Marian Herron  - Golf

Marian Herron played golf at the top level in the nation throughout the 1930s, including a victory in 1934 at the Western Open, which was the top women’s tournament at the time.

Born Marian McDougall in 1913, she had golf in her veins as a third-generation member of Portland’s Waverly Country Club.

She won the first of two Oregon junior girls titles at age 16 and won the Western Open at age 20. She continued playing competitively into the late ‘40s, winning the Pacific Northwest Golf Association’s women’s amateur title six times through 1948, and the Oregon women’s amateur title from 1936-40. In 1949, she finished second in the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, losing to fellow Oregonian Grace DeMoss in the final.

McDougall, who changed her name to Herron following marriage, regularly traveled to large tournaments in the East and was named a director of the Women’s Western Golf Association from 1936-52. She also served as a member of the USGA’s Women’s Committee from 1941-52, and helped bring the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship to Waverly Country Club in 1952.

Herron was inducted to the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Hall of Fame in 1979 and Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.