Women Golfers Honored at Atlanta Athletic Club

The Atlanta Athletic Club culminated its Women’s Golf Legacy Celebration by unveiling a new giclee print of three-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion and club member Alexa Stirling.

Stirling is one of the most decorated women in the history of golf in Georgia. She joined with the legendary Bobby Jones, Perry Adair and Elaine Rosenthal to form the “Dixie Whiz Kids” and toured the country in a series of fund-raising matches for the Red Cross during World War I. Stirling is a member of the Georgia Hall of Fame, Georgia Golf Hall of Fame and the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.

The daughter of a Scottish doctor, Stirling won her first club championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club’s East Lake course when she was 12. When she was 18, Stirling won the first of three consecutive U.S. Women Amateur Championships. She also was runner-up three times.

Stirling won the Southern Amateur three times, the Canadian Amateur three times and was runner-up twice. Stirling married a Canadian doctor in 1925 and moved to Ottawa. Stirling returned to Atlanta in 1976 and helped the Atlanta Athletic Club host the U.S. Open Championship.

The giclee print was donated by Dirk Burlingame, who gave the club a similar painting of Bobby Jones last summer.

The Athletic Club celebrated its heritage of women’s golf by unveiling four championship boards that chronicle a variety of accomplishments. Women members have played in 66 USGA championships, including 12 U.S. Opens and 35 U.S. Amateurs and come away with eight victories, seven second-place finishes and nine medalists. Women from the Atlanta Athletic Club have played on 10 Curtis Cup teams.

There are two women’s golf associations at the Atlanta Athletic Club – an 18-hole group and a nine-hole group. There are 260 women who participate in those organizations, the largest group of any kind at the club.

“What a great occasion for our club and for all the women throughout the years who have helped build what we all now enjoy,” director of golf Rick Anderson said. “Women’s golf is very important to our club and to our staff.”

The Atlanta Athletic Club this summer will host the U.S. Amateur Championship, Aug. 11-17. Since moving to its current location, the Atlanta Athletic Club has hosted three PGA Championship (1981, 2001 and 2011), the 1976 U.S. Open Championship, the 1984 U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship, the 1990 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship and the 2002 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. No other club in the country can match that depth and number of championships as host.