Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2020 - 37

MGA NEWS
adopter of the USGA Course and
Slope Rating System (the foundation
of the modern handicap system);
Provided computerized handicaps
to both public and private
golfers, thus growing the MGA
membership to 75,000 golfers at
350 golf clubs around the state;
Engineered equitable tee time
access for women golfers, thus
avoiding costly tax legislation for
golf courses;
Served on the USGA Rules
Committee and officiated at 15 consecutive
U.S. Open championships;
Transformed a biannual newsletter,
" Tales from the Minnesota
Golf Association, " into a glossy,
bimonthly member magazine, the
Minnesota Golfer;
With fellow Hazeltine National
member Reed Mackenzie,
was
instrumental in the return of the
U.S. Open to HNGC in 1991.
As an encore, after retirement
from the MGA in 1992 Rebholz
returned in 1996 to launch the
MGA Senior Tour, a highly successful
summer schedule of golf tournaments
for the 55 and older set.
Rebholz was an accomplished
athlete and golfer. He played baseball
and basketball for Cretin High
School, leading the baseball team
to the private school state title in
1946. He won club championships
at both Highland National
Golf Club, St. Paul, and Hazeltine
National Golf Club, Chaska, where
he was an early member, and he
played in three USGA championships:
the 1954 and 1958 Amateur
Public Links, and the 1981 MidAmateur.
Rebholz was inducted
into the Minnesota Golf Hall of
Fame in 1991, and later captained
the successful Minnesota men's
team at the 2001 USGA State Team
Championship at Hazeltine.
Reflecting on " Rebbie's " influence,
Ryan said, " We will miss him,
but we will never forget him. "
Visit mngolf.org/news to read
more about Warren Rebholz's life
and career.
Mary Kathryn " Mickey " Wright
1935-2020
Golf lost one of its all-time greats with the
passing of legendary LPGA player Mickey
Wright, who died of a heart attack just days
after her 85th birthday, Feb. 17. With a swing
called fluid, powerful and elegant, Wright
compiled 82 victories overall (second only
to Kathy Whitworth's 88 wins) and was
enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame,
LPGA Hall of Fame (as one of six inaugural
inductees) and the PGA of America Hall of
Fame. Many considered her swing the greatest
in the game.
" She had the finest golf swing I ever saw, "
Ben Hogan once said.
Wright's golf resume included 13 major
championships (two shy of Patty Berg's 15);
13 victories in a single LPGA season (1963)
and 11 in 1964 (tying Annika Sorenstam for
the second most); the " Mickey Slam " -four
consecutive major championship victories
(1961-62), a mark no other woman has
achieved; and five consecutive Vare Trophy
titles for the low scoring average (1960-64),
the longest streak of them in tour history.
Perhaps even more noteworthy, Wright
stopped competing full time by age 34.
Ultimately, the pressure of being the face of
the LPGA Tour (sponsors reportedly threatened
to cancel events if Wright, who was
also the LPGA president in 1963 and 1964,
didn't play) took its toll on the admittedly
shy superstar.
" I played very much more than
I could physically and emotionally
handle, " she told author Liz
Kahn for her book " The LPGA:
The History of the LPGA, The
Unauthorized Version. "
In Minnesota, Wright never
finished outside of the top ten in
seven appearances, which included a third
at the 1966 U.S. Women's Open, ninth at
1956 U.S. Women's Open, tie for third at the
1977 Patty Berg Classic and four top-tens at
the American Women's Open (1958-1961).
Her legacy is indelible. In 1999, the
Associated Press named Wright the female
golfer of the century, and in 2011, the USGA
opened the Mickey Wright room in its
museum, making her only the fourth player
and first woman to be given such an honor.
Wright once had this to say about Patty
Berg: She got kicked under the rug because
of Babe Zaharias. In Wright's view, Berg was
the best and knew more golf shots than any
other woman golfer, before or after. Berg,
who passed away in 2006 at age 88 after
complications from Alzheimer's, is the subject
of a new sports biography, " Patty Berg:
Pioneer Champion of Women's Golf, " by
Kevin Kenny (see inset). Kenny, a retired
professor living in Dublin, Ireland, who has
written two other golf books, a biography of
Ralph Guldahl and a history of American
golf during the Great Depression,
covers Berg's prolific sports career
from quarterbacking the " 50th
Street Tigers " to serving as honorary
chair of the 2002 Solheim
Cup at Interlachen Country Club,
where she learned the game at the
hand of Willie Kidd Sr.
Berg, who was thrice named
AP's Woman Athlete of the Year, won 28
amateur and 57 professional tournaments
(a record 15 majors), and is a member of a
dozen sports hall of fames (including being
in the inaugural class of the Minnesota Golf
Hall of Fame), is unquestionably the greatest
golfer to come out of Minnesota. After
reading Kenny's book, you may rightly conclude,
Berg is the greatest woman golfer of
all time.
MICKEY
WRIGHT
mngolf.org
Spring 2020 MINNESOTAGOLFER
37
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Minnesota Golfer - Spring 2020

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