Judy Bell, a pioneer as USGA’s first female president, dies at 89

Judy Bell, the USGA’s first female president, died Monday at her home in Colorado. She was 89 years old.

Bell was an accomplished amateur golfer and businesswoman who served as president of the USGA from 1996 to 1999 as part of a 31-year career with the association.

Bell was born on September 23, 1936 in Wichita, Kansas, the youngest of Carl and Mariam Bell’s four children and their only daughter. Mariam Bell was president of the Kansas Women’s Golf Association, while Carl owned a grocery store, where Judy started working when she was 10 years old.

When Judy Bell was 14 years old, she played in her first US Women’s Open, and two years later she reached the semifinals of the 1952 US Girls’ Junior Amateur, where she lost to Mickey Wright. She was a two-time quarterfinalist in the U.S. Women’s Amateur while advancing to the semifinals in 1959. She then played on two victorious U.S. Curtis Cup teams, in 1960 and 1962. And in 1964, she shot 67 in the third round of the 1964 U.S. Women’s Open, setting records for 18 and nine holes (31).

In total, Bell collected 38 USGA championship appearances. She later captained the Curtis Cup sides in 1986 and 1998, although her U.S. teams lost both times.

The 1959 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion was Barbara McIntire, who was also Bell’s Curtis Cup teammate twice. The pair were competitors, friends and business partners for many years, launching a mail-order clothing store called A Short Story in the early 1960s; the company closed its doors in 1999 after almost forty years. McIntire died in May.

Bell’s first position with the USGA was in 1961, when she became a member of the US Girls’ Junior Championship Committee. In 1968, she began a 17-year stint on the USGA Women’s Committee, which she chaired from 1981 to 1994. Before breaking new ground as president of the USGA, she became the first woman appointed to the USGA Executive Committee in 1987.

Bell told a reporter on her first morning as president-elect, “I don’t know yet what it feels like to be president, because I’ve only been one for a few hours, but I do know what it feels like to be a woman, because I’ve been one for 59 years.”

Since 1999, she had provided consulting for the USGA Foundation Fellowship and Grant Programs, which grew out of Bell’s first meeting with the USGA president and, according to the USGA, has contributed more than $65 million to golf programs for juniors, players with disabilities and other underrepresented groups.

The USGA’s obituary for Bell noted Dr. Trey Holland, a former USGA president and close friend of Bell, was quoted as saying, “It is her passion that sets Judy Bell apart from most other people. It is the foundation for everything she does. No one has worked harder for and loved the challenges they have taken on more than Judy.”

Said Bell: “I am passionate about the game of golf, which has given me so much pure joy and enjoyment that I have always wanted to give something in return. Without a doubt, that is what my volunteer work is all about.”

Bell had dealt with numerous health problems over the decades. In 1993, she underwent a heart bypass and was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2001. In August 2024, she was admitted to hospice.

“Judy Bell was more than a leader, she was a force of nature whose vision and compassion were the soul of the game,” said USGA CEO Mike Whan. “As one of the biggest supporters of LPGA*USGA Girls Golf, Judy helped open doors for countless young girls to find their place, their confidence and their joy in golf. She broke barriers, not for the sake of recognition, but to make the game better and more welcoming for everyone. All of us at the USGA mourn her passing and celebrate the extraordinary life of a woman whose impact will be felt for generations to come.”