Barbara Jane Blalock (born September 19, 1945) is an American business executive and retired professional golfer.

[5][6] She won the historically notable Dinah Shore Colgate Winner's Circle in 1972,[7] earning "the richest prize in women's golf history.

"[8] After successfully fighting a suspension from the LPGA for allegedly signing an incorrect scorecard a month after Dinah Shore,[9] by 1977 she was the sixth-highest paid female golfer of all time.

[14] Associated with various boards and non-profit organizations,[15] she has authored two books: The Guts To Win (Simon & Schuster, 1977)[16] and Gimmies, Bogies and Business (Mastermedia, 1999).

[3] After years of practicing golf at the nearby country club,[4] Blalock attended Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida.

Blalock began working as a high school history teacher[19] upon graduation, and a year later she borrowed money to return from New Hampshire to Florida, where she spent five weeks taking lessons from golfer and instructor Bob Toski.

[19] The following winter, Blalock returned to work at a country club in Florida, laboring on the driving range and doing odd jobs while listening to Toski advise students.

[6] Though she had yet to win a tournament outside of New England, at age 23[6] Blalock left her job as a history teacher[21] to become a professional golfer.

[4] Blalock won her first professional tour victory at the Lady Carling Event in Atlanta, Georgia in 1970, beating Betsy Rawls by one stroke.

"[4][5] On April 16, 1972, won the inaugural version of the Dinah Shore Colgate Winner's Circle, earning "the richest prize in women's gold history" with the $20,000 first place award.

[23] In May 1972, she won the Suzuki Golf International Tournament in Pasadena, California, besting Kathy Whitworth.

[21] Shortly afterwards Blalock was disqualified from the Bluegrass Invitational for allegedly placing a ball incorrectly, and then failing to mark a two stroke penalty on her scorecard.

The rules violation conflict would continue until 1975,[24] when after losing several appeals[25] and being ordered to pay damages to Blalock,[24] the LPGA agreed to settle.

[11] Blalock continued to win tournaments into 1976, and in September the Times Daily reported that she had "coasted to a whopping nineshot victory" in the $50,000 Dallas Civitan Open."

The article detailed that "Blalock's one-under 71 Sunday produced a tournament record 11-under 205 for the 54-hole distance, breaking the previous best - set last year by Carol Mann - by three shots.

[10] She won the Colgate Triple Crown in 1975 and 1977, also winning the International Mixed Championship at Waterville, Ireland in 1978 while teamed up with Ray Floyd.

[4] In 1978, Greg Hanson of The Evening Independent described her as "one of the foremost women golfers of her time," calling her experience with the suspension a "dark age" in the LPGA's behavior.

She broke her streak on October 10, 1980, after the LPGA requested she play at Inamori Golf Classic outside San Diego, California.

[13][18] In 1972, however, Blalock won an event that in 1983 was upgraded to major status – the Dinah Shore Colgate Winner's Circle.

[38] She later held a clinic in May 1991 as a day-long program sponsored by Mazda, with the intent of building skill and confidence among businesswomen players.

[37] She also remains involved with the Blalock family restaurant,[3] which she helped open on June 10, 1975 as Old Ferry Landing in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.