Beloit College

Daughter of the late Peter Smith, Beloit professor of modern languages, Ginna Palmer was an excellent golfer who could not compete at the collegiate level because there were no women’s varsity teams.  Nevertheless, she has made a lifetime commitment to golf, advancing from Wisconsin junior women’s amateur titlist and college WAA participant to state championship-flight qualifier and district competitor to prominent figure on the state, regional, and national levels.  When a bout with Polio ended her serious competitive play in the mid-50’s, she directed her efforts to leadership and assumed major responsibilities, including service as president of both the Wisconsin Women’s Golf Association and the Western WGA, of which she has been a board member for 25 years.  Mrs. Palmer helped establish the Western WGA senior championships and is credited with launching almost single-handedly the Western Women’s Golf Foundation, which she has chaired since its founding in 1971 and which partially funds college tuition annually for more than 50 women of high academic achievement.  A member of the U.S. Gold Association’s senior women’s championship committee, she lives in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband John, also a Beloit graduate.