The Babe Zaharais Golf Course

The Babe Zaharais Golf Course. . , Side 1 , Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (1911 to 1956) was considered the best athlete in her time, excelling in a variety of sports. She was a two-time member of the amateur Women’s All-American basketball team. In the 1932 Olympics, she set the world record in javelin, won a gold medal in the 80-meter hurdles, and silver medal in the high jump (she was penalized for her technique). She started playing serious golf three years later at the age of 22., Zaharias won 17 straight amateur tournaments, including the 1946 U.S. Women’s Amateur All-American Open, and three world championships from 1949-1951. She was a three-time winner of the Women’s Western Open and in 1947 she became the first American to win the British Women’s Open. She set a 72-hole record in the 1951 Tampa Open. Zaharias and Patty Berg cofounded the LPGA in 1949 and she was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame in 1951. She was named Outstanding Woman Athlete of the year from 1949 to 1954 by the Associated Press., "THE BABE IS HERE. WHO'S COMING IN SECOND?" Her words challenging the competition often rang true! Tampa‘s Babe Zaharias Golf Course honors the most accomplished female golfer to ever play the game. , (Continued on the other side), Side 2 , (Continued from other side) , Originally known as the Northside Country Club but soon rename Forest Hills, this course was designed in 1925 by J. Franklin Meehan as part of a higher-end community developed by Burks L. Hamner. The grand English Tudor Revival clubhouse, built in 1926, was the community anchor amid golf, tennis. and stables., Mildred "Babe" Didrikson met George Zaharias at the 1938 Los Angeles Open when she was the only woman competing in the PGA. George, a professional wrestler with Tampa ties, heard from friends that Forest Hills Golf Course was for sale and purchased it in 1949. Together they restored the course and renamed it the Tampa Golf and Country Club., In 195o, Babe came the winter golf pro and Forest Hills flourished in the post-war housing boom. The restored course, and Babe herself, served as a catalyst for the rebirth of this neighborhood. , The couple moved to Texas after Babe was diagnosed with cancer, and she passed away in 1956. The City of Tampa took over the course, completing a rehabilitation project sensitive to its design. Named to honor Babe Zaharias, dubbed female athlete of the Century by the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, and ESPN, it reopened in 1974.