Friends Remember Whitworth

Remembering a Jal icon By John Earp

This past Christmas Eve, Jal’s most successful  and well-known athlete  finished her earthly life.  Kathy Whitworth, the winningest professional  golfer in the world, with  88 professional golf tournament wins to her credit, represented well the  little-known town of Jal,  New Mexico. A member  of the World Golf Hall of  Fame, Women’s Sports  Foundation Hall of  Fame, New Mexico Athletic Hall of Fame, and  the Lea County Athletic  Hall of Fame, Whitworth  got her start in golf at age  15 on what is now the Jal  Country Club course, but  was very involved in athletics and extracurricular  activities in school prior  to trying her hand at golf.

She was a member of the  Jal High School Tennis  Team. Friends said she  was the team, in fact.  She also participated  in band throughout her high school career as  bass drummer. In 1957, she won the New Mexico State Amateur in golf. She won the same contest the following year,  and then turned pro. Her  golf career really took off  following her winning of  the 1962 Kelly Girl Open,  as she proceeded to win  at least one tournament  every year from 1962  through 1978.

Fellow classmate Jimmy  Pinson (JHS Class of ’57)  says that due to her natural athleticism, Kathy  was always the first to  be picked on intramural  basketball, volleyball,  red rover, etc., in elementary and junior high  school. Another classmate (JHS class of ’57)  and former mayor of Jal,  Claydean Claiborne, said  Whitworth’s outstanding attribute of warmth  allowed her to share the  emotions of others, sharing their pain and rejoicing loudly when they  succeeded. Claiborne  said of Kathy, “She never  forgot where she came  from,” and “She was a  great girl.”

In an interview for Prime Women  Guide to Golf in  2020, Whitworth said  she fell in love with golf  the first time she tried it.  She also  gave credit to  Hardy Loudermilk, who  was the local golf pro,  for putting her in touch  with Harvey Penick,  said to be the greatest golf teacher of all  time, who helped Whitworth develop as a professional golfer in her  early professional career. Pinson, a longtime  friend of Whitworth’s,  said Penick took Kathy  under his wing and  had a profound influence on her. Pinson said  that if girls could have  played on the football  team back then, Whitworth would have been  a starting lineman on  the football team. Pinson and Claiborne both  said what made Kathy  Whitworth such a great  golfer was her absolute  determination to win