HONORING THE LEGENDS

We lost a true pioneer of the LPGA and good friend to Marilynn Smith and Golf It Forward on October 2, 2024. Susie Maxwell Berning was a four-time major winner, 2021 World Golf Hall of Fame inductee and 2021 Marilynn Smith Tournament Honoree.

She was a trailblazer many times over, winning three straight Oklahoma state high school golf championships and was the first female to be offered a golf scholarship by Oklahoma City University, where she played on the men’s team. She was LPGA Rookie of the Year in 1964 and won her first major, the Western Open in 1965, followed by the U.S. Women’s Open in 1968, 1972 and 1973, making her one of only seven female players ever to win back-to-back Opens, and one of only six players to win three or more Opens.

Susie navigated work/life balance with success. She was a working mom pioneer, competing while pregnant and limiting her tournament schedule to allow time for family life. She won her back-to-back Opens after her daughter, Robin, was born, and averaged fewer than 13 tournaments a year during her peak career years. Her daughter Cindy was born in 1977.

After retiring from full-time competitive play, Berning started teaching, splitting her time between the Reserve Club in Palm Springs, California, and Maroon Creek Country Club in Aspen, Colorado.

“The thing that makes her stand out is her four majors which she won while juggling a family,” World Golf Hall of Fame Class of 2000 inductee Beth Daniels said in a 2021 press release. “There are very few women in the history of golf that have been able to do that, and it lets female golfers know they can have a family and a career. Nancy Lopez did it. Juli Inkster did it. But before them, Susie Berning did it.”