Published on Show Me Mizzou Aug. 28, 2026
Story by Tony Rehagen, BA, BJ ’01
Ellen Port, BS Ed ’83, is one of the most accomplished amateur golfers ever to have come out of Mizzou. That achievement was solidified in March when the U.S. Golf Association presented her with the 2026 Bob Jones Award, the governing body’s highest honor. The only asterisk? Port never actually competed using a club during her time as a Tiger athlete.
When she first came to Mizzou, Port wielded a tennis racket instead of a golf club. After graduation, she moved to St. Louis to teach physical education at John Burroughs School and focused on the links. Then she just kept getting better.
Eventually, Port went on to win the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship a record-tying four times, along with three U.S. Senior Women's Amateur titles. Those seven USGA championships place her behind only Bob Jones, Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and JoAnne Carner on the association's all-time titles list.
As a golf coach, she led John Burroughs to three state championships and helped build the collegiate golf program at Washington University. Not bad for someone who entered Mizzou thinking her future was in tennis.
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