Santa Cruz, California
1999
31
Seven
1984 Rookie of the Year
2000
Juli Inkster, who grew up in Santa Cruz, Calif., played collegiate golf at San Jose State University. She was a three-time All-American (1979, 1981, 1982) and is a member of the San Jose State Sports Hall of Fame. She won 17 times during her collegiate career. Inkster won three consecutive U.S. Women’s Amateurs (1980-82), becoming the first woman since 1934 to win three straight U.S. Women’s Am titles. She also won the 1981 California State Amateur Championship and was a part of the U.S. Curtis Cup team in 1982.
After a victory at the 1983 Safeco Classic, Inkster won two major championships in her first full LPGA Tour season, the Chevron Championship and du Maurier Classic, and won 1984 Rookie of the Year honors. She won 31 times on the LPGA Tour, including seven total major titles. At the time, she completed the career Grand Slam for women’s golf. She was a nine-time U.S. Solheim Cup team member (1992, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011). She was a three-time captain (2015, 2017, 2019), winning twice as leader of the U.S. team.
Inkster was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1999 and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2000. Her other honors include the 1999 GWAA Female Player of the Year, two-time Founders Award winner (2004, 2015), and the now discontinued LPGA Patty Berg Award in 2009. She was awarded the Bob Jones Award in 2022 by the USGA. In 2020, Inkster created the Juli Inkster Senior Award, recognizing the highest ranked women’s Division I collegiate golfer in her final year of eligibility.
)
)
)
)