Alexa Stirling

Alexa Stirling Fraser (September 5, 1897 – April 15, 1977) was a North American amateur golf champion.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Alexa Stirling was coached in golf from a young age at the Atlanta Athletic Club's East Lake Golf Club course by Stewart Maiden, the club's professional, who had learned his golf at Carnoustie, Scotland. Stirling was a youthful prodigy, who won three consecutive U.S. Women's Amateurs. She won her first in 1916. When no tournaments were held during 1917 and 1918 while the United States participated in World War I, Stirling became one of the famous "Dixie Kids," a group of young Southern golfers which included her long-time friend Bobby Jones, Elaine Rosenthal, and Perry Adair, who toured around the United States, giving golf exhibitions to raise money for the Red Cross. After the war, she came back to win the 1919 and 1920 U.S. Women's Amateur titles. She was also the U.S. Amateur's runner-up in 1921 to Marion Hollins, in 1923 to Edith Cummings, and again in 1925 to Glenna Collett, a year when she broke Dorothy Campbell's single-round scoring record in qualifying. Although she did not make it to the finals in the 1927 championship, in the third round she defeated Simone de la Chaume, the British Ladies Amateur champion.

In 1920 she won the Canadian Women's Amateur, and after finishing second in 1921 and 1925 in that event, she won the Canadian title again in 1934. She married Canadian doctor W.G. Fraser in 1925, and made her home in Ottawa, Ontario, where she became an honorary member of the Royal Ottawa Golf Club, and was its ladies' champion nine times. She was also a skilled and enthusiastic violinist.

Throughout her life Alexa Stirling Fraser maintained her interest in golf, and during the 1976 United States Bicentennial celebrations she returned to Atlanta for the U.S. Open. She died the following year at home in Ottawa.

Posthumously, Alexa Stirling Fraser was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1978, the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1986, and the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame in 1989. She was portrayed by Stephanie Sparks in the 2004 film, Bobby Jones: A Stroke of Genius.