Marilynn Smith

Class of 1994

Professional Player

This Exhibit is Generously Sponsored by the Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation.

Biography

Marilynn Smith was not only one of the finest players of her generation, but she was also one of the women who helped build professional golf for generations to come. One of the 13 founders of the LPGA in 1950, Smith spent her career competing, promoting, teaching, organizing tournaments, and opening doors for women in the game.

Raised in Kansas, Smith first dreamed of playing baseball before discovering golf as a young girl. She quickly excelled, winning three consecutive Kansas Women’s Amateur titles and, while attending the University of Kansas, capturing the 1949 national individual intercollegiate championship. She turned professional soon afterward and became one of the original women who created the LPGA Tour.

In those early years, being an LPGA professional meant much more than playing tournament golf. Smith and her fellow founders drove from city to city, promoted tournaments, sold tickets, conducted clinics, worked with sponsors, and did whatever was necessary to establish a viable professional tour for women. Known as “Miss Personality,” Smith became one of the LPGA’s most effective ambassadors.

Texas became an important part of that journey. Smith spent considerable time competing and promoting the game throughout the state, including stops in San Antonio and Beaumont. In Beaumont, she won the 1967 Babe Zaharias Open, and three years later she captured the Women’s Golf Charities Open in Houston. She later made the Dallas area her home, where she continued to teach, mentor, and support women’s golf.

Smith won 21 LPGA Tour events, including back to back major championships at the Titleholders Championship in 1963 and 1964. She also served as LPGA president from 1958 through 1960, helping strengthen the young organization through teaching programs, pro am events, and increased promotion.

Her influence extended well beyond competition. In 1973, Smith became the first woman to work as a television commentator on a men’s professional golf broadcast. Over her lifetime, she conducted more than 4,000 clinics and helped introduce the game to hundreds of thousands of golfers.

Smith remained devoted to women’s golf throughout her life. In 1987, she established the Marilynn Smith Founders Classic, and she continued mentoring young players and supporting scholarships that created opportunities for women to pursue the game. Her contributions earned her induction into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame in 1994 and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2006.

Marilynn Smith helped create more than a golf tour. She helped create a future for women in golf.

Birthplace: Topeka, Kansas

Born: April 13, 1929

Died: April 9, 2019

Inductee Highlights

LPGA Founder
21 LPGA Victories
LPGA President, 1958-1960
1949 NCAA Individual Champion - University of Kansas
Two-time Major Champion, Titleholders 1963 & 1964
1973 - Became the First Woman to Commentate on a Men's Professional Broadcast
World Golf Hall of Fame Member, Class of 2006

Always Helping Other Women

Marilynn Smith believed deeply in helping other women find opportunities through golf. As one of the LPGA’s founders, she spent her career opening doors, mentoring younger players, teaching the game, and supporting women who wanted to compete, work, and lead in golf. Through her clinics, scholarships, and personal encouragement, she made sure the progress her generation fought for would continue to benefit the women who followed.

A Founder of the LPGA!

Starting the LPGA in 1950 took grit, creativity, and a lot of windshield time. The founders often traveled in a caravan from tournament to tournament, following one another across the country in their cars. Once they arrived, they did far more than play golf. They promoted the event, sold tickets, worked with sponsors, helped prepare the course, organized clinics, and did whatever else was needed to make the tournament happen. In building the LPGA, they were not just professional golfers. They were promoters, organizers, teachers, saleswomen, and pioneers creating the first professional sports organization for women athletes.

Always a Supporter - LPGA Founders Cup

Marilynn Smith never stopped supporting women’s golf or the LPGA she helped create. She remained a visible and enthusiastic ambassador for the game throughout her life, always encouraging the next generation of players and celebrating how far women’s professional golf had come. When LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan launched the Founders Cup in 2011 to honor the Tour’s pioneers, Marilynn became an important part of the event, connecting the LPGA’s earliest days with its modern stars and reminding everyone that today’s opportunities were built on the work of the women who came before.