Mary Budke - Golf

Mary Budke established herself as a dominant performer in women’s amateur golf during the 1970s, including a win in the 1972 U.S. Amateur tournament and 1974 intercollegiate tournament.

Born in 1954, Budke grew up in Dayton during the days before high school golf was sanctioned for girls by the Oregon School Activities Association. She won her first Oregon Amateur title in 1971 and won 32 consecutive amateur tournaments in one stretch. After winning the U.S. Amateur title in ’72, she competed for the U.S. against Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup, which the U.S. won.

Budke won eight Oregon Amateur Golf titles in the ‘70s, and finished 17th in the U.S. Women’s Open in 1973.

Her collegiate title was sanctioned by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), before the NCAA sanctioned women’s golf.

Budke was honored with the Hayward Award as the state’s top amateur athlete in 1972 at the Oregon Banquet of Champions, while a student and golfer at Oregon State. The Hayward Award came in the midst of Oregon track star Steve Prefontaine being honored three times in four years.

Despite significant pressures, Budke never became a professional golfer, choosing a medical career instead. She worked as an emergency room physician in both Los Angeles and Eugene.

Budke’s accomplishments include winning the Los Angeles City Women’s Golf Championships in 1990.

She was inducted to the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.