Alexa Stirling

A L E X A S T I R L I NG | V I I

D R . C A T H E R I N E M . L E W I S OCTOBER 6, 2021

Dear World Golf Hall of Fame Selection Committee,

I write with great enthusiasm for the nomination of Alexa Stirling for induction to the World Golf Hall of Fame. She has been a forgotten champion, and we now have an opportunity to rectify that.

Alexa’s record certainly speaks for itself. At the age of 17, she became the youngest winner of the Women’s Southern Amateur in 1915. That next year, she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur. In an era where professional women’s golf was non-existent, she competed and succeeded at the highest level. She is often best remembered today as the “girl” who beat Bobby Jones. They were, indeed, friends and competitors and barnstormed around the nation during World War I, raising more than $150,000 for the war effort. After World War I, Alexa’s competitive career resumed, and she won the 1919 and 1920 U.S. Women’s Amateur and the 1920 Canadian Women’s Amateur. She remained a competitive force until the mid-1930s, winning the 1922 and 1923 Met Women’s Amateur and the 1934 Canadian Women’s Amateur. After marrying Dr. Wilbert Grieve Fraser and moving to Ottawa, Alexa returned to Atlanta twice. In 1950, she attended the Golden Anniversary of the Women’s Amateur at East Lake and in 1976 for the U.S. Open at her home club, the Atlanta Athletic Club. As golf historian who is also trained in women’s history, I can say without exaggeration that Alexa Stirling is one of the most deserving and underappreciated women in the history of the sport. I have curated exhibitions about her and told her story in two books, Considerable Passions and A Host to History. I am among a growing chorus of scholars and journalists who believe she deserves more recognition. The World Golf Hall of Fame has brought attention to many notable female golfers over the years-from Annika Sorenstam to Marilynn Smith to Babe Zaharias, and Alexa’s absence is notable. Nobody would be happier to see her inducted than our very own Bobby Jones, Alexa’s longtime friend and admirer. He learned a great deal about the game from her and was quick to extol her virtues and significance to the game. It is time for us to do the same.

Thank you for your consideration.

Asst. Vice President, Museums, Archives and Rare Books

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