The 1959 U.S. Women’s Open was the 14th edition of the championship and the seventh conducted by the United States Golf Association (USGA). It took place from June 25 to June 27, 1959, at Churchill Valley Country Club in Blackridge, Pennsylvania, a suburb east of Pittsburgh. The tournament was part of the LPGA Tour and was contested in a 72‑hole stroke‑play format on a par‑70 course measuring approximately 6,200 yards (5,670 m).
Field and competition
- Total entrants: 61 players (40 after the cut)
- Cut line: 164 (+24)
- Prize fund: $7,200, with the winner’s share of $1,800
Results
- Champion: Mickey Wright (United States) – 287 strokes (+7), winning by two strokes over runner‑up Louise Suggs.
- Notable finishers: Marlene Hagge (tied for third, 292 strokes, +12), Ruth Jessen, Joyce Ziske, and Patty Berg (fourth round 74, +16).
Historical significance
- Wright successfully defended her title, becoming the first woman to win consecutive U.S. Women’s Opens; the next to achieve this would be Karrie Webb in 2001.
- The victory marked Wright’s second of four U.S. Women’s Open titles and her third major championship overall.
- Patty Berg recorded the first hole‑in‑one by a woman in any USGA competition during this tournament.
- Churchill Valley Country Club had previously hosted the LPGA Championship in 1957 and 1958; the club ceased operations in 2013.
The 1959 championship is remembered for Wright’s repeat triumph, the historic hole‑in‑one, and its place within a series of major events held at Churchill Valley during the late 1950s.