Suzanne Maxwell Berning (July 22, 1941 – October 2, 2024) 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 became a member of 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 ...

in 1964 and won four major championships and eleven LPGA Tour victories in all. She also competed under her maiden name Susie Maxwell from 1964 to 1968. She was inducted into the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame was, until recently, located at World Golf Village between Jacksonville, Florida and St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States. It is unusual amongst sports halls of fame in that a single site honored both men ...

in 2022.

Amateur career

Suzanne Maxwell was born in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

. Her family moved to

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, when she was 13. After taking up golf at the age of 15, she immediately won three-straight Oklahoma State High School Championships. She also won the Oklahoma City Women's Amateur from 1959 to 1961. In 1963, she won the Oklahoma Women's Amateur. She was the first woman to receive a golf scholarship from

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and docto ...

, where she competed on the men's team.

Professional career

Maxwell turned pro and joined the

in 1964, and earned

LPGA Rookie of the Year 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 g ...

honors. She won her first tournament in 1965 at the Muskogee Civitan Open. She was named Most Improved Player for 1967. She won 11 times on the Tour, a high proportion of her wins coming in major championships, the 1965 Women's Western Open and the

U.S. Women's Open The U.S. Women's Open is one of 15 national golf championships conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA), is the oldest of the LPGA Tour's five major championships, which includes the Chevron Championship, Women's PGA Championship, ...

in 1968, 1972 and 1973. However, her form was inconsistent from her late twenties on, with the last of her three top-10 finishes on the money list coming in 1969. She stayed on the Tour for many years, though she did not always play full-time, and played 13 events as late as 1995. She made her final appearance on the Tour in 1996.

Personal life and death

After retiring from tour play, Berning became a well-respected teaching professional, spending time at the Nicholas-Flick Golf Academy and dividing her time between The Reserve Club in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

and Maroon Creek Country Club in

Aspen, Colorado Aspen is the List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The city population ...

. She had two daughters, Robin Doctor and Cindy Molchany, from her marriage to Dale Berning, which ended in divorce in 1997. At the 1989

Konica San Jose Classic The Konica San Jose Classic was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1983 to 1989. It was played at the Almaden Golf & Country Club in San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and po ...

, she and Robin became the first mother-daughter pair to play in the same LPGA Tour event. Berning died from lung cancer at her home in

Indio, California Indio (Spanish language, Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. Indio is approximately east of Los Angeles, east of Palm Springs, ...

, on October 2, 2024, at the age of 83.

Professional wins (13)

LPGA Tour wins (11)

LPGA Tour playoff record (1–1) Source:

Other wins (2)

*1975

Lady Keystone Open The Lady Keystone Open was a golf tournament on the LPGA Tour from 1975 to 1994. In its first year it was a satellite tour event but became a full event in 1976. It was played at three different courses in southcentral Pennsylvania but mainly at th ...

*1997 Sprint Senior Challenge

Major championships

Wins (4)

Source:

References

External links

*
Susie Maxwell Berning bio at GolfCompendium.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berning, Susie American female golfers LPGA Tour golfers Winners of LPGA major golf championships World Golf Hall of Fame inductees College women's golfers in the United States Golfers from Oklahoma Oklahoma City Stars athletes Golfers from Pasadena, California Sportspeople from Oklahoma City Sportspeople from Aspen, Colorado Sportspeople from Palm Springs, California Deaths from lung cancer in California 1941 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American sportswomen