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volume 3/ issue 10/ 12.8.04 |
| from the fringe | view from chateau | teeing off | the gallery |
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Manager of Media Relations Babe Didrikson Zaharias will forever be remembered for her contributions to women’s sports and the game of golf. She gave herself the nickname “Babe” after the legendary baseball player Babe Ruth, and would go on to establish her own career as an Olympian, a six-time Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year and one of the most successful golfers in history.
Didrikson dropped out of high school during her junior year in order to pursue her goals as an athlete. She played basketball, softball and competed in track and field. Between 1930 and 1932, Didrikson held American, Olympic, or world records in five different track and field events. In a remarkable display of athleticism, Didrikson won the 1932 national amateur track meet for women, a team event, by herself. The second-place team had 20 members and still finished 8 points behind Didrikson. Didrikson would go on to play professional basketball, become a skilled billiards player and even at one time contemplated becoming a long-distance swimmer. The Associated Press named her Woman Athlete of the Year in 1932, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950 and 1954. Didrikson took up golf in the mid-1930s and became known for her relentless practice sessions on the driving range. She would often hit balls until her hands bled, and her dedication would be rewarded as she won the Texas Women’s Amateur Championship in 1934. Despite the USGA’s decision to ban her from competition because of professional status, she decided to tour the country with professional golfer Gene Sarazen playing mostly exhibition matches. During the height of her golf career, she would accomplish a feat that has never been equaled by any man or woman. During the 1946-1947 seasons, she won seventeen straight tournaments, including the British Women’s Amateur and the British championship. When the Ladies Professional Golfer’s Association was formed in 1948, Didrikson became the leading money winner on the circuit and one of the most popular female golfers of the time. She also found happiness off the course, marrying professional wrestler George Zaharias. Babe Zaharias was diagnosed with cancer in 1953, but her career was far from over. She played well enough to win the Ben Hogan Comeback of the Year in 1953 and the U.S. Women’s Open in 1954. Up until the time of her death in 1956, Zaharias could be found playing a round of golf, despite the excruciating pain that the cancer was causing her. Babe Didrikson Zaharias was a remarkable athlete and human being. Her athletic achievements speak for themselves and she was named Woman Athlete of the Half Century in 1950. No other woman found success in so many sports, and Zaharias will forever be remembered as a pioneer in women’s athletics. |
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