The Women's Professional Golfers' Association was established in 1946; very soon thereafter it created the U. S. Women's Open as the premier tournament on the women's tour. In 1949 the Ladies Professional Golfers Association succeeded the WPGA and conducted the tournament through 1952, at that time the U. S. Golf Association took it over. Something that many will find noteworthy is that the purse of $19,700 for the first Open was contributed by the Spokane Athletic Round Table, a men’s fraternal organization. The purse was gathered from slot machine proceeds.

The U.S. Women’s Open is the longest-running event currently on the [tag-tec]LPGA[/tag-tec] Tour. It is one of the LPGA's four major champion-ships. It is 72 holes and in the case of a tie there is then an 18 hole playoff. The event is open to any female who has a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 4.4. The U.S. Women's Open is one of 13 national championships conducted annually by the USGA, 10 of which are strictly for amateurs.

Not only is this event considered one of the most difficult, it is one of the most vied for.  Golf courses across the country want to host the event. Not only for the honor but, of course, for the economic gain that hosting such a high profile event generates. At this point the Women’s U.S. Open Championships are planned up to 2010. Sales are open for the 2007 event and courses are vying for 2011. Is it any wonder that winning the U.S. Women’s Open is one of the greatest accomplishments in golf?

Patty Berg was a founding member of the
LPGA. Born February 13, 1918, Patty was 13 when she turned her focus to golf and never stopped.  For Berg, golf was a high calling. One of her rules was: "Don't think you really win until you live up to that high thing within you that makes you do your best, no matter what."At 16 she won the 1934 Minneapolis City Championship. The next 7 years held 28 amateur victories for Patty.

Patty turned professional in 1940, at a time when there were very few professional women golfers. In 1946 Patty won the first U.S. Women’s Open. Not long after that in 1948 Patty was among the group of women who founded the LPGA and was the association’s first president. That same year she won 3 titles.
Patty Berg had so many struggles with health issues that she should be an inspiration to us all. In 1941 she was in a car accident that severely injured her knee and was sidelined for 18 months, cancer surgery in 1971, major hip surgery in 1980, and back surgery in 1989. Even though the hip surgery ended her professional career, she still remained an active golfer and teacher. 

Patty Berg was all things to women's golf-a superb player, a great promoter, a wonderful teacher, a charismatic personality.  Patty Berg was inducted into LPGA Tour and World Golf Halls of Fame, LPGA T&CP Hall of Fame, Women’s Sports Hall of Fame, PGA of America Golf Hall of Fame, University of Minnesota Hall of Fame, and the American, Minnesota and Florida Halls of Fame.

Sadly on September 10th,2006 the world of golf lost Patty Berg due to Alzheimer’s.

Marlene Bauer Hagge is one of the original 13 founding members of the LPGA.  Marlene started playing golf at the age of three during a time when women’s golf was nothing more than a novelty beyond the club level.  Marlene won the Long Beach City Boys Junior at the age of 10.  In 1947 at the age of 13 she won the Los Angeles Women’s Golf Championship on a course where the scorecard stated “Children Under 14 Are Not Allowed.” That same year she became the youngest player to make the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open and finished eighth.

In 1949, at the age of 15, she became the youngest athlete ever to be named Associated Press Athlete of the Year, Golfer of the Year, Teenager of the Year, won the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship and the WWGA Junior titles. In 1950, two weeks before her 16th birthday, she turned pro. Together with her sister Alice and her parents, she traveled around the LPGA Tour in a 22-foot Airstream trailer. The sisters were graceful and petite, the tour's first glamour girls, and their fresh beauty attracted new fans to women's golf. Marlene became the youngest player to win a LPGA event in 1952 when she won the Sarasota Open at the age of 18. She continued to play and win for the first five decades of the LPGA Tour.

In 2000, during the LPGA’s 50th anniversary, she was recognized as one of the organizations top 50 players and teachers. On November 15, 2002 Marlene was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame.