LPGA's last surviving founder dies at 89
Marlene Hagge-Vossler, a hall of fame player and the last surviving founder of the LPGA Tour, died Tuesday, her family said. She was 89.
Hagge-Vossler won 26 times on the LPGA Tour, including the 1952 LPGA Championship, and she was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2002.
She was 15-year-old Marlene Bauer when she joined 12 other women — including her older sister, Alice Bauer — in signing incorporation papers in 1950 for the fledgling LPGA Tour.
Upon her death, the LPGA is among the premier women's sports associations in the world, with players this year competing for US$100 million in prize money.
“Marlene will ... never be forgotten,” LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said.
“She was an impressive athlete, a fiery competitor and at a young age showed women and girls that they could achieve greatness in all areas of life. We're incredibly grateful for her contributions to the LPGA, women's golf and women's sports at large.”
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