Heather Farr (March 10, 1965 – November 20, 1993) was an American professional golfer on the

Early years

Born and raised in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

, Farr was the elder of two daughters of Gerald D. (Jerry) and Sharon Farr. She and her sister Missy were introduced to golf by their father, a former

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

cowboy and

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veteran, and the family spent countless hours together at the public Papago Golf Course in east Phoenix. Farr won three state high school championships while at the all-girls Xavier College Preparatory, and is a member of the National High School Sports Hall of Fame and the azcentral.com Arizona High School Sports Hall of Fame. At a diminutive , she was nicknamed " Mighty Mouse" during her teenage years.

Golf career

College

Farr graduated from high school a year early in 1982 and was a top recruit with many scholarship offers. She chose to stay close and enrolled at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

in adjacent Tempe, where she played for the Sun Devils women's golf team. At ASU she became a well-known golfer, both in

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and nationwide, winning the 1982 U.S. Girls' Junior and 1984 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links. At the U.S. Women's Open, Farr tied for eleventh and was low amateur as an 18-year-old in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

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, then tied for fortieth in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in 1984. Farr played on the U.S. teams in the 1984 Curtis Cup and Espirito Santo Trophy. She was an All-American and was inducted into the ASU Sun Devils' Hall of Fame in 1990.

LPGA Tour

After three years at ASU, Farr turned pro in June 1985; she tied for eighth at the

LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly ...

's qualifying tournament near

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in October to earn her tour card, and began play in early 1986. Farr's best finish on tour was a tie for third at the Mazda Classic at

Boca Raton, Florida Boca Raton ( ; ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 97,422 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and it ranked as the 23rd-largest city in Florida in 2022. Many people with a Boca Raton Address, ...

in early 1988, and she had six top ten finishes that season.

Breast cancer

With her pro career on the rise, Farr was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

at age 24 in July 1989. Her battle with cancer became national news for the next four years. She played on tour on a limited basis in the fall of 1990, but more cancer was found in her spine and the base of her skull. In March 1991, Farr underwent a 13-hour operation to rebuild her vertebrae and stabilize her back with a metal rod. That August, she began working on her putting stroke, with hopes to return to the tour. In

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, she married Goran Lingmerth in March, and played six holes of a skins game at the Sara Lee Classic in April, but in May more cancer was found on her pelvis and skull. Through 1993, ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...

'' newspaper of Phoenix kept a daily column which updated Farr's health condition. She became admired by many Arizonans because she kept hope of returning to the golf links soon, despite her ordeal. Beginning in August, she had numerous surgeries to relieve internal bleeding, and underwent surgery at Scottsdale Memorial Hospital-North on November 11 to relieve a

brain hemorrhage The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

; she died nine days later at age 28, surrounded by her family and many LPGA tour pros.

Legacy

Farr was posthumously named an "ambassador" of the Grayhawk Golf Club in Arizona, and her family established the Heather Farr Foundation. In addition to that numerous golf awards have been named after her. In

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, the LPGA established the Heather Farr Player Award to celebrate the life of Farr. The award "recognizes an LPGA Tour player who, through her hard work, dedication and love of the game of golf, has demonstrated determination, perseverance and spirit in fulfilling her goals as a player, qualities for which Farr is so fondly remembered". Farr is buried at St. Francis Cemetery in Phoenix, beside her father Jerry (1939–2014). Her younger sister Missy Farr-Kaye became the head coach of the women's golf team at Arizona State in June 2015, after many years as an assistant at their alma mater. Also diagnosed with breast cancer at age 30, she is a two-time cancer survivor (1998, 2008) and leads her sister's foundation.

Amateur wins

*1980 Junior PGA Championship *1982 U.S. Girls' Junior, AJGA Tournament of Champions, Junior PGA Championship *1984 U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur * Curtis Cup: 1984 (winners) * Espirito Santo Trophy: 1984 (winners)

Videos

* * *

References

External links

*
Arizona State University Athletics Hall of Fame – Women's golf

Maroon & Gold: A History of Sun Devil Athletics – Heather Farr
*
Papago Golf Course
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farr, Heather 1965 births 1993 deaths American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Arizona State Sun Devils women's golfers Golfers from Phoenix, Arizona Deaths from breast cancer in Arizona 20th-century American sportswomen