Background
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Stirling was the daughter of Doctor Alexander W. Stirling and Nora Stirling née Bromley.
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Alexa Stirling
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She was coached in golf from a young age at the Atlanta Athletic Club"s East Lake Golf Club course by Stewart Maiden, the club"s professional, who had learned his golf at Carnoustie, Scotland. At age 13 her golf skills were already evident when on May 15, 1911 she was the low qualifier in the Women"s Southern Golf Association championship. Stirling was also a skilled and enthusiastic violinist.
She performed a public violin solo at age seven.
She was also the United States. Amateur runner-up in 1921 to Marion Hollins, in 1923 to Edith Cummings, and again in 1925 to Glenna Collett, a year when she broke Dorothy Campbell"s single-round scoring record in qualifying. United States. Women"s Amateur
Canadian Women"s Amateur
Throughout her life Alexa Stirling Fraser maintained her interest in golf, and during the 1976 United States Bicentennial celebrations she returned to Atlanta for the United States. Open.
Stirling died on April 15, 1977 at home in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. She was posthumously inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1978, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1986, and the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 1989.
She was portrayed by Stephanie Sparks in the 2004 film, Bobby Jones: A Stroke of Genius.
Achievements
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She won the United States. Women"s Amateur golf championship in 1916, 1919, and 1920. She also won the Canadian Women"s Amateur title in 1920 and 1934. Stirling solidified her reputation as a youthful prodigy when she won three consecutive United States. Women"s Amateurs. She won her first in 1916. After the war, she came back to win the 1919 and 1920 United States. Women"s Amateur titles. Although she did not make it to the finals in the 1927 championship, in the third round she defeated Simone de la Chaume, the British Ladies Amateur champion. Stirling won the United States. Women"s Amateur golf title three times—in 1916, 1919, and 1920. In 1920 she won the Canadian Women"s Amateur, and after finishing second in 1921 and 1925 in that event, she won the Canadian title again in 1934. She married Canadian doctor Wilbert G. Fraser in 1925, and made her home in Ottawa, Ontario, where she became an honorary member of the Royal Ottawa Golf Club, and was its ladies" champion nine times. She once wrote, "The player who is going to win most often is not the one who is superior in strength of distance, but the one who can make the fewest mistakes and keep out of as much trouble as possible, but when once in trouble can cope with any situation.".
