Throng Of 500 Greets Judy At Berry Field Homecoming

From the Nashville Banner
August 22, 1957
By Ed Givin
Reprinted in the

Old Hickory’s Judy Eller, recently-crowned U.S. Junior Girls golf queen, alighted from her plane at Berry Field this morning to find a welcome very well-suited to a national champion.
     The fact that she lost to Jo Anne Gunderson Wednesday in the third round of the Women’s National Amateur in Sacramento, Calif., took no edge off the reception.
     The crowd of more than 500, accompanied by the Dupont High School band, waved and cheered wildly as Judy, with tears in her eyes, stepped onto the Berry Field pavement.
     All Judy could say about the reception given her at the airport was, ‘Oh, it’s just wonderful ... the most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen.”
     When asked about Wednesday’s match, which she lost 1-up on the 20th hole, she modestly replied, ‘Sue (Miss Gunderson) is playing good golf. I just tried to make It interesting yesterday.”
     Her father, Old Hickory Country Club Pro Harold Eller, said there wouldn’t be any more tournaments for Judy this year—“She’ll probably forget about golf until next spring ... and concentrate on basketball.”
     She may concentrate on basketball during the coming school year; but it will probably be a long time before she will forget winning the U.S. Junior Girls tourney in Denver, Cob., last week, and her tremendous effort in the Women’s Amateur his week.
     She defeated Grace Lenczyk, the 1948 champion, in the first round at Sacramento, then knocked off Mary Pat Janssen in the second round before losing the heartbreaker to Miss Gunderson.
     A motorcade of 150 to 200 cars, led by police escort, swept Judy away from the air field and started her on her way home, the first time she’s been there since she won the Junior.
     Their third-round match was the closest thing imaginable, despite the two holes Judy practically donated her opponent at the start. Both players agreed that Judy was a little nervous and that cost her the first two holes.
     After that she settled down and gave the long-hitting blonde from the Pacific Northwest the fight of her life. Judy had cut the margin to one down at the turn, evened the match on the 13th, where Gundy missed a 4-foot putt. They were even at 18 and went into extra holes.
     They halved the 19th with par 4s and Gunderson, whose steadiness may well [have won] her this tournament, parred another while Judy slipped to a bogey to close out the match.
     The slight hook that had been bothering Judy might well be blamed for the outcome. It hadn’t gotten her into trouble before, just worried her some. Today it cost her on a couple of holes.
     On the 16th, for instance, Judy hooked into the rough, but she pulled a spectacular recovery, knocking it up within inches of the cup for a par 3. On the 20th, Judy hooked into the rough with her second shot; her third fell in a trap and she took the six that cost her the match.
     The Seattle redhead, Miss Gunderson, won her fourth round match, 2 and. 1, from Mrs. Jane Cadotte of Long Beach, Calif.
     Defending champion Marlene Stewart Streit made the round-of-eight when Polly Riley, a Fort Worth, Texas, winner of many a major tournament, got the whammies on the 19th hole Wednesday and blew two shots in a row.

 (Source: Tennessee State Library and Archives)