Glenna Collett Vare

One of the first great women players in the United States, she was dubbed the "Queen of American Golf" as she dominated women’s competition in the 1920s and 1930s. She was only nine when she was introduced to golf at Metacomet, where her father, George, was among the founding members. She went on to play competitively for more than 70 years and did it so well that she was among the six charter members of the Women’s Golf Hall of Fame. She won six U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships, which is still a record for the men or women, between 1922 and 1935. Known for her long drives and her fast play, she was among the first Americans to compete in the British tournaments. She was runner-up in the British Women’s Amateur in both 1929 and 1930. She last won the Rhode Island Women’s Championship in 1959, at age 56. Also in Rhode Island, she competed for 61 consecutive years in the Point Judith Women’s Invitational, the last time in 1984 at age 81. Among her 94 titles, she also captured the U.S. Girls’ Junior and was a two-time Canadian Amateur champ. She won the Eastern Amateur and the North & South six times each. Her fellow players thought so much of her that the trophy given for the lowest scoring average each year on the LPGA Tour is named the Vare Trophy, in her honor. Vare herself donated a trophy, in 1949, to be awarded to the winner of the USGA Girls’ Championship. That trophy is still being awarded today.