Marlene Hagge


Marlene Hagge is an American former professional golfer. She was one of the thirteen founders of the LPGA in 1950. She won one major championship and 26 LPGA Tour career events. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Amateur career

Hagge was born in Eureka, South Dakota and had a progressively successful amateur experience. She started playing golf at age 3. At age 10, she won the Long Beach City Boys Junior. At age 13, she won the Western and National Junior Championships, the Los Angeles Women's City Championship, the Palm Springs Women's Championship, Northern California Open and the Indio Women's Invitational. In 1947, at age 13, she became the youngest player to make the cut at the U.S. Women's Open and finished eighth. In 1949, at the age of 15, she became the youngest athlete ever to be named Associated Press Athlete of the Year, Golfer of the Year and Teenager of the Year, and she won the U.S. Girls' Junior and the WWGA Junior titles.

Professional career

Hagge was the youngest of the thirteen women who founded the LPGA in 1950, and remains the youngest ever member of the LPGA Tour. Her older sister, Alice Bauer, was also a founder. She won her first tournament in 1952 at the Sarasota Open. She would go on to win a total of 26 events on the LPGA Tour, including one major championships, the 1956 LPGA Championship. That year, she was also the tour's leading money winner and led the tour in wins with eight. In 2002, was voted into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame through the Veteran's Category in and was officially inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Her final competitive appearance on the LPGA Tour came in 1996.
Hagge appeared on the June 18, 1961 episode of the CBS game show What's My Line.

Personal

She married Bob Hagge, her sister Alice's ex-husband in late 1955. They divorced in 1964.
Hagge was married to former PGA Tour golfer Ernie Vossler from 1995 until his death on February 16, 2013. They lived in La Quinta, California, where she remains.

Professional wins

LPGA Tour wins (26)

Wins (1)

1 Won on first hole of sudden-death playoff.