Winners of Former LPGA Tour Event, the Birmingham Classic

This former LPGA Tour tournament was played 11 times from the early 1970s until the early 1980s. It was played each year at Green Valley Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama.

First played: 1972

Last played: 1982

Also known as: It was played under two other names, each for one year. It began in 1972 as the Birmingham Centennial Classic, and in 1979 it was called the Otey Crisman Classic. In every other year the tournament name was Birmingham Classic.

Winners of the LPGA Birmingham Classic

1972 — Betty Burfeindt, 212
1973 — Gloria Ehret, 217 (def. Betty Burfeindt, Clifford Ann Creed in playoff)
1974 — Jane Blalock, 211
1975 — Maria Astrologes, 210 (def. Judy Rankin, JoAnne Carner in playoff)
1976 — Jan Stephenson, 203
1977 — Debbie Austin, 207
1978 — Hollis Stacy, 207
1979 — Jane Blalock, 205
1980 — Barbara Barrow, 210
1981 — Beth Solomon, 206 (def. Jane Blalock in playoff)
1982 — Beth Daniel, 203

Jane Blalock was the only 2-time winner of the tournament, and she was also runner-up twice. Blalock was second in 1978, and she fell on the third hole of a playoff to Beth Solomon in 1981.

For the inaugural champ, Betty Burfeindt, it was her first career win on the LPGA Tour, and she nearly repeated, getting into a playoff the following year. ... Jan Stephenson's second career win happened here, and the victories by Hollis Stacy and Beth Daniel were also early wins for them. ... Maria Astrologes had only one victory in her LPGA career, but she earned it: It happened in this tournament in 1975 via playoff against two legends, Judy Rankin and JoAnne Carner.

The tournament's 54-hole scoring record was 203, first recorded by Stephenson in 1976 and later matched by Daniel in the last tournament in 1982. ... Stephenson's total was seven strokes lower than any of the previous winning totals, in part because the first two rounds that year were played under preferred lies. Kathy Martin opened that 1976 tournament scoring 66-65, and that 131 total was, at the time, the lowest 36-hole score in LPGA history. ... The largest margin of victory was six strokes by Blalock over runner-up Pat Bradley in 1979.

Sources:
LPGA Tour. LPGA 1982 Player Guide, Ladies Professional Golf Association, 1982.
LPGA Tour. Tournament Chronology, 1970-79 (via Internet Archive), https://web.archive.org/web/20100102105959/http://www.lpga.com/content/Chronology70-79.pdf.
LPGA Tour. Tournament Chronology, 1980-89 (via Internet Archive), https://web.archive.org/web/20110629095854/http://www.lpga.com/content/Chronology80-89.pdf.