More than a decade has passed since Judy Bell resided as president of the U.S. Golf Association.

Bell was the first – and remains the only – woman to lead the organization.

“She was a trailblazer in any sport,” said Allen Doyle, a Champions Tour pro scheduled to play in the U.S. Senior Open July 31 to Aug. 3. “It’s not easy to come in and be accepted. I have two daughters that I always preach that to. ‘It’s going to be harder for you to accomplish some things in life because you’re a female. You either let that slow you down or you don’t.’ She’s one that obviously didn’t let that slow her down.”

Bell, a 71-year-old resident of Colorado Springs, credits her three older brothers.

They, possibly unknowingly, gave her the moxie needed to compete in a society – and certainly in a sport – some say is dominated by men.

“One thing they made me learn was to stand up for myself,” said Bell, a native of Wichita, Kan. “Plus, with them, I learned early that it was all right to disagree and speak your piece.

“But you had better make sense. They weren’t just going to lay down for you. You had to make a point.”

Bell is a charter member of the grants committee and remains consulting director for the USGA Foundation’s grants and fellowship programs, which are designed to grow, teach and expand the game.

That’s what Bell has been doing for 47 years. At any given moment, her brain is in a few dozen places. Odds are good that each place somehow relates to golf.

Bell attended last month’s U.S. Open in San Diego. As she navigated a golf cart through Torrey Pines, her head was on a swivel, trying to take in everything.

“Would you just look at this,” Bell said several times. “It’s just beautiful. Beautiful. You ever see a setup like this? It’s just the most beautiful thing. Best setup I’ve ever seen.”

Bell started playing golf 61 years ago. She played in her first tournament, The Broadmoor Invitational, two years later. That’s a lot of setups.

That’s also a lot of growing, teaching and expanding the game.

Bell became a member of the Junior Championship Committee in 1961. She later worked on the Women’s Committee and committees for the U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open.

In 1987, she became the first woman to serve on the USGA’s executive committee. Then, in 1996, she was elected as the organization’s 54th president.

“Well, everybody gets hung up about this woman thing,” Bell said. “I did the best I could do like everybody tries to do. I don’t know that it was any harder for me. I didn’t feel a lot of discrimination. There was some, but not much.

“Every president I’ve ever known has had some enemies. There’s going to be somebody who doesn’t like them.”

Did they not like Bell’s style? Did they not like the way she ran a meeting? Or did they not like a woman being in charge?

“I think some people probably dropped their membership – in fact, I know some dropped their membership when they elected a girl,” Bell said. “But so be it. I hope I was judged by my actions.”

Nobody is likely to talk ill of Bell now and certainly not where others could read their comments, but plenty of unlikely sources offer praise.

“For that lady to do what she’s done with the game – the way she promoted it and worked at it – you just can’t pay a person like that,” golf legend Lee Trevino said. “She’ll go down in history as being very instrumental in promoting this game.

“And it should tell you everything when a female can become president of the USGA. It tells you how connected she is to the game. It’s wonderful, absolutely wonderful.”

The compliment was a pleasant surprise to Bell.

“Lee Trevino!” she said, an exclamation saturated in a questioning tone. “I don’t even know him. Well, at least not personally. Lee Trevino, really? I’ll have to thank him for that.”

There are hundreds of thousands playing golf today who are alien to Bell but were affected by something she did. The $50 million “For the Good of the Game” initiative that Bell started during her tenure has reached more than 1.3 million economically disadvantaged youth and people with disabilities.

“It was a neat experience doing that,” Bell said. “Not necessarily being president, but being around the game, around the players, being around something that you’re really crazy about.”

You go, girl.

Photo by KEVIN KRECK, THE GAZETTE