Penny Hammel (born March 24, 1962) is an American professional golfer, who joined the

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

in 1985.

Amateur career

Hammel was born in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in C ...

. She won several amateur tournaments including the 1979

U.S. Girls' Junior The United States Girls' Junior Championship is one of the thirteen United States, U.S. national golf championships organized by the United States Golf Association. It is open to amateur girls who are under 19 on the last day of the competition and ...

. In the 1979 PGA Junior Championship she finished five strokes ahead of her closest opponent. As a member of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

women's golf team, Hammel won the 1983 NCAA Women's Golf Championship, and her team won the title in 1984. She was a 1983-84 All-American and a member of the 1984 U.S.

Curtis Cup The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match. It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and The R&A and is contested by teams representing the United States and ...

team. In 1983, she won the Broderick Award (now the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

) as the nation's best female collegiate golfer.

Professional career

Hammel turned professional in 1984 and played on the

Futures Tour The Epson Tour, previously known as the LPGA Futures Tour, and known for sponsorship reasons between 2006 and 2010 as the Duramed Futures Tour and between 2012 and 2021 as the Symetra Tour, is the official developmental golf tour of the LPGA Tour ...

, winning four times. She was named the

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

. Hammel joined the LPGA tour in 1985 and won the Rolex Rookie of the Year award. She eventually went on to win a total of four victories on the Tour during her career.

Amateur wins

*1979 PGA Junior Championship, Junior Orange Bowl,

, Illinois Junior *1983 NCAA Women's Golf Championship

Professional wins (4)

LPGA Tour wins (4)

Futures Tour wins (4)

*1984 (4) Candlestone Classic, Dave Mason Golf Classic, Tiger Point Classic II, Val Ward Cadillac Classic

Team appearances

Amateur *

(representing the United States): 1984 (winners)

References

External links

*
Where are they now? A look back at 30 years of Westfield Jr. PGA ChampionsYahoo! Sports Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammel, Penny American female golfers Miami Hurricanes women's golfers LPGA Tour golfers Golfers from Illinois Golfers from Florida Sportspeople from Decatur, Illinois Sportspeople from Delray Beach, Florida 1962 births Living people