly talented golfers. Golf Fore the Good commends those who have played the game in the past in its pure and simple state, and those amateur golfers who compete today, solely for the love of the game.

Listed here are some outstanding amateur golfers with a synopsis of their accomplishments.


John Ball, Jr. 1861-1940

  • 1888 Winner of the British Amateur
  • 1890 First English player to win the British Open Championship
  • 1890 First player to win both the British Amateur and the Open Championship in the same year, a
    feat matched only by Bobby Jones
  • Holds a record of eight British Amateur Championships (1888, 1890, 1892, 1894, 1899, 1907, 1910 and 1912)
  • 1977 Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame



    • Beatrix Hoyt 1880-1963

  • 1896-1998 Won three consecutive US Women’s Amateur Golf Championships
  • At age 16 she was the youngest ever to win the Women’s US Amateur and held that record until 1971
  • The first three time winner of the US Women’s Amateur tournament
  • One of five competitors to win three consecutive Women’s Amateur titles
  • Medalist in the US Women’s Amateur for five straight years
  • 1899 Founding member of the Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association, the second oldest women?s golf association in the US
  • 1900 Lost to Margaret Curtis in the US Amateur semi-finals and retires from competitive golf at the age of 19



    • Carolyn Cudone (Mrs. Philip J. Cudone) 1918-

  • New Jersey State Women’s Golf Championship 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1965
  • Winner, New Jersey Stroke Play, 11 times
  • Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association Championship 11 time winner
  • 1956 Curtis Cup team member
  • 1958 Won both North and South Women’s Amateur Championship
  • 1968-1972 US Sr. Women’s Amateur Golf Championship, a record five straight wins
  • 1970 Captain, Curtis Cup
  • 1979 Inducted into the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame



    • Bobby Jones (Robert Tyre Jone, Jr) 1902-1971

  • Widely considered one of the greatest competitors to have played the game of golf
  • Born on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1902 in Atlanta, Georgia
  • Won his first tournament at age six
  • His first major championship win was in 1923, the US Amateur, when he was only 14 years old.
  • In 1930, at the age of 28, he became the first golfer to win the Grand Slam, all four majors in a single year (1930)
  • Barely two months later, he retired from competitive golf, still with amateur status
  • From 1923 through 1930 he won 13 majors, unmatched until Jack Nicklaus surpassed that total in 1973



    • Alice Dye 1927-

  • Born Alice O’Neil in 1927 in Indianapolis, Indiana
  • Winner of 11 City titles, 9 Indiana State Championships
  • Won at least 50 amateur golf titles
  • Married Paul “Pete” Dye in 1948, assisted in designing, at the least, 40 esteemed golf courses.
  • 1968 Won both the North and South Women’s Amateur Championship
  • 1970 Member, Curtis Cup team
  • 1978 and 1979 US Sr. Women’s Amateur and Canadian Sr Women’s Championship
  • 1982 First woman member of the American Society of Golf Course Architect
  • (First female president of ASGCA, 1997)
  • Known as the “First Lady” of golf course architecture in the US
  • Member of USGA Women’s Committee and LPGA Advisory Council
  • Member, Board of Directors, Women’s Western Amateur (recipient of their Woman of Distinction Award)
  • 2004 Collaborated on the book “From Birdies to Bunkers: Discover How Golf Can Bring Love, Humor and Success into Your Life”



    • Barbara McIntire 1935-

  • 1956 Nearly the first amateur to win the US Women’s Open, losing in an 18 hole play off to Kathy Cornelius
  • 1957 Won the first of six North and South Women’s Amateur Championships
  • Winner of the US Woman’s Amateur in 1959 and 1964
  • 1960 British Ladies Amateur Golf Championship
  • 1960 Appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated
  • Curtis Cup team member 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966 and 1972, Capt. in 1976
  • 1985-1996 USGA Women’s Committee (Chairperson 1995 and 1996)
  • 1995 Ohio Golf Hall of Fame
  • Inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame 1998
  • 2000 Recipient of the Bob Jones Award by the USGA, awarded for distinguished sportsmanship in golf



    • Catherine Lacoste 1945-

  • Member of the winning French Team in 1964 at the inaugural World Amateur Golf Team Championships
  • 1967 Won US Woman’s Open Championship
  • Currently the only amateur to have won the US Women’s Open
  • 1969 Won both US Women’s Amateur and the British Ladies Amateur Championship Ladies
  • Member, World Amateur Golf Team in 1966, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1976 and 1978


    • Carole Semple Thompson 1948-

  • At age 16, defeats her mother to win her first tournament, the Western Pennsylvania Women’s Championship
  • 1973 US Women’s Amateur Championship
  • 1974 British Ladies Amateur Championship
  • 1976 and 1987 North and South Women’s Amateur Championship
  • 1992-1993 Member of the PGA’s Advisory Committee
  • 1994-2000 Served on the USGA Executive Committee
  • 1999-2002 four consecutive titles at the US Women’s Sr Championship
  • Member of the American team, World Amateur Golf Team Championships
  • Curtis Cup member a record 12 times
  • 2003 Recipient of the USGA’s Bob Jones Award
  • 2005 Winner of the PGA’s “First Lady of Golf Award”
  • Won two US Mid-Amateur Championships
  • One of only five players who have won three different USGA championship events
  • Low amateur in three US Open Championships in 1978, 1988 and 1998
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