Judy Bell (born September 23, 1936) is an American amateur golfer and golf administrator. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001 in the Lifetime Achievement category, which honors people who have made an exceptional contribution to the sport in areas outside of tournament wins.
Bell was born in Wichita, Kansas and took up golf at the age of ten, winning the girls' division in her first event - in a field of one. In 1952 she lost to Mickey Wright in the semi-finals of the U.S. Girls' Junior, [1] which was to remain her best result in a United States Golf Association (USGA) event. She won the Broadmoor Golf Club Invitation three times and played for the United States in the Curtis Cup in 1960 and 1962. In 1967 she shot 67 in the U.S. Women's Open, which remained a record for 14 years.
Bell became a USGA volunteer in 1961, when she was a member of the Junior Championship Committee. In the 1970s she became a rules official. She later served on the Women's Committee and in 1987 became the first woman on the executive committee. In 1996 she was elected as the 54th President of the USGA, the first woman to hold the senior office in American golf. During her tenure and subsequently she played a leading role in programs to take golf to youth, minorities and the disabled.
Bell has been inducted into 11 halls of fame, including the World Golf Hall of Fame. She was among the first women to receive an honorary lifetime membership at the historic Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews in 2015, and holds honorary memberships in eight other clubs in Scotland and the United States. In 2016, Bell received the Bob Jones Award, the USGA's highest honor.
Amateur
Nancy Marie Lopez is an American former professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events, including three major championships.
The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules of golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system for golfers, conducts 14 national championships, including the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Senior Open, and tests golf equipment for conformity with regulations. The USGA and the USGA Museum are located in Liberty Corner, New Jersey. In 2024, the USGA moved its Testing Center from Liberty Corner, New Jersey to Pinehurst, North Carolina. The Testing Center is where all golf clubs and golf balls manufactured in the United States and Mexico are tested for conformance to the Rules of Golf.
JoAnne Gunderson Carner is an American former professional golfer. Her 43 victories on the LPGA Tour led to her induction in the World Golf Hall of Fame. She is the only woman to have won the U.S. Girls' Junior, U.S. Women's Amateur, and U.S. Women's Open titles, and was the first person ever to win three different USGA championship events. Tiger Woods is the only man to have won the equivalent three USGA titles. Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Carol Semple Thompson have also won three different USGA titles.
Hollis Stacy is an American professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1974, winning four major championships and 18 LPGA Tour events. She was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in the veterans category in 2012.
Virginia Van Wie was an American amateur golfer, best known for winning three U.S. Women's Amateurs, 1932–34. The Illinois-born golfer was the daughter of wealthy parents and learned the game at the Beverly Country Club, and during the summers she would go with her parents to summer homes in Michigan and Florida and compete with the best. Van Wie was a student of golf instructor Ernest Jones.
Barbara Joy McIntire is an American amateur golfer.
Carol Semple , also known by her married name Carol Semple Thompson, is an American golfer who participated only on the amateur circuit, and never turned pro.
Maureen Orcutt was an American amateur golfer and reporter for the New York Times.
Carolyn Cassidy Cudone was an American amateur golfer.
Dorothy Germain Porter was an American amateur golfer.
Alice Dye was an American amateur golfer and golf course designer known as the "First Lady" of golf architecture in the United States.
Janice C. Moodie is a Scottish professional golfer who plays mainly on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour but is also a member of the Ladies European Tour.
Danielle Ammaccapane is an American professional golfer playing on the LPGA Tour. Her daughter, with husband Rod Kesling, is child actor Laura Ann Kesling.
Anne Quast is an American amateur golfer. She won the U.S. Women's Amateur three times and was runner-up three times. She was married several times and played as Anne Decker, Anne Welts, and Anne Sander.
Fred Scobie Ridley is an American amateur golfer and golf administrator who won the U.S. Amateur in 1975, was elected president of the United States Golf Association (USGA) in 2004, and then became chairman of Augusta National Golf Club in 2017.
Ann Linen Probert is an American amateur golfer from New Jersey. Probert has competed in 10 Senior Women's international events and notched 16 holes-in-one during her career. She is a recipient of the United States Golf Association's (USGA) Ike Grainger Award, which recognizes distinguished service to the association over 25 years.
Joan Packard Birkland was an American athlete and women's sports advocate. Considered one of Colorado's greatest all-around athletes, she earned multiple titles in women's amateur tennis and golf championships at the city and state level. Following her retirement from competition, she served on numerous sports boards and became involved in sports education for disabled youth. She was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 1977, the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1981, and the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.
Katherine Rowena Graham was an organizational leader in women's amateur golf and a member of the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame. Her contribution to golf was her administrative and officiating capabilities more than her individual golfing skill. She was chairman of the United States Golf Association (USGA) Women's Committee 1987 and 1988, the highest volunteer position in women's golf. The committee conducts or supervises golf tournaments for women, mostly amateur events and selects the Curtis Cup members.
Sarah LeBrun Ingram is an American amateur golfer, a member of the Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. She is a former All-American golfer at Duke University who became a three-time winner of the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur. Ingram represented the U.S. on the Curtis Cup team in 1992, 1994 and 1996. She is a member of the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame. In 1993, Golf Digest, Golfweek and Golf World named her either number one amateur or Amateur Player of the Year. At age 30, despite winning many titles, she made the decision not to turn pro. She gave up her golf career because she wanted to raise a family and also because of a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. After a 20 year interval of not playing the sport, in 2018 she agreed co-chair 118th U.S. Women's Amateur and was tapped to serve as (non-playing) captain of the 2020 U.S. Curtis Cup team. She began playing again and won the 2020 Tennessee Women's Senior Amateur, then won the 2021 Ladies National Golf Association Senior Championship.
Lori Castillo is an American professional golfer from Hawaii. She is one of only three golfers to have won both U.S. Girls' Junior (1978) and U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, and was the first female to hold two USGA titles at the same time, joining only Chick Evans, Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus. She won the 1984 Wirral Caldy Classic on the Ladies European Tour and won the Hawaii State Open a record five times. She competed as Lori Planos during her marriage to Gary Planos of Kapalua Resort.