Bettye Jane Danoff (née Mims; May 21, 1923 – December 22, 2011) was an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. She was one of the 13 founding members 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 ...

, in 1950. Danoff began playing golf at age 6. Her parents had opened a driving range and nine-hole golf course in Grand Prairie Texas. She also played under the names Bettye Mims White and Bettye Mims Danoff. The LPGA Tour was not founded until 1950. Before then, she won four straight Dallas Women's Golf Association Championships in addition to two Texas Women's Amateur Championship. In 1947, she defeated

Babe Zaharias Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (; Didrikson; June 26, 1911 – September 27, 1956) was an American athlete who excelled in golf, basketball, baseball, and track and field. She won two gold medals and a silver in track and field at the ...

, 1 up, in the Texas Women's Open. Zaharias had won 17 consecutive tournaments before losing to Danoff. Also before her LPGA days, Danoff played exhibitions with

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 ...

stars. Danoff was a mother to three daughters who traveled with her as she played off the LPGA Tour. After the death of her husband in 1961, Danoff played in a limited number of tournaments. She was the LPGA Tour's first grandmother.

Amateur wins

*1947 Texas Women's Amateur *1948 Texas Women's Amateur

Professional wins (1)

*1953

Hardscrabble Open The Hardscrabble Open, also known as the Hardscrabble Women's Invitation, was a golf tournament played at the Hardscrabble Golf Club in Fort Smith, Arkansas, from 1945 to 1953. It was an official LPGA Tour event from 1948 to 1950. Winners *1953 Be ...

Mrs. Betty Danoff Wins Hardscrabble Golf Title
''Chicago Daily Tribune,'' October 10, 1953

References

External links

* American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Golfers from Dallas 1923 births 2011 deaths 21st-century American women 20th-century American sportswomen {{US-golf-bio-stub