Class of 2025

Debbie Austin

Hometown: Oneida, N.Y.
Residence: Orlando, F.L.

Debbie Austin grew up on the fairways of Oneida Community Golf Course and enjoyed a remarkable 19 year career on the LPGA Tour after dominating the amateur ranks across both New York State and Florida.

At age 17, at Teugega CC she captured the 1965 NYS Girls Junior Amateur Championship, two years after winning her second consecutive Syracuse District Girls Junior crown. She also earned run fner-up finishes at the 1963 and 1965 NYS Women’s Amateur Championship.

In the summer of 1963, she claimed a title on the national stage when the US Girls Junior came to Wolferts Roost CC in Albany. Despite failing to qualify for the championship division that year, Austin won a title in the third flight, routing Nancy Quick of Wisconsin, 7 and 5 in the finals.

Austin eventually relocated to Florida just before graduating high school, where she won the 1965 Florida State High School Championship by 10 strokes establishing herself as an elite junior golfer with the potential to reach the next level.

Austin’s junior golf success earned her a spot on the Rollins College women’s golf team in 1966, where she spent two seasons before turning professional in 1968.

She started her professional career with zero wins across the first 9 years, but having many top ten finishes. In 1977 her golf success took off as she captured 5 LPGA victories, including three in a row, the Pocono Northeast Classic, Long Island Charity Classic and the Wheeling Classic.

Her win at the Hoosier Classic in Indianapolis set a tournament scoring record, while her triumph at the Pocono tournament featured clutch, long-range birdies that delivered on the most memorable finishes of her career. That season she earned Golf Magazine’s Player of the Year Award and was voted Best Driver on the LPGA Tour.

Her five titles in 1977 were complemented by victories in the 1978 American Cancer tournament in Miami and the !978 Australian Women’s Open by 10 shots. In 1981 the Mayflower Classic marked a celebrated comeback after battling injuries. Her joyous leap into the pool after that win became a beloved LPGA tradition that continues to this Day.

Beyond competition, Austin dedicated herself to the growth of the game. She served on the LPGA Player Council from 1982 to 1983 and as a Player Director from 1985 to 1986 helping guide the organization through an era of expansion and rising visibility. After retiring from the Tour, she returned to her alma mater as head coach of the Rollins College women’s golf program for three years until 1989.

Austin’s influence is recognized across New York and beyond. The junior tees at Westchester Country Club are named in her honor (she was a private instructor there for a period of time), and in 1989 she became on the seventh woman inducted into the Central Florida Sports Hall of Fame.

With seven LPGA Tour victories, multiple state championships and had a lasting impact as a coach, leader and ambassador. Debbie Austin’s legacy embodies the very best of New York golf and solidifies her place in the New York State Golf Association Hall of Fame.

Currently, Debbie is President of the Orange Tree Golf Club’s Women’s Golf Association and is also Coordinator of the Central Florida Challenge Cup.

Debbie Austin's Career Highlights

  • Winner, 1965 NYS Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship (Teugega) 

  • Runner-up, 1963 & 1965 NYS Women’s Amateur Championship

  • Moved to Florida, won Florida State High School Championship by 10 shots (1965)

  • Member, Rollins College Golf, joined in 1966-67

  • 7x winner, LPGA Tour (member 1968-1987)

    • 1977 Birmingham Classic

    • 1977 Hoosier Classic

    • 1977 Pocono Northeast Classic

    • 1977 Long Island Charity Classic

    • 1977 Wheeling Classic

    • 1978 American Cancer Society Classic

    • 1981 Mayflower Classic

  • Golf Magazine’s 1977 Player-of-the-Year

  • Member of the LPGA Player Council 1982-83 and a Player Director in 1985-86

  • Ranked in the top-30 on the LPGA all-time career money list at the time of her retirement

  • Established tradition with General Chairman John B. Smith of winner taking a plunge into the pool at the Mayflower Classic

  • Head Coach of Women’s Golf, Rollins College from 1987-1989

  • Junior tees at Westchester CC named in Debbie’s honor

  • Inducted into the Central Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 1989 – only the seventh woman to be inducted.