Home » Home » WATCH: Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame’s Laura Baugh Was LPGA ‘It Girl’ of the 1970s

WATCH: Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame’s Laura Baugh Was LPGA ‘It Girl’ of the 1970s

By  //  June 14, 2026

SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

WATCH: Laura Baugh frequently accompanied her father, Hale, and brothers, Hale Jr. and Beau, as they took to the golf course at Rockledge Country Club. Little did they know that she would take her success on the links to a personal level, earning her a place in the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame for her prowess as a professional golfer.

LAURA BAUGH – 2013 INDUCTEE: LPGA Rookie of the Year, U.S. Women’s Amateur Champ, ‘Most Beautiful Golfer’

INHERENT APTITUDE FOR GOLF

As a 3-year-old, Laura Baugh frequently accompanied her father, Hale, and brothers, Hale Jr. and Beau, on the golf course at Rockledge Country Club.

Little did they know that she would take her success on the links to a personal level, earning her a place in the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame for her prowess as a professional golfer.

As a child, she seemed to have an inherent aptitude for the game and played every chance she could, even winning the National Pee Wee Golf title at age 3 and subsequently winning it 4 more times.

At the age of 11, Laura’s parents divorced, and she moved with her mother, Sally, to Long Beach, California, where she continued to play every chance she had, including whenever she traveled back to Brevard County in the summer to visit her father.

Her mother’s home in California was in a tough area, and it motivated Baugh to grow up fast, succeed quickly, and move on.

At the age of 14 Laura Baugh won the Los Angeles Women’s City Golf Championships, repeated as champ the following year and also played as an amateur in the U.S. Open. (Image by SpaceCoastDaily.com Sports)
At the age of 14 Laura Baugh won the Los Angeles Women’s City Golf Championships, repeated as champ the following year and also played as an amateur in the U.S. Open. (Image for Space Coast Daily)

‘MOST BEAUTIFUL GOLFER’

At the age of 14, she won the Los Angeles Women’s City Golf Championships, repeated as champ the following year, and also played as an amateur in the U.S. Open.

She also excelled academically and applied herself to her schoolwork almost as much as her golf game, skipping nearly two full grades, and graduating from high school at age 15.

She was accepted to Stanford University, where she hoped to continue playing golf at the collegiate level.

However, Stanford didn’t have a women’s golf team, and at that point, the teenager was wondering where her true path in life was headed.

Then fate intervened. In 1971, at the age of 16, Laura competed at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Tournament at the Atlanta Country Club.

The event was a turning point for Laura as she defeated Beth Barry on the final hole of the 36-hole match to win the tournament and, in the process, became the youngest champion in the tourney’s 76-year history.

In 1971, at the age of 16, Laura Baugh competed at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Tournament and defeated Beth Barry on the final hole of the 36-hole match to win the tournament and, in the process, became the youngest champion in the tourney’s 76-year history.
In 1971, at the age of 16, Laura Baugh competed at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Tournament and defeated Beth Barry on the final hole of the 36-hole match to win the tournament and, in the process, became the youngest champion in the tourney’s 76-year history.

Winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur thrust her onto the national stage, where her beauty, talent, and smile skyrocketed her to the front of the endorsement line.

The Los Angeles Times named her “Woman of the Year,” and in 1972, Golf Digest hailed her as the “Most Beautiful Golfer.”

At age 17, she decided to turn professional, but because the minimum age to compete on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour was 18, she played a few tournaments in Japan while waiting to earn her pro card, and then breezed through LPGA Qualification School.

Winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur thrust Laura Baugh onto the national stage where her beauty, talent and smile skyrocketed her to the front of the endorsement line. (Image for SpaceCoastDaily.com)
Winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur thrust Laura Baugh onto the national stage where her beauty, talent and smile skyrocketed her to the front of the endorsement line. (Image for SpaceCoastDaily.com)

LPGA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Baugh was an immediate success in her first season, tying for second place in her first tour event at the Lady Tara Classic, and later that year claiming the runner-up spot in the Child & Family Services Open.

Her play was good enough for Laura to be voted the 1973 LPGA Rookie of the Year.

She was a natural for high-end endorsements. She appeared in a popular Ultra Brite toothpaste television commercial that further cemented her fame and went on to win a CLIO award as one of the year’s top advertisements.

Her original plan was to play on the tour for five years and then retire to become a lawyer or a children’s dentist, then get married and have a family.

However, as the money from more ad campaigns like Ford Thunderbird automobiles, a sportswear commercial with Arnold Palmer and her own line of Izod clothing sold under the Laura Baugh name kept pouring in, her plans to settle down and make a career change were put on hold.

Laura Baugh was an immediate success in her first season, tying for second place in her first tour event at the Lady Tara Classic, and later that year claiming the runner-up spot in the Child & Family Services Open. Her play was good enough for Laura to be voted the 1973 LPGA Rookie of the Year.
Laura Baugh was an immediate success in her first season, tying for second place in her first tour event at the Lady Tara Classic, and later that year claiming the runner-up spot in the Child & Family Services Open. Her play was good enough for Laura to be voted the 1973 LPGA Rookie of the Year.

LGPA’s ‘IT GIRL’ OF THE 1970s

At the pinnacle of her career, she shared the spotlight with other national golf celebrities, often competing in exhibitions with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino, and Sam Snead.

Yes, as a beautiful, tanned blonde and prodigious athlete, Laura Baugh was the LGPA’s “It Girl” in the 1970s.

She was on the tour for over a quarter century, and as her trophy case expanded and her national magazine covers piled up, her life became progressively more complicated and ultimately frenetic.

She married and divorced three times and gave birth to seven children during that span, taking the kids along in a van in the summers as she played in events.

At the pinnacle of her career Baugh shared the spotlight with other national golf celebrities, often competing in exhibitions with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino and Sam Snead. (Image for SpaceCoastDaily.com Sports)
At the pinnacle of her career, Baugh shared the spotlight with other national golf celebrities, often competing in exhibitions with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper, Johnny Miller, Lee Trevino, and Sam Snead. (Image for SpaceCoastDaily.com Sports)

Believing she needed something to help make everything seem more manageable, she turned to alcohol, which led to addiction.

Laura eventually overcame her alcoholism through treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic and wrote about her struggles in her best-selling book “Out of the Rough,” in which she speaks candidly about her lifetime of pain, pressure, and perseverance in the hope of helping others cope and heal.

Her career came full circle after she left the LPGA following the 2001 season. She has worked with CBS and ESPN, covering tournaments and providing commentary for the Golf Channel in Orlando.

BAUGH-250-1
Laura Baugh eventually overcame her alcoholism through treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic and wrote about her struggles in her best-selling book “Out of the Rough,” in which she speaks candidly about her lifetime of pain, pressure, and perseverance in the hope of helping others cope and heal.

SELECTED IN FOUR CATEGORIES

For more than a century, athletes from Brevard County have been considered among the finest in America, and their accomplishments are honored and immortalized by the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame. Space Coast Daily created the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and has so far inducted more than 190 of Brevard’s most outstanding athletes, coaches, and sports personalities.

Nominees are chosen in four categories, including professional sports, college sports, high school sports, and amateur sports. Special honorary recognition is also bestowed upon individuals and groups that have made significant contributions to sports on the Space Coast.

FOR INFORMATION about the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame, or to make a nomination, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-615-8111.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

Space Coast Daily created the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and has so far inducted more than 190 of Brevard’s most outstanding athletes, coaches, and sports personalities.