How did a 26-year-old golfer from Colorado Springs gain the distinction of being Sportswomen of Colorado’s inaugural Sportswoman of the Year? She collected a lot of trophies.
In 1974, Cindy won the revered USGA Women’s Amateur Championship, played on the winning Curtis Cup Team, played on the winning World Cup Team and captured the World Cup individual title. She also was Broadmoor Invitational runner-up.
The Curtis Cup appointment was the second of four the University of Miami grad would receive over an eight-year span. Largely on the basis of their finishing play over the San Francisco Golf Club course, the 1974 team prevailed 13-5 for an eighth straight U.S. triumph in the biennial matches with Great Britain.
The third time was the charm for Cindy in the National Amateur. After settling for runner-up honors in 1970 and 1972, she carded an encouraging one-over-par 73 in the stroke-play qualifying round, just three shots off the medal pace.
She then advanced with relative ease through four days of stroke play at the Broadmoor Golf Course in Seattle and upset defending U.S. and British titleholder Carol Semple, of Pennsylvania, 5 and 4 in the 36-hole finale. The new champion played the final 14 holes two-under-par and never was down in the title match of the 74th annual competition.
Getting off to another fast start in the 22 nation World Amateur Team tournament at La Romana, Dominican Republic, in October, Cindy turned in the best opening-day score on the rain and windswept Cajuiles Country Club course, a two over-par 76. Her low one-under-par 73 on closing day sealed her cumulative individual title and gave the defending U.S. team a 620 four-day total, 16 strokes below deadlocked Great Britain and South Africa.
For encores, the former schoolteacher won the Doherty Cup, North and South Amateur and South Atlantic Amateur tournaments in 1975 and followed with a few years on the professional women’s tour.