Babe Zaharias is a figure in the game with a career that is quite simply incredible. Her story is one of enormous achievement, not just in the game of golf but as a multi-discipline athlete. She overcame sexism and prejudice, she challenged stereotypes, she influenced the women’s game in a way like no one else and set records which still stand today. We think every golfer should know her amazing story.

We recorded a podcast with Susan Cayleff, a Pulitzer Prize nominee who has dedicated endless time to researching Babe’s career, back in 2021 which we strongly encourage you to listen to. You can find that here:

As a short primer for any golfer who wants to know more about this amazing character, here are 5 things you should know and that are simply amazing:

  1. She is the only track and field Olympian of all time to win medals in running, jumping and throwing disciplines.

At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, Babe set world records in the 80 metre hurdles (11.7 seconds), the javelin (43.69 metres) and tied the world record of 1.657 metres in the high jump. She won gold in the first two but was denied a third in the high jump during a tiebreaker against fellow-American Jean Shiley. She had to settle for just silver after the judges decided her jump was made using an improper technique.

Nevertheless, she remains the only track and field athlete of all time, male or female, to hold medals in separate running, jumping and throwing disciplines.

  1. She competed at professional level in golf, baseball, basketball, billiards and sewing.

Before 1935, Babe had not played any competitive golf. She had previously played baseball at a very high level; playing for three teams during 1934 (Philadelphia Athletics, St Louis Cardinals and New Orleans Pelicans). She was known to play for the House of David barnstorming team, whose style of baseball became popular for its flashy appearance and fast-paced nature.

Babe’s first job after dropping out of high school was as a secretary for the Employers’ Casualty Insurance Company of Dallas. It is believed an important agreement in her employment was that she would play for the company’s ‘Golden Cyclones’ basketball team. She led the team to an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) title in 1931.

She was handy with a cue, too. Although she never won any billiards titles, she was known to play often and on one occasion in 1933, took on famed player Ruth McGinnis in a multi-day pool match.

During this time, Babe would likely have also been making her own clothes. Known to be an excellent seamstress, she had previously competed in Texas sewing championships and won at the State Fair of Texas in 1931!

  1. She was a recording performance artist.

As if this Texan could not be more talented, she was also musical. Known to sing and play the harmonica, she recorded several songs on the Mercury Records Label. She is cited as playing the harmonica as she strolled off the track after winning the AAU Athletics Team Championship in 1932. She won it all by herself.

In later years, when she was struggling with cancer, she would tour the children’s wards of her hospital and play the harmonica. She was noted once for saying “George, I’d hate to die… I’m just learning to play golf”.

You can listen to her most famous tune “I Felt a Little Teardrop” which she recorded with Betty Dodd. You can hear her signature harmonica loud and clear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QHoFdEJHNQ

  1. She was the first female golfer to play in a professional PGA Tour event.

In 1938, in typical Babe fashion, she challenged the sport’s status quo by entering the Los Angeles Open (now known as The Genesis Open). She did not make the cut, but she made a friend for life that week. She met George Zaharias, a professional wrestler who would later become her husband.

In 1945, as World War 2 was drawing to a close, she competed in a further three PGA Tour events. Of the three, she made the cut in two. It was this totally fearless attitude which set her above the rest in the remainder of her golfing career.

  1. She won 17 straight Amateur titles, a feat never achieved before or since.

She went on to immense success in the golf world. She won 10 major championships between 1940 and 1954 and had a run on which she won 17 amateur titles in a row. By 1950, she had won every single women’s title there was available to win.

Her fearless attitude is epitomised by her victory in 1954 at the US Women’s Open. After being diagnosed with colon cancer a year earlier and undergoing surgery a month before, she came back to win the title wearing a colostomy bag. She won it by 12 shots and became the second oldest woman to win a women’s major.

In sum, she totted up 82 victories.

She was an incredible talent, athlete and above all person. Charles McGrath of the New York Times once wrote “Except perhaps for Arnold Palmer, no golfer has ever been more beloved by the gallery.”

If you’re interested to find out more about Babe Didrikson Zaharias, listen to the podcast and refer to the reading list below.

Cayleff, E. Susan, Babe: The Life and Legend of Babe Didrikson Zaharias, (Illinois, 1996)

Didrikson Zaharias, Babe, This Life I’ve Led – My Autobiography, (1955)

Van Natta, Don, Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias, (Boston, 2011)

Lobby, Mackenzie, Babe Didrikson Zaharias: Groundbreaking All-Around Athlete, (Minneapolis, 2011)