Born in Aurora, Mo., in 1939, Sally Hardwick grew up in Longmont, Colo. She made her first trip to the winner’s circle in a CWGA championship when she came away with the inaugural Junior Match Play title in 1953. Sally became the first three-time winner of that tournament with victories in 1955 and ’56.
The transition to the women’s ranks was an easy one for Sally, who won the 1957 CWGA Match Play Championship over Patti Blanton, and the 1957 Stroke Play Championship over Katie Fiorella. Sally proved to be the premier Colorado women’s amateur player of the late 1950s, winning the CWGA Stroke Play again in 1958 and ’59 and her second Match Play title in ’59.
In 1961, Sally became the first female club professional in Colorado when she went to work for Marion Pfluger at Pinehurst Country Club. Sally went on to coach the Arizona State women’s golf team from 1964-1967 and the Heritage High School boys’ golf team from 1972-1994. She retired from Heritage High School in 1999 and from Pinehurst in 2007.
Hardwick’s long-time teacher Jack Sterling said of her, “Sally has always exemplified the high integrity of the game of golf, and continues to contribute to others her knowledge, skill and high standards.”
