Giant of amateur golf earns USGA’s highest honor. She grew up in KC’s Northtown

Ellen Fuson Port, who attended North Kansas City High School and now lives in St. Louis, has been honored as the recipient of the U.S. Golf Association’s Bob Jones Award for 2026.

The award, amateur golf’s highest honor, recognizes “an individual who demonstrates the character, integrity and respect for the game that were among the many lasting qualities of Robert Tyre ‘Bob’ Jones Jr,” according to a story posted on the USGA website.

In the story, the USGA’s Julia Pine writes that Fuson Port is being recognized specifically for “her exemplary sportsmanship, character and lifelong contributions to the game as one of the most accomplished amateur golfers in history and a devoted educator, coach and mentor.”

“I am truly honored to be recognized by the USGA as the recipient of the Bob Jones Award,” Fuson Port said in the USGA story. “I thank the Lord every day for the blessings the game of golf has brought into my life.

“I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and humbled by this distinction, and I will continue striving to live up to all that this award represents.”

In Kansas City, it’s not forgotten that Fuson Port honed her athletic skills on local playgrounds and hardcourts, especially around the Northland. Then she went on to became one of the best golfers the sport has seen, amateur or pro.

That’s not hyperbole. She has won seven USGA championships in her career. The only golfers who won more are Bob Jones (9), Tiger Woods (9), Jack Nicklaus (8) and JoAnne Gunderson Carner (8). Fuson Port is tied with fellow seven-time champs Carol Semple Thompson and Anne Quast Sander.

She won three U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur championships — in 2012, 2013 and 2016 — and has four U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur titles to her credit (1995, 1996, 2000 and 2011).

A 2012 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and 2017 inductee into the Missouri Golf Association’s Hall of Fame, Fuson Port has qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur a remarkable 17 times and the U.S. Women’s Mid Amateur a whopping 22 times.

Fuson Port was an all-around athlete at North Kansas City High. She graduated from Mizzou and more recently coached the women’s golf team at Washington University from 2015-18.

That was after a successful run as coach of the John Burroughs School’s college prep golf program in St. Louis. She spent 30 years as a physical education teacher and coach at John Burroughs, winning multiple state titles along the way.

And now she has another distinction to her credit. Or will soon: The USGA plans to honor her Feb. 28 in New York City as part of its annual meeting.

This story was originally published December 20, 2025 at 6:15 AM.