GOLF lost one of its true trailblazers with last month’s passing of the first Australian to play on the LPGA Tour, Margie Masters.
The former Victorian passed away in her adopted home of Tucson, Arizona at the age of 87.
Born in Swan Hill, Masters made headlines early in her career by winning the national championships of four countries: New Zealand in 1956, South Africa in 1957, Australia in 1958 and Canada in 1964.
Masters (pictured) played in 10 Victorian teams as an amateur and represented Australian nine times between 1954-’59.
She also won the Victorian Amateur Championship five times between 1957 and 1963.
Masters’ length off the tee was one of her greatest assets as she hit the ball further than most women and was also blessed with the perfect temperament.
She surprised no-one when at the age of 31 she was named the US Rookie Of The year in 1965 following a final round 67 in her first US Women’s Open.
She did become the first Australian woman to win a prestigious professional tournament in the US when she took out the 1967 Quality Open in Waco, Texas.
In 1974, her American earnings topped the $100,000 mark and she remained on the American circuit until 1976.
“It was nice being the first Aussie on their tour,” Masters said in a 2013 interview.
“They kept asking me about kangaroos. I got so sick of it I told them they used to deliver the mail which they carried in their pouches.
“But people were so good to me and I made some fabulous friends.”
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