Former Wichitan to receive U.S. Golf Association’s highest honor

Wichita native Judy Bell will be given the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the U.S. Golf Association, on Tuesday at the U.S. Open in Oakmont, Pa.

Bell, 79, was the USGA’s first female president in 1996 and 1997 and has been an ambassador for golf ever since her distinguished amateur playing career. She helped launch the “For the Good of the Game” program, a 10-year program designed to introduce golf to non-traditional players such as youth, minorities and the disabled.

Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001 in the lifetime achievement category, Bell attended North High and the University of Wichita while becoming one of Kansas’ top amateur golfers. Beginning at age 15, she won three straight Kansas Amateur titles. That’s after already competing in the 1950 U.S. Women’s Open as a 14-year-old.

Bell took the lead in pursuing the 2002 Women’s Open for Hutchinson’s Prairie Dunes Country Club. She had called it “a dream of mine” for many years, after being the captain for the 1986 U.S. Curtis Cup team that played at Prairie Dunes.

This story was originally published June 13, 2016 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Former Wichitan to receive U.S. Golf Association’s highest honor."