1947 U.S. Women's Open Winner and Scores
Winner: Betty Jameson, 295
Where it was played: Starmount Forest Country Club in Greensboro, North Carolina
Tournament dates: June 26-29, 1947
Leaders after first round: Patty Berg, a-Polly Riley, a-Louise Suggs, 74
Leaders after second round: a-Polly Riley, a-Estelle Lawson Page, 149
Leader after third round: Betty Jameson, 225
What Happened in the 1947 U.S. Women's Open
Betty Jameson won the first stroke-play U.S. Women's Open using fewer strokes than any woman golfer ever had before for a big, 72-hole tournament. Jameson's winning score of 295 was reported at the time (and still believed to be today) the first sub-300 winning score in any significant, 72-hole women's tournament. It certainly was for upper-echelon tournaments.Jameson was two strokes off the lead at the halfway point, but held a 2-stroke lead following the third round. In the final round she scored 70 to pull away to a 6-stroke victory over a pair of amateurs, Sally Sessions and Polly Riley. (About three-quarters of the field was made up of amateurs, and only three professionals finished in the Top 10.) That final-round 70 — which was a course record on the par-76 layout — included seven birdies and one eagle.
One year earlier, in the inaugural U.S. Women's Open, Jameson was runner-up to Patty Berg, losing in the championship match (1946 was the only year the USWO used a match-play format). Jameson eventually won 13 tournaments that are today classified as LPGA Tour wins, including three major championships.
Also making a splash this year was 13-year-old Marlene Bauer, who finished 14th. She still holds the tournament record for youngest to make the cut (13 years, 4 months, 13 days old). As Marlene Bauer Hagge, she went on to a Hall-of-Fame career. Marlene eventually made 33 starts in the U.S. Women's Open, which was the tournament record (since broken) at the time of her last appearance in the 1981 USWO. Marlene's 16-year-old sister Alice Bauer (they both later were among the original 13 founders of the LPGA Tour) finished 25th.
Also making her debut was future 2-time champion Louise Suggs, who finished solo fourth. Suggs' final appearance was not until 1979.
1947 U.S. Women's Open Final Scores
| Betty Jameson | 76-75-74-70—295 |
| a-Sally Sessions | 77-76-74-74—301 |
| a-Polly Riley | 74-75-78-74—301 |
| a-Louise Suggs | 74-76-79-73—302 |
| a-Estelle Page | 76-73-78-79—306 |
| a-Carol Diringer | 81-76-73-77—307 |
| a-Grace Lenczyk | 80-75-74-79—308 |
| Helen Dettweiler | 75-84-73-77—309 |
| Patty Berg | 74-81-79-76—310 |
| a-Peggy Kirk | 81-83-72-77—313 |
| Mary Mozell | 79-80-78-77—314 |
| a-Dot Kielty | 75-77-84-79—315 |
| a-Dorothy Germain Porter | 80-76-84-78—318 |
| a-Marlene Bauer | 82-80-79-79—320 |
| a-Mary Wall | 79-81-83-78—321 |
| Kathryn Hemphill | 78-86-80-78—322 |
| Hope Seignious | 83-81-83-77—324 |
| a-Kaye Pearson | 84-86-76-80—326 |
| Opal Hill | 84-80-78-84—326 |
| a-Mrs. George Wilcox | 81-82-82-82—327 |
| Betty Hicks | 85-83-77-82—327 |
| a-Margaret Gunther | 81-84-82-81—328 |
| a-Marge Burns | 83-87-82-79—331 |
| a-Mrs. Louis Faquin | 84-79-85-84—332 |
| a-Alice Bauer | 83-79-90-83—335 |
| a-Nancy Maples | 86-88-88-87—349 |
| a-Billie Prather | 83-86-96-88—353 |
| a-Mrs. Charles Harbaugh | 88-89-88-88—353 |
| a-Jean Hopkins | 92-85-89-89—355 |
| Ellen Griffin | 84-93-91-87—355 |
| a-Jane Thomas | 93-88-89-88—358 |
| Bea Gottlieb | 90-90-93-88—361 |
| a-Shelley Caveness | 91-100-89-84—364 |
| a-Mrs. Jack Hanson | 92-96-92-90—370 |
| a-George Corcoran | 92-89-91-98—370 |
| a-Julia Reeves | 89-90-101-95—375 |
Sources:
Anderson, Billy. "Hanson Wins Open," Associated Press, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, June 30, 1947.
The Des Moines (Iowa) Register. "Jameson Wins Women's Open on Record 70," Associated Press, June 30, 1947.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Past Champions, 1947, via Internet Archive, https://web.archive.org/web/20100314144601/https://www.uswomensopen.com/history/pastchamps/1947.html.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open Records, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/media/online-media-center/usga-records/u-s--women-s-open-records.html.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Women's Open, Records & Results, 1947, https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/championships/history-timeline/scoring-and-stats/scoring.html#!&y=1947.
