11 Golfers Who Won Both the British and U.S. Women's Amateurs

How many golfer have won both the U.S. Women's Amateur and the British Women's Amateur championships? Not many! Those two tournaments, the pre-eminent events for amateur women golfers, both date to the 1890s. And in that very long history, only 11 golfers so far have captured both trophies. But no golfer has done it since 1996.

The British Women's Amateur dates to 1893. It was known as the British Ladies Amateur for many years, when it was run by the Ladies Golf Union. When the R&A took over the tournament, the official name changed to "The Women's Amateur." (We, and many other publications, still insert to the "British" to differentiate it from the U.S. tournament.) The U.S. Women's Amateur dates to 1895 and is run by the USGA.

The List: Wins in Both U.S., British Amateurs

These are the 11 golfers who have victories in both of the two biggest amateur tournaments for women, the U.S. Amateur and British Amateur:

• Dorothy Campbell: Campbell not only was the first to win both titles in her career, but also the first to win them both in the same year. That year was 1909. She was British champ again in 1911, U.S. champ again in 1910 and 1924. Originally from Scotland, Campbell, with wins also in the Canadian Women's Amateur, was the first truly international star in women's golf.

• Gladys Ravenscroft: The English golfer Gladys Ravenscroft won the 1912 British Women's Amateur, then defeated Marion Hollins in the championship match to win the American crown in 1913.

• Pam Barton: From England, Pamela Barton was the second golfer to win both titles in the same year in 1936. She added the British title again in 1939, but was killed while serving in the British Women's Auxiliary Air Force during World War II in 1943. Today, the winner of The Women's Amateur receives the Pam Barton Memorial Salver.

• Babe Zaharias: Several years after regaining her amateur status, the legendary Babe won the 1946 U.S. Women's Amateur. Then, in 1947, she became the first American winner of the British Ladies Amateur.

• Louise Suggs: Suggs followed her biggest rival, Zaharias, by one year in each tournament, winning the American title in 1947 and the British one in 1948.

• Marlene Stewart Streit: This giant of Canadian golf won the British Amateur in 1953 and added the U.S. title in 1956. (She won her home country's trophy 11 times.)

• Barbara McIntire: McIntire, later a winner of the USGA's Bob Jones Award, claimed the 1959 U.S. Amateur. Then she won the 1960 British Women's Amateur, putting herself on this list. She added another American title in 1964.

• Catherine Lacoste: Lacoste spent only a few years playing top-level individual tournaments internationally. She won the U.S. Women's Open before winning either amateur, in 1967. But then, in 1969, she won both the British and U.S. women's amateur titles.

• Carol Semple Thompson: Thompson won the U.S. Women's Amateur in 1973 and the British Women's Amateur in 1974. Although she won "only" one U.S. title, she makes the list of golfers with the most USGA trophies.

• Anne Quast: Quast won the U.S. title three times in her 20s, in 1958, 1961 and 1963. She was 43 years old when she finally added the British title in 1980.

• Kelli Kuehne: And Kuehne (pictured above) is the last golfer so far to win both of the biggest amateur championships for women. She did it in the same year, 1996. That also makes her just the fourth golfer to win the British and U.S. women's amateur championships in the same year, after Campbell, Barton and Lacoste.

Related articles:

• All the winners of the U.S. Women's Amateur
• All the winners of the British Women's Amateur

Photo credit: "Kelli Kuehne – LPGA Golfer" by Animas - insulivin is licensed under CC BY 2.0 .