Around the Green

All-Time Great Mary Ann Morrison Passes Away

The all-time winningest golfer in women’s Texas amateur golf history passed away on Friday, Feb. 15. Mary Ann Morrison was 87 years old.
 
Originally from New Orleans, Morrison relocated to Texas in 1957. By 1961, she won her first of a record nine Women’s Texas Amateur Championships, which included titles in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. She won a total of 19 state amateur championships in addition to winning the Houston Women’s City Championship a staggering 23 times in her 28 appearances.  
 
Morrison also won the 1969 Women’s Southern Amateur Championship and was a finalist in the U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur Championship in 1982 and 1993. She served as a Director for the Women’s Texas Golf Association and was a member of the USGA Junior Girls’ Committee.
 
A preeminent figure in amateur golf from the 1950s and into the 1980s, Morrison was inducted into the Texas Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. Prior to arriving in the Lone Star State, she won eight amateur titles in her native Louisiana, including the National Intercollegiate Championship, Mexican Amateur Championship and Louisiana State Amateur.
 
Once in Texas, she and her husband joined the prestigious Houston Country Club. She dominated the Women’s Club Championship there; she won the title 20 times, including 13 consecutive wins starting in 1969. In the late 1980s, she moved to Wyoming, where she won five Wyoming State Amateur Championships in eight years. She also won several mid-amateur and senior titles, which led to her induction into the Wyoming Golf Hall of Fame.
 
She was a finalist in the U.S. Women’s Senior Amateur in 1982 and 1993. Morrison also won the Texas Women’s Match Play Championship eight times from 1961-87, including three straight times in 1966-69.
 
Morrison will be remembered not only for her unsurpassed competitive career, but also for her volunteerism in helping to grow women’s golf in Texas.