[1] She was born into a golfing family in North Berwick, Midlothian, Scotland, to William Spink Campbell (1833–1900) and Emily Mary Tipper (1834–1923).

[3][4] In 1896, at age 13, she joined the North Berwick Ladies Golf Club and had no difficulty holding her own against adult members.

She was a pupil of golf professional Ben Sayers and learned to play the game over the North Berwick West Links.

Her father died on 30 April 1900[2] when she was 17 and by 1904 she was living with her mother at Inchgarry House, Links Road, North Berwick, where the Campbell family had enjoyed a number of summer holidays.

[3] In the British Ladies Amateur, contested at Royal Birkdale in 1909, Campbell forgot to report the result of her third round match—which she won on the 11th green—to the LGU officials who met to discuss whether she would be disqualified.

Over the course of her career, she won 11 national amateur crowns between Great Britain, the United States, Canada, and Scotland, the last of which came in 1924 at the age of 41.

[3] Mabel Stringer wrote of her short game, "Dorothy's best stroke was a run-up shot that she used from distances of up to 50 feet.