Not many families in America can claim one of their own was a member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).  But the Faulk family of Thomasville, Georgia, can.  This web site is a tribute to the late Mary Lena Faulk.  She was adored by all of her family and who affectionally called her 'Horsey,' a label given to her by one of her young nieces when she jumped on her back one day and yelled, "Giddyup Horsey!"

Mary Lena was born in Chipley, Florida, on April 15, 1926, as the fifth child of John Hughey and Kate Alford Faulk.  Her father was in the turpentine business.  As a child, one of Mary Lena's chores was taking care of the chickens when she would go out and gather the eggs every day.

Surprising to most, tennis was actually her first love.  She won the Chipley city tennis championship when she was only 12 years-old. 

John Hughey learned to play golf in 1925, a year before she was born.  For her 10th birthday, he gave her a cut-down Walter Hagen 5 iron.  "It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen," she said.  She learned to play golf at the Falling Waters Golf Course in Chipley... a nine hole course with sand greens.  Competitive golf was soon to follow and her first tournament prize was a shaving kit for winning the fifth flight consolation.

She would later go on to win the following:
-1946-Mary Lena won the first of her three Georgia State Women's Amateur Championships.
-1947-Mary Lena won her second Georgia State Women's Amateur Championship.
-1948-Mary Lena won her third Georgia State Women's Amateur Championship.
-1949 & 1950-Two-time winner of the Tallahassee Women's Invitational.
-1950-Medalist at the Women's Southern Amateur.
-1951-Winner-Florida East Coast Women's Golf Tournament-St. Augustine.
-1952-Winner-Florida East Coast Women's Golf Tournament-St. Augustine.
-1952-Winner-Tallahassee Women's Invitational.
-1952-Winner-Helen Doherty Memorial Tournament.
-1953-Winner-Helen Doherty Memorial Tournament.
-1953-U.S. Women's Amateur Champion.
-1953-Winner-Florida East Coast Women's Golf Tournament-St. Augustine.
-1954-Member-U.S. Women's Curtis Cup Team.
-1954-Winner-Georgia State Women's Medal Play Championship.
-1955-Turned Pro (borrowed $500 from her mother to get started).
-1956-Winner-Kansas City Open ($900)
-1957-Winner-St. Petersberg Open.
-1958-Winner-Mactown Open, Rocktown, Illinois.
-1959 & 1960-Mary Lena finished 2nd four times (no wins).
-1961-Winner-Babe Zaharias Open.
-June 4, 1961-Winner-Western Open at Belle Meade in Nashville, Tenn (Major title).
-June 1961-Winner-Triangle Round Robin, New Rochelle, NY.
-June 1961-Winner-Eastern Open, Dillsburg, Pennsylvania.
-1962-Winner-Peach Blossom Open, Spartanburg, SC.
-1962-Winner-Visalia Open, California.
-1962-Finished 2nd at the LPGA Championship at Stardust Country Club, Las Vegas.
-1964-Winner-St. Petersburg Open.
(12 titles and 16 2nd Place finishes for her career)