DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., June 4, 2009 – Master Life LPGA Teaching and Club Professional (T&CP) Marjorie (Marge) Burns died Wednesday, June 3, 2009, at the age of 83. Burns, a 38-year member of the LPGA, owning the highest distinction possible to attain by a LPGA T&CP member – Master Life – was the 1976 LPGA T&CP Teacher of the Year and also presented with the 2004 Ellen Griffin Rolex Award, whose namesake she worked under in college. Services are scheduled for Saturday, June 6 at 2 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro.
Instrumental in the early development and evolution of the LPGA T&CP membership, Burns had a decorated amateur career prior to turning professional. By the time she graduated from the Woman’s College at the University ofNorth Carolina (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro) in 1946, she was well on her way to an eventual 40 amateur victories. She first won the 1940 Carolinas Junior Girls Championship and went on to win the North Carolina Championship 10 times. Five times, she earned Carolinas Outstanding Amateur Athlete honors. This was well-deserved recognition given her six Carolinas championships, multiple South Atlantic Women’s Amateur Championship titles and at the North and South Amateur Championship. She also qualified for 14 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships and six U.S. Women’s Open events.
While injuries prevented her from competing professionally, her passion and skill for teaching and the growth of the game were among the best. She served on the USGA Junior Girls Committee (1955-63); was director of the Women’s Southern Golf Association (1956-69); and was a three-year president of the North Carolina Women’s Golf Association. In 1971, she joined the LPGA T&CP and, by the mid-1970s, was serving on the LPGA Teaching Committee and helping to rewrite its constitution. She also served as LPGA T&CP Southeast section president from 1976-78 and, following her tenure as president, was a LPGA T&CP Southeast Section National Evaluator until 2002.
Quoted as saying, “Golf is who I am and what I do,” Burns’ dedication to the game earned her selection into both the Carolinas Golf Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. In 1991, she was honored by her alma mater with the School of Health and Human Performance “Distinguished Alumnae Award,” and was an inaugural inductee into the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. Additionally,Golf Digest magazine named her one of the Top 50 Golf Teachers in 2002.
In lieu of flowers, it is requested donations be made to The LPGA Foundation Marge Burns Education Grant for LPGA Teaching and Club Professionals, 100 International Golf Drive, Daytona Beach, FL 32124.
Service Information:
Saturday, June 6, 2009; 2 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro
617 Elm St.
Greensboro, N.C. 27401
Contact:
Dana Gross-Rhode, LPGA;
