Sugar And Spice: Hollis Stacy Wins First Of Three U.S. Girls' Junior Titles

(Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the October, 1969 issue of Golf Journal.)

By Frank Hannigan

Little girls may well be made of sugar and spice and everything nice, but some of them can really play golf under pressure. Take the final round of the 1969 Girls’ Junior Championship at the Brookhaven Country Club’s Championship Course in Dallas as an example.

After eight holes Hollis Stacy, of Savannah, Ga., enjoyed a lead of three holes over Mary Jane Fassinger, of New Castle, Pa.  Miss Stacy, as calm and collected as she has learned to be in a family of 10 children, went on to play holes 9 through 13 with four pars and one birdie. You would think that should be good enough, especially in a girls’ tournament.  But it wasn’t nearly good enough because Miss Fassinger played the same stretch of holes in four birdies and one par to get even.

	Hollis Stacy remains the only player to win three consecutive U.S. Girls' Junior titles. (USGA Museum)

Miss Stacy won the par-5 14th when her opponent failed to recover from a bunker at the green; every hole from there in was halved so Miss Stacy won, 1 up.  At age 15 she is the youngest player ever to win a USGA Championship; she was about one month younger than Marlene Bauer when Miss Bauer won the inaugural Girls’ Junior Championship in 1949.

Miss Stacy thus has two chances to tie or better the record of Judy Eller (now Mrs. Gordon Street), of Chattanooga, Tenn.  Mrs. Street is the only player to win the Girls’ Junior Championship twice – in 1957 and 1958.

The new Champion is a bright, soft-spoken child who is a straight driver, a first-rate putter and who, above all, displays a quality of poise that belies her years.  It will be fascinating to see how much better she will become.

We now come to the annual contention that the caliber of golf in the Girls’ Junior is improving markedly.  Talent is so abundant that the mind boggles at the thought of the scores these teenagers and their successors will make in the next decade.

Consider the runner-up, Miss Fassinger, a student of Arnold Palmer’s father, who evidently is still teaching people to hit it hard. Miss Fassinger, at 17, is already among a handful of the longest and straightest drivers in women’s golf:  she consistently carries the ball 200 yards off the tee.  After losing in the final of the Girls’ Junior she did great things in the Women’s Amateur.  She lost by 3 and 2 to Catherine Lacoste in the quarterfinal round only because Mlle. Lacoste fashioned a masterpiece.

Then there is Nancy Hager, the pert 16-year-old from Dallas, a loser by 1 up to Miss Fassinger in the Girls’ Junior quarterfinal round.  She advanced all the way to the semifinals of the Women’s Amateur before bowing to Shelley Hamlin.

Finally, consider a child of 14 from Long Beach, Calif., Laura Baugh, who played the second nine of her match against Miss Hager in the first round in 36 – one under par – only to lose 1 up.  If Miss Baugh can do that at 14, what will she be doing at 17?

It must be said that there are offsetting factors in girls’ golf which signal caution when predictions about future greatness are tempting.  Somewhere along the line a number of players in this most charming and attractive corner of golf discover that there are indeed other things in life besides golf – and that is probably all for the best. 

In any event, the 1969 Girls’ Junior Championship was an unqualified success, and much of this is due to the Texas hospitality of the Brookhaven members and staff.  Mrs. Charles Bevier, the General Chairman and a mother of some experience herself, was just perfect in her role of administrator and foster parent.

The USGA is also deeply grateful to Joe Black, the professional and director of golf at Brookhaven, who is a great proponent of junior golf. Joe is a former Tournament Supervisor for the PGA Tour.  He was introduced at the players’ dinner as the mean man who once penalized Jack Nicklaus two strokes for slow play. The pace of play, alas, has been getting slower in girls golf and it was thought that a reminder of the Black vs. Nicklaus case might be beneficial.  All the audience did was giggle.