Judith “Judy” Meister was born in Harbor Creek, Pennsylvania in July, 1947. She is married to Richard Meister, and they have two children, Keith and Gail.

Judy grew up not too far from the out of bounds stakes of Lawrence Park Golf Course. At the age of eight, Judy’s father, William Mitchell, introduced both Judy and her mother, Marion, to the game of golf. While she received lessons from LPGC professional, Leo Anderson, Judy was a natural and belonged inside the ropes. By the time she reached the age of 12, the Times News and Anderson referred to her as a “sensation”. As she would do the rest of her competitive career, Judy played whenever and wherever she could find a game.

Five years after picking up a club, Judy started hoisting trophies. She captured the 1960 EDWGA Junior Girls Championship. The EDWGA engraved her name again on the same trophy in 1962, 1964 and 1965. She also won the Jaycee Junior Golf Tournament four years in a row from 1960 to 1963. She also collected medals and hardware from victories in events at LPGC and other junior tournaments.

As a teenager, Judy did not just showcase her athleticism on the links. She attended Harborcreek High School where she played volleyball and basketball all four years for the Huskies. She graduated in 1965 and attended Slippery Rock University. Unfortunately, the “Rock” did not have a golf team, so Judy spent her free time playing basketball, volleyball, and field hockey before she graduated in 1969 with a degree in Health and Physical Education.

Judy began her play against the adult females in the 1960 EDWGA championship. She did not feel comfortable competing against the seasoned veterans because, as a newly minted teenager, she was “too young”.  Even so, in 1961, she was able to defeat her mom, Marion to advance to the finals of the first flight. Participating in the Women’s Northwestern team tournaments and EDWGA Interclub events proved to be a helpful orientation. By 1962, at the tender age of 15, she needed a driver to get her to Lake Shore CC to take on one of the pre- tournament favorites, Kay Hebert in the first round of the EDWGA. Judy lost the match, but she went on to win the Championship Consolation flight. In 1964, Judy would meet Hebert again, this time in the finals. After a hard-fought battle, the young Mitchell lost to the defending champion Hebert two down on the 36^th hole at Lawrence Park GC. It was defending champion Hebert’s fifth consecutive trip to the finals.

It was just a matter of time before the “Sensation” would get to the winner’s circle. In 1965, she defeated Sally Schicker at Lake View CC to clutch the winner’s cup. Her defense of her crown failed the following year at the hands of 11-time champ, Jean Forsyth, but Judy went down fighting. Forsyth claimed the gold in sudden death after 37 holes. One year later, Mitchell lost in the finals to Hebert at Lake Shore. It was Hebert’s third win in five years.

Judy returned to the winner’s stand in 1968. She defeated Schickler at Kahkwa. After that victory, she announced that she was leaving the game to focus on her family. Following a three- year absence, however, she returned to action at Erie golf course where she met defending champion Mary Ann Fessler in the finals. Before her win in 1970, Fessler had also taken a leave from tournament golf to focus on family. The battle of former champs ended after three holes of a sudden death playoff, and the trophy returned to the mantle of Judy Mitchell Meister. She defended her crown in 1972 at Lake Shore with a 2-1 win in the finals against Mrs. Fessler.

In the 10 -year span of her EDWGA play, Judy walked away with four titles and three second place finishes. She also gathered four club championships at Lawrence Park against arguably many of the best players in the area including multiple city title holders Forsyth and Hebert.

Contemplating a move to the professional ranks, Judy decided to test her skills at the state and national levels. In 1973, she competed in the 36-hole Women’s Match Play Championship in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at Sunnybrook Golf Club. She won. Next, she traveled to Rochester, New York to play against the professionals in the 1973 USGA Women’s Open. She made the cut. With the encouragement and support of her father and her sponsors, Judy earned her LPGA card in 1974. Amazingly, she qualified on her first attempt, finishing 3^rd behind LPGA Hall of Famer’s Jan Stephenson and Pat Bradley.

Meister did well on the LPGA tour, including a 2^nd place finish at the 1976 LPGA Naples Classic. She cashed in several tournaments as an LPGA member. In 1974, she fired a course record 69 at Victoria Golf club in Melbourne, Australia while competing in the Colgate Far East Ladies Tournament. The next year, she rewrote the record books again with a 68 at St George Golf Club in Toronto, Canada as a competitor in the Peter Jackson Classic.

The former 12-year-old sensation from Lawrence Park traveled the world “chasing that little white ball” and competing at the highest levels. As she stated, the experience was “beyond my wildest dreams.”  In addition to trekking miles of fairways all over the US, she was knocking down flags in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Australia, and England. The travel and time away from home, however, took its toll and Judy lost her LPGA playing privileges at the end of the 1978 season which also coincided with the birth of Keith. Her daughter Gail would round out the foursome in 1982.

Judy moved away from Erie with her husband and family. She essentially stopped playing golf. Her time was devoted to her husband and kids. She traded her clubs for a racket to satisfy her competitive spirit.

Mrs. Meister moved to North Carolina in 1994, where she was introduced to NC Senior Games, a program designed to promote year-round health and wellness education. She played 3v3 women’s basketball on a team for 10 years. She also coached an older team (80+) in basketball eventually stopping because of Covid-19.

Proving that it was the carpenter and not the tool, Judy brushed off her sticks and played golf at the Senior Games in Wake County, NC (2010-2019, picking up 7 medals); she competed at  NC States (silver medals in 2011 and 2014 and  gold medals in 2013, 2015, 2016), and she shined  nationally in Cleveland, Ohio (Bronze medal 2013).

Judy took up the game of Pickleball in 2013. It is now a part of Senior Games. In addition to successfully competing in the local county tournaments and state championships; Judy played in the national championships in pickleball for Senior Games in Pittsburgh 2023, (75+ mixed doubles). She was also privileged to play in the 2024 US Open Pickleball Championship in Naples, Fl. Playing both mixed and women’s divisions at 75+, 3.5. she and her partner finished 3^rd.

Judy is believed to be Erie’s first and only female to play on the LPGA tour. In 2005, she was listed as one of Erie’s top ten golfers of all time despite her abbreviated amateur career. In 2022, on the 50^th anniversary of Title IX, the Times News listed her as a pioneer in female sports. Judy Mitchell Meister was inducted into the PA Sports Hall of Fame (Metropolitan Erie Chapter) in 1992.