A golf legend living in our own St. Johns neighborhood

There is a legend in your midst.

You live close to her. It's possible that you've walked past her and didn't realize the contributions she has made to a sport you hold dear. It's not your fault - she carved her place in history long before the Internet and mass TV. But she's one of our neighbors.

And this week she's celebrating a special anniversary.

Record is set, LPGA is born

In 1949, golf had no million-dollar purses, no weekly television coverage, no 64-degree wedges. It's almost impossible for us, living in the Internet-buzzed golf universe that Tiger built, to understand how things were for Louise Suggs when she grabbed her clubs out of the trunk of her car at Prince Georges Golf & Country Club in Landover, Md. for the U.S. Women's Open.

"Oh, it was a lot different," Suggs said. "In those days we played the courses that the men members played. They were about 6,600-6,800 yards. Let me tell you, we used an awful lot of fairway woods for second shots."

But Suggs, who comedian Bob Hope nicknamed "Miss Sluggs" for her long tee shots, knew she was dialed in.

"It was one of those weeks when everything went right," she said.

She bombed, chipped and swaggered through the sweltering Maryland summer.

And by the time the Open finished that year, she had won by an unheard-of 14 strokes. Even now, on the 60th anniversary of her win, that margin of victory is still a women's major championship record.

It was especially sweet for Suggs because she left her famous rival, Babe Zaharias, in the dust.

"Babe was a little upset after that," Suggs said, still beaming after all these years. "She said, 'Are you sure you counted all your strokes?' Oh, I did."

The next year, Suggs, Zaharias and 11 other forward-thinking women created the Ladies Professional Golf Association.

Mind and spirit still sharp

Suggs turns 86 in September. And she is still her own woman, thank you very much.

She is well-known for her big heart, cantankerous wit, a fondness for scotch and her black poodle named Dammit. Legend has it she used to drive a car with a license plate that read "Teed Off."

She was the valedictorian of Austell (Ga.) High School's graduating class of 1940, and she's still sharp as a whip.

When we spoke for this story, she said, "I had to go to the doc yesterday to get some skin cancers taken off and what not. I'm a little uncomfortable, but I'll be alright."

Suggs is not one of these types who retired to pursue other interests. She still lives, eats and breathes golf. She's a lifer. But if you helped create the most successful female sports organization ever, wouldn't you still have a vested interest?

Our conversation quickly turned to how much the equipment has changed for today's players.

"In the early days, I carried a 1-iron," she said sternly. "I used it off the tee if there was a stiff wind." For those unfamiliar with how tough it is to use a 1-iron, Hall of Famer Lee Trevino summed it up nicely: "If you're caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron. Not even God can hit a 1-iron."

"The kids these days with their fancy-dancy clubs and balls," she said with a dismissive laugh. "I'd love to see them play with the equipment we had."

The road has been rough

"The LPGA didn't just fall out of the sky," Suggs said. "I don't think people there now realize that."

This week, the LPGA has made news for a player revolt against its commissioner, Carolyn Bivens. The LPGA has lost several tournaments over the past few years, and only 10 are reported to have sponsors for 2010. According to the Times-Union, Suggs came out in support for the embattled commissioner.

I spoke with her before the news broke, but we did chat about the state of the tour.

"I don't think a lot of people appreciate what they have (in the LPGA)," she said. "There were so many roadblocks for us. We tried to buck the male establishment and that wasn't easy back then. In all fairness, there were some fine gentlemen who helped us along the way. But it was tough."

Back in the 1940s and 50s, players like Suggs couldn't just enter tournaments and hope to win some money. They had to negotiate with hesitant clubs to even have the tournament, then find some way to raise enough money to even have a purse. Heck, they even had to pound their own stakes for ropes. And after all that was worked out, they could finally tee it up.

"We couldn't make a living just on playing," she said. "We had to work with manufacturers to do clinics. That's how many of us got to be known back then because there was no TV. We just drove from place to place teaching clinics."

Then she got on a roll.

"We didn't have locker rooms," she continued. "We had to change our clothes and shoes in the car. I never thought I'd live to see a women's locker room at Royal & Ancient (Golf Club at St. Andrews). But I did."

A community fixture

Suggs moved to the World Golf Village area from Delray Beach in 2001 and currently lives in the Glenmoor neighborhood. Since she landed in our neck of the woods, Suggs has become a fixture in and around the Hall of Fame, attending the induction ceremonies among other functions.

"Oh, I like (living in WGV) very much," she said. "I'm lucky to live there."

She is so much a part of life in the area that the management at Augustino's, the old Italian restaurant near the Hall of Fame, screwed a plaque into a booth at the bar to permanently reserve it for her.

"I was very sorry they closed," Suggs said, in what was easily the saddest moment of our conversation.

Other than that, she was upbeat, as usual. I've been lucky enough to know her for a few years and every time we talk I learn something new. She is a golf treasure, a living, breathing museum.

So watch out for the legend in your midst. And if you see her, make sure to wish her a happy anniversary.