Elizabeth Earle Rawls, golf icon, champion
Elizabeth Earle “Betsy” Rawls passed away Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. Betsy was a kind, humble and brilliant woman who had a smile for everyone she met. Her honesty and integrity were admired by all who knew her.
She was born in Spartanburg, S.C., in 1928, and her family moved to Texas when she was young. Betsy was valedictorian of her high school, which entitled her to a four-year scholarship to the University of Texas. Not having money for Betsy’s room and board, her father moved the family from Arlington to Austin so she could walk to college. Betsy excelled at UT and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in math and physics. The University of Texas has an annual intercollegiate tournament in Betsy’s honor.
At 17, she began to play golf with the coaching of Harvey Pennick. Pennick saw her talent and urged her to participate in amateur tournaments because there was no women’s golf team at UT. Betsy loved the game and began winning tournaments.
At her first U.S. Open in 1950, playing as an amateur, she came in second to Babe Zaharias and was noticed by Wilson Sporting Goods, an early sponsor of the new Ladies Professional Golf Association. Betsy signed on to represent Wilson, doing hundreds of clinics while going on to win 55 professional tournaments, including eight major titles and four U.S. Opens. While crisscrossing the country by car for corporate tournaments, Betsy always carried her record player and a blue metal case of her favorite 45s and rarely missed an opportunity to stop at a Dairy Queen.
In 1982, Betsy came to the Philadelphia area to direct the McDonald’s LPGA Championship in Malvern and hired Janet Davis, who would become her lifelong friend. In 1987, this growing tournament moved to DuPont Country Club, where there were multiple courses. During its time in Delaware, the tournament and its 2,400 volunteers helped build Wilmington Ronald McDonald House and raised more than $40 million for houses in the U.S.
In 1992, Betsy and Janet created Swingin’ With a Star, a one-day, ladies-only tournament to raise money for the new Fund for Women. Each year a different LPGA star would come to Wilmington to play with the ladies. Swingin’ With a Star stayed at DuPont for 20 years, and the committee raised over $1.3 million for women and girls in Delaware.
Betsy loved music, particularly opera and country. She and Janet held subscriptions to the Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Vince Gill was a favorite country singer of Betsy’s, and he was an active volunteer at the LPGA Tournament in Nashville.
After her retirement from golf, Betsy played at DuPont, Merion, and other Philadelphia-area courses. Dupont Ladies Golf Group created a Betsy Rawls Tournament benefiting Wilmington Ronald McDonald House.
Coming to Lewes, she had fun playing with a men’s group at Rookery South, and was invited to be an honorary member of Kings Creek, where she spent many days the last 11 years of her life. Kings Creek initiated the Betsy Rawls Tournament.
Betsy is survived by Janet Davis and her family, Paul and Laura Brutsche, Chris and Karen Brutsche, and Holly and John Cicala, 10 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.
A celebration of Betsy’s wonderful life will be held with visitation beginning at 10 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 9, at Aldersgate United Methodist Church. A celebration service will begin at 11 a.m. Interment will be private.
Final care has been entrusted to Parsell Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Atkins-Lodge Chapel, Lewes.
Memorial contributions may be made to The Ronald McDonald House, 1901 Rockland Road, Wilmington, DE 19803, rmhcdelaware.org.
Visit Betsy’s Life Memorial webpage and sign her virtual guestbook at parsellfuneralhomes.com.
