Babe Zaharias Open, Former LPGA Tournament

It's only appropriate that Babe Zaharias (pictured above) herself won the first Babe Zaharias Open. This former LPGA Tour tournament was played from the early 1950s to the mid-1960s in Zaharias' hometown of Beaumont, Texas. (Zaharias herself died in 1956.)

First played: 1953

Last played: 1967

The tournament debuted in 1953 with Zaharias winning by one stroke over her great rival, Louise Suggs. The following year, Suggs beat runner-up Zaharias by two. Suggs won again in 1958, and was also runner-up three more times.

In 1962, the tournament ended in a tie after several consecutive days of rain. Kathy Cornelius and Betsy Rawls were declared co-champs when rain washed out the final round that started on Sunday, and prevented any play on Monday.

Rawls (1959-60) and Marlene Hagge (1956-57) both won the title in back-to-back years. Trying to win a third consecutive year in 1958, Hagge finished second to Suggs. But Hagge did add a third victory in 1965, beating Clifford Ann Creed and Carol Mann in the tournament's only playoff. And Rawls' third win came in that rain-shortened 1962 tournament.

The lowest, 54-hole winning score in the Babe Zaharias Open was 209, first recorded by Mickey Wright in 1963 and matched by Shirley Englehorn in 1966. The largest margin of victory was eight strokes, set in 1955 with Betty Jameson beating runner-up Patty Berg, 210 to 218.

When the tournament ended due to financial constraints after the 1967 playing, it was the longest-running tournament on the LPGA Tour.

Winners of the Babe Zaharias Open

1953 — Babe Zaharias, 217
1954 — Louise Suggs, 224
1955 — Betty Jameson, 210
1956 — Marlene Hagge, 219
1957 — Marlene Hagge, 222
1958 — Louise Suggs, 214
1959 — Betsy Rawls, 215
1960 — Betsy Rawls, 211
1961 — Mary Lena Faulk, 211
1962 — (tie) Kathy Cornelius, Betsy Rawls, 146 (36 holes due to rain)
1963 — Mickey Wright, 209
1964 — Ruth Jessen, 214
1965 — Marlene Hagge, 215 (def. Clifford Ann Creed, Carol Mann in playoff)
1966 — Shirley Englehorn, 209
1967 — Marilynn Smith, 210

Also known as: No other names used for this event — it was always the Babe Zaharias Open.

Golf Courses: The tournament named after Babe was played in the Babe's hometown of Beaumont at the Beaumont Country Club, and later at Bayou Din Golf Club.

Sources:
Abilene Reporter News. "$575,000 Offered in Lone Star State," March 24, 1968.
Associated Press. "Babe Zaharias Open Meet Ends in Tie," Columbia (S.C.) Daily Tribune, June 5, 1962.
LPGA Tour. Tournament Chronology 1950-1959, via the Wayback Machine, https://web.archive.org/web/20100102110028/http://www.lpga.com/content/Chronology50-59.pdf.
LPGA Tour. Tournament Chronology 1960-1969, via the Wayback Machine, https://web.archive.org/web/20110629124254/http://www.lpga.com/content/Chronology60-69.pdf.