Jane Blalock

Blalock was born in Portsmouth, N.H. Her father, Richard Blalock, worked as a newspaper editor in town. She began playing golf at age 13 and credits her family with being supportive of her different endeavors, including playing other sports. After years of practicing golf at the nearby country club, Blalock attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla. She continued to play amateur golf as she studied, winning the New Hampshire Amateur five consecutive times beginning in 1965, and also winning the Florida Intercollegiate Championship in 1966. Jane graduated from Rollins College in 1967 with a degree in history and began working as a high school history teacher upon graduation, and a year later she borrowed money to return from New Hampshire to Florida, where she spent five weeks taking lessons from instructor Bob Toski. She won the New England Amateur tournament in 1967 and 1968. The following winter, Blalock returned to work at a country club in Florida, working on the driving range and doing odd jobs while listening to Toski advise students.
In 1969, Jane left her job as a history teacher to become a professional golfer. She played full-time on the LPGA Tour between 1969 and 1987. She played in 468 LPGA events making the cut in 431 of them. She was in the top 10n in 2006 of those starts or 44% of the time. She won 27 times, but none of them was a major championship (won the 1972 Dinah Shore Colgate Winner's circle before it became a major). In her career, she won $1,291,222. Her best financial season was in 1985 in which she won the Women's Kemper Open and the Mazda Japan Classic along with 10 other top-ten finishes. Her earnings were $192,426. Blalock held the record for "going through 299 consecutive tournaments without missing a cut (1969 through 1980)," which was a record for both the LPGA and PGA.
In 1977, she published her autobiography, "The Guts to Win", through Simon & Schuster. That year she won $102,562, becoming "the fourth women ever to go over the $100,000 mark." At that point, she had won 18 tournaments and was the sixth-highest paid female golfer of all time.
From 1981 until 1984, Blalock failed to win a tournament as she nursed a herniated disc. She got better and in March 1985 won the Women's Kemper Open in Hawaii.
After 1987, Blalock turned to business and other opportunities outside of golf. Blalock was appointed to the President's Council for Sports and Physical Fitness in 1990, receiving the appointment from George H. W. Bush. Also in 1990, Blalock founded the LPGA Golf Clinics for Women program, helping teach the clinics herself. The inaugural clinic was held over three days in Washington, D.C., selling out its 100 spots. She later held a clinic in May 1991 as a day-long program sponsored by Mazda, with the intent of building skill and confidence among businesswomen players.
In December 1994, she organized the Volvo Legends Series for women aged 45 and older. 24 players had accepted invitations to participate at that point, including JoAnne Carner, Kathy Whitworth, Sandra Haynie, Sandra Palmer, Judy Rankin, Carol Mann and Donna Caponi. Two Volvo tournaments, one in Phoenix, Arizona and one in Atlanta, took place in 1995 for $150,000 each. Prime Network broadcast delayed television coverage of the events.
From 1996 to 2000, Blalock worked to organize a new senior golf tour for older and often retired LPGA players. After receiving support from 24 other founding members and a 3-year sponsorship program from the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce, The Women's Senior Golf Tour debuted in August 2000 in Green Bay, Wis., with a minimum age of 43 and a $500,000 purse, with $75,000 going to the winner. Around 30,000 people attended over three days. The senior tour paid a fee to the LPGA for permission to involve active LPGA players but otherwise remained independent. Blalock worked to make sure the tour was the official senior tour of the LPGA in 2001, and the Women's Senior Golf Tour is now called the Legends Tour. Initially, it grew from two annual events to 11 events by 2013, to 14 events in 2016. The tour has donated significant amounts to charity. Blalock was on the WSGT Board of Directors for years, later only serving as CEO of The Legends Tour (The WDGA). She is an ambassador for the International Sports Promotion Society.
In 1986, Blalock moved from Florida to Boston, Mass. to work in finance. Since 2016, Blalock continues to maintain an office in Boston. She also remains involved with the Blalock family restaurant, which she helped open on June 10, 1975, at Old Ferry Landing in Portsmouth, N.H.