Barbara McIntire, 64, of Colorado Springs, Colo.,
a two-time U.S. Women's Amateur champion, six-time Curtis Cup team member,
and the captain of the 1976 and 1998 Curtis Cup squads, has been named as
the recipient of the United States Golf Association's Bob Jones Award for
2000.
Presented annually since 1955, the USGA's top award is given in
recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in the game.The award seeks to
recognize a person who emulates Jones's spirit, his personal qualities, and
his attitude toward the game and its players.It will be presented to
McIntire Jan. 22 at the Association's Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
"It's terrific when you receive an award for something you've loved
doing your whole life," McIntire said."If you are a competitor and your
record is good, you might expect to be named to a team but I don't honestly
think anyone expects to win the Bob Jones Award.It is definitely the most
pleasant surprise of my life."
Born in Toledo, Ohio, she won the U.S. Women's Amateur in 1959 and 1964.A
member of the U.S. Curtis Cup squads in 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966 and
1972, she compiled a 3-5-1 foursomes mark and a 3-1-3 singles record.
She nearly became the first amateur to win the U.S. Women's Open
when, in 1956 at Northland Country Club in Duluth, Minn., she eagled the
72nd hole to tie professional Kathy Cornelius.She eventually lost in an
18-hole playoff.
"The quality I admire most about Barbara McIntire is that, even
though she was a fierce competitor, she handled winning and losing with the
very same grace," said Judy Bell, a business partner, who was a contemporary
competitor as well as President of the USGA from 1996-97.
McIntire, who served on the USGA Women's Committee from 1985-1996
and was its chair in 1995 and 1996, was one of eight women to simultaneously
hold the British Ladies Open Amateur (1960) and the U.S. Women's Amateur
(1959) titles.
She played in her first USGA championship at the 1949 U.S. Girls'
Junior and was the low amateur at both the 1957 and 1964 U.S. Women's Open.
She was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1960.
An inductee into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame (1964), the Colorado
Sports Hall of Fame (1998) and the Ohio Golf Hall of Fame (1995), she
attended Rollins (Fla.) College and has been a lifelong amateur.She is the
vice president of A Short Story, Inc., a clothing retailer in Colorado
Springs, Colo.
