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The Alabama Golf Association was on its way. A very interesting footnote is that 13-year-old Bob Jones of Atlanta won that Roebuck Springs in- vitation tournament. Yes, the one and same Bobby Jones who would win what would be called the Grand Slam of Golf in 1930 and go on to form Au- gusta National and the Masters Tournament. Jones would also win The Country Club of Birmingham National Invitational, which began in 1913, in 1916 and 1920. Sadie Roberts begins the Women's Ala- bama Golf Association Mrs. David (Sadie) Roberts Jr. was the driving force behind the formation of the Women's Ala- bama Golf Association. The initial WAGA meeting was held at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 1929 after completion of the first round of the women's state invitation golf tournament, the precursor of the Women's State Amateur, which featured about 40 players and was won four days later by Mrs. H.S. Henry Geismer, the former city champion, by a score of 5 & 3 over Mrs. Carl Hess at the East Course at Shades Valley Country Club, also known as the Country Club (of Birmingham). Roberts was a busy wife and mother of three teenagers and very involved in the game of golf. She was Women's Chairman at Roebuck Springs Automobile and Golf Club and conducted the state's first women's invitational. She was a THE EARLY DAYS OF THE ALABAMA GOLF ASSOCIATION AND THE WOMEN'S ALABAMA GOLF ASSOCIATION Director with the Western Golf Association and President of the Women's Southern Golf Association. These experiences taught her how to run tournaments and after much discussion she was bound and determined to have an Alabama state organization for women and an annual championship similar to the men's Alabama Golf Association. She toured Alabama towns promoting a state golf association. She talked with clubs in Gadsden, Anniston, Huntsville, Selma, Montgomery and Mobile and all agreed to join. "The Country Club of Birmingham was most generous and cooperative. In 1929 the club held and financed a tournament for the purpose of founding a State Organization. The tournament was successful, the women enthusiastic, and the State Association was founded. I was elected president," Roberts said in an oral history regards the early days. Roberts would serve as President of the WAGA until 1951 for a remarkable total of 22 years! She lived a full and rewarding life, continuing to take a keen interest in the WAGA, passing away just two months short of 100 years old in April 1988. The WAGA would be run independently until it came under the auspices of the AGA in March 2010. Please take note of the Thompson TEES Off icon. Every place you see this icon, click on it to subscribe. An annual subscription is only $30 a year -- less than 60 cents an issue -- fi lled with exclusive, local content delivered to your in-box every Thursday. Sam Perry won the State Amateur four times, with the State Amateur Championship trophy named after this legend- ary golfer. Sam Farlow would go on to equal Perry's record. Sadie Roberts (far left) founded the Women's Alabama Golf Association in 1929 and was a driving force behind the association for many decades. She is pictured with (L-R) Betty Boulware, fellow WAGA president Betty Horton, Ceil Watkins and fellow WAGA president Jeannette Sell.

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