Patty Berg
Patty Berg was a pioneering American golfer, born on February 13, 1918, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. From an early age, she excelled in various sports, with notable achievements in track and speed skating, before turning her focus to golf. Introduced to the sport by her father, Berg quickly progressed, winning her first major competition at the age of fifteen and eventually achieving significant success in the 1930s and 1940s, including winning ten out of thirteen tournaments in 1938.
Berg's career was marked by her transition to professional golf during a time when opportunities for women were limited; she co-founded the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) in 1948 and served as its first president. Over her career, she won approximately eighty-three professional tournaments and earned a reputation as one of the finest female golfers in history. Despite facing health challenges later in life, she remained active in the sport until her passing in 2006. Berg's legacy is remembered for her contributions to women's golf, both as a competitor and a leader in the establishment of professional opportunities for female athletes.
Patty Berg
Golfer
- Born: February 13, 1918
- Birthplace: Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Died: September 10, 2006
- Place of death: Fort Myers, Florida
Sport: Golf
Early Life
Patricia Jane Berg was born on February 13, 1918, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her father Herman was a grain broker in Minneapolis and her mother Therese was a housewife. Patty was a freckle-faced tomboy who played sports at an early age on a vacant lot near her home. She was star quarterback on a boys’ football team, the 50th Street Tigers, which was unbeaten during her tenure. As a young girl in South Minneapolis, Patty excelled in many sports. She set an elementary school track record. In speed skating, she finished third in the nation in the midget class. She later won several track events at Washburn High School.
The Road to Excellence
When Patty was fourteen, her parents decided that she should no longer play football with boys. Realizing that Patty excelled at sports and loved to play, her father shortened one of his golf clubs to fit Patty and gave her four of his other clubs. Patty began playing in 1932, after the family joined the Interlachen Country Club. Her father became her first teacher, and her golf game improved rapidly under his guidance. Within one year, she qualified for the state championships. Her early success was attributable to her dedication and hard work.
At the age of fifteen, Patty entered her first major competition, the 1933 Minneapolis city championship. She shot a score of 122, qualified for the final round, and lost the first match the next morning. The loss did not discourage Patty, however. She returned to the practice tee, determined to play better. In the following year, she returned to play in the city tournament. She was 40 strokes better than her 1933 qualifying score and won the title. This was the turning point in her career.
In 1935, at the age of seventeen, Patty won the first of three state championship titles in Minnesota. During the same year, she reached the finals of the United States Women’s Amateur tournament, which was held at her home course of Interlachen. She was defeated by the five-time champion, Glenna Collet Vare, a well-known and more experienced golfer. Patty’s performance increased attendance by fifteen thousand as people came to watch a young local player. This public support continued throughout her career; she was always well-liked by the press and the gallery.
In 1937, Patty’s early success continued. She again reached the finals of the United States Women’s Amateur tournament, losing to Estelle Lawson Page in a close match. After graduating from Washburn High School, Patty enrolled in the University of Minnesota in 1938. She continued to play amateur golf and once led her sorority to a softball victory by hitting a home run every time she came to bat.
The Emerging Champion
By the late 1930’s, Patty had proven herself as an accomplished golfer. She had defeated the women golf stars of the 1930’s: Joyce Wethered, Vare, Virginia Van Wie, Alexa Stirling, Marion Orcutt Creus, Helen Hicks, and Dorothy Campbell Hurd. In 1938, she won ten of the thirteen tournaments in which she played. For this accomplishment, Patty was named the Associated Press female athlete of the year. The following year proved to be difficult for Patty. She missed most of the 1939 season because of an appendectomy. Late that year, en route to an exhibition match, she was in a car accident in which she crashed through the windshield and broke her leg. She stayed in the hospital for six months, and it took another six months of rehabilitation before she could return to the golf course.
In 1940, she became a professional with the Wilson Sporting Goods Company of Chicago. By this time, she had already won forty-one tournaments, including every major tournament at the local, state, and national level. Patty became one of the first women to become a professional athlete. During this time, there were no professional sports for women, and there was no professional golf tour. Often the women earned only a one-hundred-dollar war bond for victory. During the war, Patty served in the Marines. After the war, she returned to professional competition. She won the Western Women’s Open title in 1941, 1943, and 1948, and the first U.S. Women’s Open in 1946—a tournament in which both amateurs and professionals compete—the only time it was contested as match play.
Continuing the Story
Patty’s dominance continued as she won the Titleholders Championship in 1953, 1955, and 1957. She was named female athlete of the year in three different decades.
In 1948, she joined with fellow golfers Betty Jameson and Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias to establish a women’s professional golf tour and the organization to promote professional golf for women, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). From 1948 to 1952, Patty served as the first LPGA president. Initially, there were few professional tournaments for women golfers, and very little prize money was offered. Patty’s leadership and talent, however, enabled the LPGA to grow during the 1950’s and 1960’s.
During her best years of competition, Patty averaged 75.5 strokes per round. By 1962, she had won more than forty professional tournaments and twice won six tournaments in a single year. In the first decade of the existence of the LPGA, she won thirty-nine tournaments. She earned more than $200,000 in prize money during her professional career. She continued to compete in tournaments until 1981, winning an estimated eighty-three professional career tournaments. In 1974, Patty became one of the thirteen charter members of the PGA/World Golf Hall of Fame.
After she retired from competition, Patty suffered from chronic injuries and illnesses. She had cancer surgery in 1971, major hip surgery in 1980, and back surgery in 1989. She continued, however, to represent Wilson Sporting Goods, traveling around the United States performing “The Patty Berg Golf Show.” In 2006, Patty died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
Summary
Patty Berg was considered by many to be the finest woman golfer in history. According to Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times, she was “probably the greatest fairway wood player, man or woman or boy, ever to pull a spoon out of bag and rifle it to a pin.” She pioneered women’s golf in the United States and, through her hard work and dedication, contributed immeasurably to the sport.
Bibliography
Barkow, Al. Best of Golf: Best Golfers, Courses, Moments and More. Lincolnwood, Ill.: Publications International, 2002.
Markel, Robert, Susan Waggoner, and Marcella Smith, eds. The Women’s Sports Encyclopedia. New York: Henry Holt, 1997.
“Patty Berg.” Sports Illustrated 105, no. 11 (September 18, 2006): 22.
Sherrow, Victoria, ed. Encyclopedia of Women and Sports. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-Clio, 1996.