American Defender Classic Tournament on LPGA Tour

The American Defender Classic was an LPGA Tour tournament played in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area from the mid-1960s into the early 1980s. Raleigh Invitational and Raleigh Classic are two other names by which it is remembered. It was a 54-hole event that was always played in the early part of the LPGA schedule.

First played: 1966

Last played: 1981

Carol Mann won it three of the first four times it was played. But Kathy Whitworth won it more than anyone else with four victories: 1967, 1971, 1972 and 1977. Whitworth also finished runner-up three more times, including to Mann in the inaugural tournament.

The tournament's lowest winning score was 206, first by JoAnne Carner in 1975, later matched by Whitworth in 1977, Amy Alcott in 1978, and Alcott again in 1980. The largest margin of victory was five strokes by Whitworth over Susie Maxwell in 1967. And when Whitworth won that 1967 tournament, it was her 30th career win on the LPGA Tour. At age 27, she was the second-fastest player in LPGA history (after Mickey Wright) to reach 30 wins.

When it was launched in 1966, this tournament became the first LPGA Tour event staged in North Carolina.

Winners of the American Defender Classic

1966 — Carol Mann, 216
1967 — Kathy Whitworth, 215
1968 — Carol Mann, 214
1969 — Carol Mann, 212
1970 — Sandra Haynie, 212
1971 — Kathy Whitworth, 212
1972 — Kathy Whitworth, 212
1973 — Judy Rankin, 217
1974 — Jo Ann Prentice, 137 (shorted to 36 holes due to weather)
1975 — JoAnne Carner, 206 (def. Judy Rankin in playoff)
1976 — Sue Roberts, 211
1977 — Kathy Whitworth, 206
1978 — Amy Alcott, 206 (def. Hollis Stacy in playoff)
1979 — not played
1980 — Amy Alcott, 206
1981 — Donna Caponi, 208

Also known as: The tournament was called the Raleigh Ladies Invitational at the time it launched in 1966, and was played under that name through 1970. It then became the Raleigh Golf Classic (1971, 1972), American Defender-Raleigh Classic (1973, 1974), American Defender Classic (1975-78), American Defender/WRAL Classic (1980) and, finally, in 1981, it was named the American Defender/WRAL Golf Classic.

Golf courses: Played at Raleigh Country Club from 1966 through 1974, then at North Ridge Country Club (also in Raleigh, N.C.) the rest of its history.

Sources:
LPGA Tour. Tournament Chronology 1960-1969, via Wayback Machine, https://web.archive.org/web/20110629124254/http://www.lpga.com/content/Chronology60-69.pdf.
LPGA Tour. Tournament Chronology 1970-1979, via Wayback Machine, https://web.archive.org/web/20100102105959/http://www.lpga.com/content/Chronology70-79.pdf.
LPGA Tour. Tournament Chronology 1980-1989, via Wayback Machine, https://web.archive.org/web/20110629095854/http://www.lpga.com/content/Chronology80-89.pdf.
LPGA Tour. 2005 LPGA Media Guide, All-Time Records.