| Mary Ann Hayward | |
| Birth Date: | 10 March 1960 |
| Birth Place: | Lachine, Quebec, Canada |
| College: | Florida International College |
| Status: | Amateur |
Mary Ann Hayward (nee Lapointe; born March 10, 1960) is a Canadian amateur golfer. She holds the Ontario record for most wins in a provincial championship. At the international level, Hayward won the United States Mid-Amateur Championship, becoming the only Canadian with this title. Hayward is a member of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame, Ontario Golf Hall of Fame, and Quebec Golf Hall of Fame.
Hayward was born on March 10, 1960, in Lachine, Quebec, Canada.[1] She started playing golf at age 10 but it was only in 1979, when she placed second at the Quebec amateur championship, that she chose to pursue the sport as a career. The following year, she accepted a golf scholarship to Florida International College where she tied with Julie Inkster, Val Skinner and Jody Rosenthal for second place at the National Collegiate Athletic Association golf championships.[2] Upon returning to Canada, she moved to Ontario for the first time in 1984 and lived in Guelph for five years.[3] She played on the professional women's mini-tour but failed to qualify for the LPGA qualifying tour.[2]
While living in Ontario, Hayward was the only Quebec native competing for the 1983 Ontario Women's Amateur Championship and the second Quebec golfer to ever win the title.[4] She was ranked as a professional golfer for two seasons until being reinstated as an amateur in 1986.[5] In September 1992, Hayward was selected to represent Canada at the world amateur golf championship. However, after a lawsuit from Lorie Kane contesting the choosing process, she was left off the team. However, the morning the event started, another golfer withdrew due to a severe migraine headache, and Hayward was announced as her replacement.[6] She returned to Quebec in 1989 where she got married and regained her amateur status.[7] As an amateur, she became the first in eight years to play all four rounds of the du Maurier Ltd. Classic.[5]
Hayward remained in Quebec for six years, from 1989 to 1995, before returning to Ontario.[2] Prior to her move, she had won five provincial amateur titles and two national amateur championships. In 1997, Hayward recorded 3-under-par 69 at Sorel-Tracy for a 36-hole total of 142, to earn an exemption into the LPGA du Maurier Classic.[8] Two years later, she returned to Quebec temporarily to win the Quebec Ladies Amateur Championship for the sixth time.[9]
In 2005, Hayward became the first golfer born outside the United States to win the United States Mid-Amateur Championship, and just the sixth Canadian to win an event run by the United States Golf Association.[10] Over her amateur career, Hayward won the Women's Provincial Amateur Championship six times and won the Women's Provincial Mid-Amateur Championship in 2005, 2008, and 2010. She also established a provincial record by winning the Mid-Amateur Championship twelve times and being a member of Ontario's Interprovincial Team nine times.[11]
In September 2015, Hayward carded four birdies and four bogeys to become a United States Senior Women's Mid-Am Medalist at the 2015 U.S. Senior Women's Amateur Championship. This marked the second time she had been the stroke-play medalist at a USGA championship.[12] Later that year, Hayward officially announced her retirement from the Golf Association of Ontario.[13] Following her retirement, she competed and won the 2017 Women's North and South Senior Championship.[14]
Hayward was inducted into the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame in 2006.[15] The following year, she was also inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.[1] In 2011, Hayward was inducted into the Quebec Golf Hall of Fame.[11]
Hayward and her husband have two daughters together.[16]