Shirley Englehorn

1963, age 22, Sports Illustrated

I remember in the early 60's when my dad pointed to a woman's picture in the Sear's and Roebuck catalog. "That's a relative of yours." The woman was Shirley Englehorn and she was standing next to a set of her signature clubs. Now that I help put together this web site I wanted to link to a biography of her. Unfortunately the information on Shirley is spread all over the web. So, this page will bring it all together.

Jim Schrempp

(1960)

(1961)

1969 Palm Beach Daily News: Patty Berg kiddingly measures the length of Sandra Palmer's skirt during a 1969 golf tournament in Kiamesha Lake, N.Y. Also pictured are Leslie Holbert, third from left, and Shirley Englehorn. Berg is one of the founders of the Ladies Professional Golf Association

Highlights

Born: December 12, 1940

#35 All Time LPGA tour wins with 11 wins

#217 of LPGA All Time Money Leaders $181,194

1970 was a big year for Shirley. As reported in Golfing News 2001:

OVERLOOKED: The LPGA Tour omitted Shirley Englehorn when it listed the small group of players who had won at least four consecutive starts. Englehorn won in St. Louis in 1970, took the next week off and then won the next three, beating Whitworth in a playoff for the LPGA Championship and her fourth straight win. Those were the only tournaments she won that year.

Selected Tournaments

1956: Woman's Trans National Golf Association, Trans Junior Medalist (89) in Caldwell, Idaho

1957: WTNGA, Trans Junior Medalist (85) in Caldwell, Idaho

1959: Wins Pacific Northwest Golf Association, Women's Amateur Open, played at Columbia Edgewater in Oregon

1962 Jul 22: Wins LPGA Lady Carling Open, played at Pleasant Valley CC in Sutton, MA

1962 Sep 9: Wins LPGA Eugene Golf Open

1963 Jul 7: Wins Lady Carling Eastern Open, played at Pleasant Valley CC in Sutton, MA

1964 Sep 8: Wins LPGA Waterloo Women's Golf Open Invitational

1964 Dec 13: Shirley Englehorn & Sam Snead win Haig & Haig Mixed Foursome Golf

1966 May 22: Wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open

1966: Runner up in the LPGA Clayton S&L played at Norwood Hills CC

1967: Runner up in the LPGA championship (285) played at Pleasant Valley CC in Sutton MA.

1968 Aug 10: Wins LPGA Concord Golf Open

1970 May 17: Wins LPGA Johnny Londoff Chevrolet Golf Tournament. Played at Glen Echo CC in St. Louis. (285) She defeated Kathy Whitworth with a four-stroke victory in a sudden death playoff round.

1970 May 31: Shirley Englehorn wins LPGA O'Sullivan Ladies' Golf Open

1970 Jun 6: Wins LPGA Lady Carling Golf Open

1970 Jun 11-14: Wins the 16th LPGA championship played at Pleasant Valley CC in Sutton, Mass with a 285 (-7)

"Marilyn Smith asked me about my play in St. Louis, and wanted to know what I was thinking about. I told her I was thinking about 'Rain Drops Are Falling On My Head' Shirley, that's 'Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head.' It had great rhythm for the golf swing. It was almost hypnotic."

Shirley Englehorn commenting on the first of her four wins in a row on the LPGA Tour in 1970. Golfweek, 4/28/01

1972: US Women's Open - Shirley Englehorn had not played tournament golf in over a year following an operation to fuse her ankle bones. In fact, she had not walked 18 holes until the week before the Championship. Yet she led after the first round with a 72 and held her lead with a 75 in the second round for 147. The next day she could not keep up the pace and scored an 82.

Selected Awards and Mentions

1967: Ben Hogan Award recipient ([We are unable to find authoritative information on her Ben Hogan award, or the Ben Hogan award program overall. The following information was found but may not be applicable. - ed] Just as Hogan's career began to go into overdrive he had a near fatal car accident in 1949. There was doubt as to whether he would be able to walk let alone play golf. Hogan's determination carried him through and he returned to competitive golf a year later. Sometimes he had to play in bandages and was constantly plagued with pain. In memory of his plight, the Ben Hogan award is given annually to a golfer who has successfully recovered from injury to compete again.)

1970: Course Record, lowest 36-hole scores (70-70), Pleasant Valley CC

1970's Short movie: Their Game is Golf. Some history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association is given at the start. Then we see what life is like for a female pro -- traveling, relaxing, packing for a tour, etc. Arnold Palmer says that "there is a place for women's professional golf." Various players tell how they supplement their income by associating with manufacturers and retailers such as Sears. The clothing and hairstyles are varied and interesting. Features Patty Berg, Babe Zaharias, and Shirley Englehorn. Produced by Tel-Air Interests; sponsored by Sears-Roebuck. (Florida Photographic Collection)

1978: LPGA Teacher of the Year award

1991: Presented with the Ellen Griffin Rolex Award, one of the highest awards for golf instructors. The Ellen Griffin Rolex Award, instituted by the LPGA T&CP Division in 1989 to honor the late Ellen Griffin, recognizes an individual, male or female, who has made a major contribution to the teaching of golf and who emulates Griffin's spirit, love and dedication to students, teachers, teaching skills and the game of golf. Griffin, who passed away in 1986, was one of the best-known women's golf teaching professionals in American history.

2001: Golf For Women magazine, top 50 teachers:

Shirley Englehorn
Kissing Camels Golf Club, Colorado Springs, CO (719) 632-5541
Lessons: $50 per half-hour
This LPGA Master Professional has been teaching golfers the basics since 1962.

Details of Play

USGA Journal and Turf Management: August 1961

Round-by-round scores of leaders with 72-hole totals:
Miss Shirley Englehorn 80-73-78-77-308

The best way to see Shirley's whole record used to be to search on "Englehorn" at the Sports Illustrated Golf Magazine site, but they've changed and now her name is not on the site. A sample Sports Illustrated report is below:

Wins for Shirley Englehorn (since 1964)

Date

Tournament

Finish

To Par

Score

Dollars

6/13/70

LPGA Championship
Playoff: Beat Kathy Whitworth in a 18 hole playoff; Englehorn 74 - Whitworth 78

T-Win

-7

70-70-75-70 = 285