1986 U.S. Women's Open: Jane Geddes wins at NCR Country Club (South Course)
Jane Geddes won the 1986 U.S. Women's Open at NCR Country Club (South Course), Kettering, Ohio, United States with 287 (−1), beating Sally Little in a playoff.
Updated October 23, 2026
Every year is on the U.S. Women's Open winners list.
- Dates
- July 10, 1986 to July 14, 1986
- Course
- NCR Country Club (South Course), Kettering, Ohio, United States
- Edition
- 41st edition
- Counted as a major
- yes
- Format
- stroke play, 4 rounds
- Par
- 72 · 6,243 yards
- Entries
- 704
- Field
- 150
- Made the cut
- 79 (cut at 153)
- Purse
- $300,000 · winner's share $50,000
- Champion
- Jane Geddes · age 26 · United States · born Huntington, New York, United States
- Champion's title
- 1st title at this event · 1st major
- Winning score
- 74-74-70-69 = 287 (−1)
- Runner-up
- Sally Little (287)
- 54-hole leader
- Betsy King · Jane Geddes was 5 strokes back
- Playoff
- 18-hole stroke-play playoff (Monday, July 14): Geddes 71, Little 73; 18 holes; beat Sally Little; 18-hole total (Geddes 71, Little 73); Geddes birdied No. 14 to lead for good
- Low amateur
- Joan Pitcock (294)
- Run by
- United States Golf Association
Winner and runner-up
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jane Geddes | 74 | 74 | 70 | 69 | 287 | −1 |
| 2 | Sally Little | 73 | 72 | 72 | 70 | 287 | −1 |
What happened at the 1986 U.S. Women's Open
Jane Geddes entered the final round five strokes behind 54-hole leader Betsy King and closed with a 69 to tie Sally Little at 287, matching the championship record for a final-round comeback.
In the Monday playoff Little birdied Nos. 5-7 to lead by three, but she double-bogeyed No. 9 and Geddes birdied No. 14 to lead for good, winning 71-73.
How this was built
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's U.S. Women's Open data. A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the organizer's own record is used.
Data: womens-golf-majors_dataset_2026-10-20.json (GNN's women's majors research set, "master" row for this year, research dated October 20, 2026).
Also from GNN's U.S. Women's Open set (entries, runners-up round by round, values the majors set does not hold).
Sources
- usga.org: 26USWomensOpen
- Wikipedia: 1986 U.S. Women's Open
- mediacenter.usga.org: 2026 U.S. Women's Open Fact Sheet V2
- Wikipedia: Women's major golf championships
- Wikipedia: U.S. Women's Open
- Wikipedia: Jane Geddes
- golfcompendium.com: 1986 us womens open
- golfcompendium.com: low amateurs us womens open
- filecache.mediaroom.com: 21 U.S. Women's Open
- web.archive.org: pastchamps
- latimes.com: la xpm 1986 07 11 sp 19885 story
- latimes.com: la xpm 1986 07 12 sp 22830 story
- latimes.com: la xpm 1986 07 13 sp 20881 story
- latimes.com: la xpm 1986 07 14 sp 19310 story
- latimes.com: la xpm 1986 07 15 sp 21249 story