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Alumni > Alumnus/Alumna of the Year Awards > Mary Bentley Mills - 2006 Alumna of the Year

Mary Bentley Mills - 2006 Alumna of the Year

Millsaps College named Mary Bentley Mills as its 2006 Alumna of the Year in recognition of her stellar contributions to and leadership in her profession as a professional athlete and educator. A ground-breaking female athlete, Mills is a world-class professional golfer who began her career by winning her first Mississippi Amateur Championship in 1954 at the age of 14 and went on to win eight consecutive years until 1961. Her rookie year on the LPGA Tour was 1962 and she was selected as the Rookie of the Year by Golf Digest. Her subsequent major victories, the USAG Women's Open Championship in 1963, and LPGA championship titles in 1964 and 1973, along with 11 additional tour victories, easily signal Mary Mills as the most accomplished professional athlete ever to wear the Purple and White. Her immediate and lasting success on tour almost overshadowed her astounding record as an amateur.

Along with many regional titles, she won eight consecutive Mississippi Women's Golf Association events; she holds the record for the most wins and the most consecutive wins, as well as the record for being the youngest to win the Mississippi Women's Amateur title. Mills studied under such legends as Johnny Revolta, Tommy Armour, Bob Toski, Ken Venturi and Manuel and Angel de la Torre, and has worked in tandem as an instructor with Tony Penna, Mark Santani, and Bob Crissy.

Mills played the LPGA tour at a time when it began to gain traction as a national sports entity. She joined forces with other star golfers of her day—Judy Rankin, Kathy Whitworth, Mickey Wright and Patty Berg, among others—to push the women’s tour to new heights of excellence and visibility. Along with her compatriots in the field, Mills is considered the precursor to the current likes of Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie, Julie Inkster, Karrie Webb and other fine players. She played on the Tour for 18 years, receiving such honors as the LPGA Rookie of the Year in 1962, Golf Digest's "Most Improved Player" in 1973, and election to the Millsaps Sports Hall of Fame in 1975 and the Mississippi Sports Hall of fame in 1988.

Mills received her B.A. in philosophy in 1962 and received a master of landscape architecture from Florida International University's School of Engineering in 1996.

(Reprinted from the 2006 College Awards Recognition Dinner Program)