RECORDS/HISTORY

The New York State Golf Association was formed in 1923 to promote and preserve the game of golf in New York State. The NYSGA organizes and conducts various championships for amateur golfers of both genders and all ages. One of the NYSGA’s most prestigious events is the Women’s Amateur Championship, which annually identifies New York’s premier female golfers.

The Women’s Amateur Championship has a long and rich history that dates back to 1930. The NYSGA understood that its charter included ALL New York State golfers and that the time was right to start the Women’s Amateur Championship.

That year, 19-year-old Helen Hicks, from Hewlett on Long Island, became the first New York State Women’s Amateur Champion, defeating her future Curtis Cup teammates Glenna Collett and Maureen Orcutt at storied Oak Hill Golf Club. Hicks captured the title two more times – as well as the U.S. Women’s Amateur trophy – before she turned professional and became the first American woman athlete to accept endorsements. Hicks was a pioneer who eventually emerged as one of the 13 original founders of the Ladies Professional Golf Association.

From that auspicious start almost a century past, the NYSGA Women’s Amateur Championship has hardly missed a beat. Since then, the championship has been contested annually, except for 2020 when it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most New York Women’s State Amateur champions have distinguished themselves as golfers in other tournaments, many on the national amateur scene and a few as among leaders on the LPGA Tour.