The U.S. Women's Amateur 1895-2003:

The Top 10 Finals

 Compiled by Rhonda Glenn, USGA

10. 1921 — Marion Hollins, a colorful all-around athlete, ended Alexa Stirling's reign as a three-time champion. Hollins won, 5 and 4, at Hollywood C.C. in Deal, N.J. Sterling had won the previous three championships in 1916, 1919 and 1920. USGA championships were not played during World War I. Hollins, who later founded the Pasatiempo golf resort in Santa Cruz, Calif. (site of the 2004 USGA Senior Women's Amateur and the 1986 U.S. Women's Amateur), hired golf course architect Alister Mackenzie, who also designed Cypress Point and Augusta National.

9. 1971 — Laura Baugh, 16, defeated Beth Barry, 1 up, at the Atlanta (Ga.) C.C., to become the youngest Women's Amateur winner in history. The final match see-sawed, with Barry 3 up after eight holes and Baugh squaring the match after 16 holes. Barry was 1 up after 18, but Baugh was 1 up at the 27th. Baugh, a high school student, defeated two former champions on her way to the final, beating Dorothy Porter (1949 champion) in the second round and Barbara McIntire (1959, '64) in the quarterfinals.

8. 1964 — Barbara McIntire defeated JoAnne Gunderson, 3 and 2, at Prairie Dunes C.C. in Hutchinson, Kan. It was a classic encounter on a great golf course between two of America 's finest amateurs. This was McIntire's second victory. She also won in 1959. McIntire was three holes down after the 21st hole, then staged a remarkable rally. It was one of Gunderson's seven appearances in the Women's Amateur final.

7. 1898 — Beatrix Hoyt, 18, won her third straight title when she defeated Maude Wetmore, 5 and 3, at the Ardsley Club, Ardsley-on-Hudson, N.Y. She won her first title in 1896 at the age of 16. She was the only player to break 100 in the qualifying round. The championship showed a growing interest in women's golf when 61 players competed for 16 qualifying spots.

6. 1982 — Juli Inkster, 22, captured her third straight U.S. Women's Amateur at The Broadmoor G.C. in Colorado Springs, Colo. She defeated Cathy Hanlon, 4 and 3. The two were USA Curtis Cup teammates that year. Inkster was the equivalent of 12 under par on the 28 par-5 holes she played during the week with two eagles and 13 birdies. She was five under par in the final. Inkster, a two-time U.S. Women's Open champion, still regards her three consecutive victories in the Women's Amateur as her greatest achievement.

5. 1936 — Pamela Barton , 19, of England, defeated Maureen Orcutt, 4 and 3, at Canoe Brook C.C. in Summit, N.J. It gave Barton the double, as she had won the Ladies British Open Amateur earlier in the year. Orcutt was one of the best American players of her day but never won this championship, finishing second twice (1927, '36). Barton was England's best and most popular player. This exuberant, sporting young woman was killed in a plane crash in during World War II.

4. 1907 — A couple of sisters, Margaret and Harriot Curtis battled at Midlothian C.C., in Blue Island, Ill. It was the only time that siblings have met in a USGA final. Harriot was the defending champion but Margaret 's victory, by 7 and 6, was the first of three (1907, '11, '12). The following year, Margaret won the national women's doubles championship in tennis, the only American to hold national championships in these two sports simultaneously.

3. 1966 — Long-hitting JoAnne Gunderson Carner defeated Marlene Stewart Streit on the 42nd hole at Sewickley Heights G.C. in Sewickley, Pa. It was their second encounter. In 1956, Streit beat 18-year-old Gunderson, 2 and 1, to win. This 1966 final, which went six extra holes, was a classic battle between two of history's greatest players. Carner's win was the fourth of her five U.S. Women's Amateur titles. Streit will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame this November and became the oldest USGA champion last fall when whe captured her third USGA Senior Women's Amateur title.

2. 1935 — Glenna Collett Vare defeated 17-year-old Patty Berg, 3 and 2, at Interlachen C.C., Patty's home course in Minneapolis, Minn. Huge crowds watched Vare win a record sixth Women's Amateur championship. It was a meeting between two generations with Vare the finest American player of the 1920s and early '30s and Berg the rising young star who would go on to capture 15 major championships as a professional. This marked Vare's eighth and last appearance in the Championship final.

1. 2001 — Meredith Duncan, 21, defeated Nicole Perrot, 16, of Chile, in 37 holes. The two demonstrated the best golf ever played in this championship final. At Flint Hills National G.C., in Wichita, Kan., Duncan was eight under par and Perrot, who won the U.S. Girls' Junior the previous week, was six under. They made 20 birdies between them. Both made sharply breaking birdie putts to halve the 36th hole, first Perrot from 18 feet, then Duncan from five feet. At the first extra hole, Duncan rolled in a 2-foot birdie putt to win. Among the cheering crowd of 2,500, former USGA president Judy Bell said it was the greatest match she had seen in more than 50 years of watching amateur golf.

Rhonda Glenn is the manager, communications for the USGA and a noted historian in regards to women's golf. E-mail her with questions or comments at rglenn@usga.org.

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