Shirley Ruth Englehorn (December 12, 1940 – October 2, 2022) was an American professional golfer. Nicknamed "Dimples", she won 11 tournaments during her

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 ...

career, including one

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, the 1970

LPGA Championship The Women's PGA Championship (branded as the KPMG Women's PGA Championship for sponsorship reasons) is a women's professional golf tournament. First held in 1955, it is one of five majors on the LPGA Tour. It is not recognized as a major by the ...

Early life and amateur career

Englehorn was born on December 12, 1940, in

Caldwell, Idaho Caldwell (locally CALL-dwel) is a city in and the county seat of Canyon County, Idaho, United States. The population was 68,336 at the time of th2023 United States census making it the List of cities in Idaho, 5th most populous city in Idaho. C ...

, where she was raised. She first played golf when she was six years old, having been introduced to the sport by Shirley Spork, one of the thirteen founders of the

LPGA 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 ...

, and also studied with Johnny Revolta, an 18-time

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

winner and the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

victor in

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

. Englehorn won numerous amateur and open events. These included the McCall Open (1957 and 1958), the Idaho Open (1957 to 1959), and the Pacific Northwest Amateur (1958). She also won the Oregon Open in 1959, and won the Dorothy Pease Trophy (Trans-Miss) when she was fifteen, the youngest player to win the honor.

Professional career

After graduation from Caldwell High School in 1958, Englehorn turned pro at age 18 in 1959 and joined the LPGA Tour. She was sponsored by the Athletic Round Table of

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...

from 1960 through 1962. Despite a career-threatening equestrian accident in Georgia in March 1960, Englehorn recovered and won her first tournament at age 21 in July 1962 at the Women's Eastern Open in

Sutton, Massachusetts Sutton, officially the Town of Sutton, is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,357 in the 2020 United States census. Located in the Blackstone Valley, the town was design ...

. She won a total of 11 events on the LPGA Tour, including one major championship, the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

in a playoff over

Kathy Whitworth Kathrynne Ann Whitworth (September 27, 1939 – December 24, 2022) was an American professional golfer. During her playing career she won 88 LPGA Tour tournaments, more than anyone else on the LPGA or PGA Tours. Whitworth was also a runner-up 9 ...

, her third victory at Sutton. Englehorn led the tour that season in wins with four. Five years earlier, in 1965, she suffered injuries in an automobile accident and missed much of the season. Englehorn was awarded the

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory, hi ...

Award in early 1968 by the Golf Writers Association of America in honor of her successful comeback from injuries. She had surgery on her ankle in 1971 and 1973 and in each case returned to compete. She later became a golf instructor, and was conferred the LPGA Teacher of the Year Award in 1978. She made her last LPGA appearance in 1979.

Personal life

Englehorn died at Penrose Hospital in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

, on October 2, 2022, at the age of 81.

Professional wins (12)

LPGA Tour wins (11)

LPGA Tour playoff record (3–2)

Other wins (1)

* 1964 Haig & Haig Scotch Foursome (with

Sam Snead Samuel Jackson Snead (; May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for the better part of four decades (having won PGA of America and Senior PGA Tour events over six decades) an ...

)

Major championships

Wins (1)

¹ Won in an 18-hole playoff. Englehorn: 74, Whitworth: 78

References

External links

* *
Page on the Engelhorn family site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Englehorn, Shirley American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships Golfers from Idaho Sportspeople from Caldwell, Idaho 1940 births 2022 deaths 21st-century American women 20th-century American sportswomen