Phoenix, AZ – Golf It Forward® is happy to announce that the 2026 Marilynn Smith events benefiting its Scholarship Program were highly successful in raising more than $155,000.
Both events, including the Marilynn Smith Sunday Tea and Scholarship Pro-Am, were held at the Westin Kierland Golf Club, Scottsdale, AZ, a Troon-managed facility. This year’s tournament honorees were Meg Mallon and Beth Daniel, each a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
The Marilynn Smith Scholarship Fund provides scholarships to female students from the United States and Canada who demonstrate academic achievement, leadership, extraordinary community involvement and are committed to play collegiate golf in the United States. Since its inception in 1999, the Fund has awarded $1,625,000 in scholarships to 325 women. Each scholarship winner is known as a Pearl, a reference to the pearls always worn by Marilynn.
“The Marilynn Smith Pro-Am was the most beautiful and inspiring weekend!” said Abigail Morris, a 2022 Pearl. “My eyes were immediately opened to the rich history of women’s golf. I was deeply moved by the stories told by World Golf Hall of Famers Meg Mallon and Beth Daniel.”
“I experienced this event right before my final weeks of college, and I couldn’t think of a better way to end a journey that was only possible because of the Marilynn Smith Scholarship,” she added.
The Marilynn Smith Sunday Tea was the first of the two events. It featured the Golf It Forward Museum, Jane Crafter interviewing honorees Meg Mallon and Beth Daniel, a community expo and the debut of the Golf It Forward Ancestry Program with a video about LPGA co-founder Louise Suggs. Monday’s Scholarship Pro-Am, with a 120-person field from around the country, included LPGA Epson Tour professionals Annabelle Pancake-Webb and Bi Shin, Sandra Gal, Mo Martin, Cheyenne Woods and several other LPGA stars.
To learn more about Golf It Forward, the Marilynn Smith Scholarship Recipients (Pearls), and the Golf It Forward Museum, email 13Founders@golfitforward.org.
ABOUT
GOLF IT FORWARD® is the public face of the Marilynn Smith and Founders’ Legacy Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. The foundation embodies the ingenuity, drive and passion of 13 women who had the foresight to see that there was a future for women in golf and golf in the future of women. For more information on GIF, please go to www.GolfItForward.org
PRESS CONTACT Debbie Waitkus – Foundation Chair, 13Founders@golfitforward.org
