1956 LPGA Tour


The 1956 LPGA Tour was the seventh season since the LPGA Tour officially began in 1950. The season ran from January 14 to October 21. The season consisted of 25 official money events. Marlene Hagge won the most tournaments, eight. She also led the money list with earnings of $20,235.
The season saw the first tournament outside United States, the Havana Open in Cuba. There were five first-time winners in 1956, Kathy Cornelius, Betty Dodd, Mary Lena Faulk, Mickey Wright, and Joyce Ziske. Wright would win 82 LPGA events in her career, second only to Kathy Whitworth's 88.
The tournament results and award winners are listed below.

Tournament results

The following table shows all the official money events for the 1956 season. "Date" is the ending date of the tournament. The numbers in parentheses after the winners' names are the number of wins they had on the tour up to and including that event. Majors are shown in bold.
DateTournamentLocationWinnerScorePurse 1st prize
Jan 15Sea Island OpenGeorgia Marlene Hagge 1523,000630
Jan 22Tampa OpenFlorida Betsy Rawls 2934,500900
Feb 5Havana OpenCuba Louise Suggs 2274,5001,000
Feb 12Serbin OpenFlorida Fay Crocker 1443,500630
Feb 19St. Petersburg OpenFlorida Kathy Cornelius 2875,000900
Feb 26Sarasota OpenFlorida Betsy Rawls 2915,0001,000
Mar 5Jacksonville OpenFlorida Mickey Wright 2944,500900
Mar 11Titleholders ChampionshipGeorgia Louise Suggs 3025,0001,000
Apr 15Babe Zaharias OpenTexas Marlene Hagge 2194,000900
Apr 22Dallas OpenTexas Patty Berg 2917,5001,350
Apr 29Peach Blossom OpenSouth Carolina Betsy Rawls 2924,000900
Jun 3Pittsburgh OpenPennsylvania Marlene Hagge 2936,000
Jun 10Triangle Round RobinVirginia Marlene Hagge +5010,0002,000
Jun 24LPGA ChampionshipMichigan Marlene Hagge 2916,5001,350
Jul 1Women's Western OpenIowa Beverly Hanson 3045,0001,000
Jul 8Syracuse OpenNew York Joyce Ziske 2216,5001,316
Jul 29U.S. Women's OpenMinnesota Kathy Cornelius 3026,0001,500
Aug 5All American OpenIllinois Louise Suggs 3015,0001,000
Aug 12World ChampionshipIllinois Marlene Hagge 29814,0006,000
Aug 19St. Louis OpenMissouri Fay Crocker 2884,000880
Aug 26Denver OpenColorado Marlene Hagge 2844,000800
Sep 16Clock OpenCalifornia Marlene Hagge 2924,500900
Oct 7Kansas City OpenMissouri Mary Lena Faulk 2145,000880
Oct 14Arkansas OpenArkansas Patty Berg 2874,000880
Oct 21Lawton OpenOklahoma Betty Dodd 2144,000880

Awards