Hurd, Dorothy Campbell (1883–1945)

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Hurd, Dorothy Campbell (1883–1945)

American golfer. Name variations: Dorothy I. Campbell. Born Dorothy Iona Campbell on May 6, 1883, in North Berwick, Scotland; killed by a train in Yemassee, North Carolina, on March 20, 1945; married J.B. Hurd, in 1913.

Won Scottish Ladies' championship (1905, 1906, and 1908); won U.S. Women's Amateur championship (1909 and 1910); won Canadian Amateur Ladies' Open (1910, 1911, and 1912); was first woman to win both the British and U.S. amateur titles in one year (1909).

At the dawn of the 20th century, Dorothy Campbell Hurd was the foremost name in international women's golf. Under her maiden name Dorothy I. Campbell, she was the first woman to win both the British and American titles in one year in 1909, a feat she repeated in 1911. She first came to international attention in Scotland where she won the Scottish Ladies' championship. In 1909, she almost lost the British Ladies' title when she forgot to report the result of the match to the officials, but she retained the title when her oversight was dismissed. In 1909, she was the first British woman to win the U.S. Women's Amateur title. Hurd won 11 major championships, ten between 1905 and 1912. Settling into semi-retirement after her marriage in 1913, she was lured back to tournament golf in the 1920s, winning the U.S. Women's championship in 1924; in 1938, she won the U.S. Women's Senior tournament at age 55. She was inducted into the Golf Hall of Fame, Citizens Savings Hall of Fame Athletic Museum, and Ladies Professional Golfers' Association Hall of Fame. Hurd was killed by a train in 1945, while changing trains in Yemassee, North Carolina.

Karin Haag , freelance writer, Athens, Georgia