Remembering Ann Beard, Distinguished Administrator and Competitor

KENILWORTH, N.J. - Ann R. Beard of Essex Fells, a distinguished golfer, administrator, and longtime member of Essex Fells Country Club, passed away at the age of 88 on January 16.

An accomplished player, Beard was a 21-time club champion at Essex Fells C.C., where she and her husband, Lee, were instrumental in establishing the junior golf program. She played in 14 USGA championships including five U.S. Women's Opens, was the Harrisburg (Pa.) District Champion, a two-time semi-finalist and one-time co-medalist at the NCAA Championship, the low amateur in the Eastern Open and Grossinger Open, and won multiple N.J. and WMGA championships. With her son, Carter, as her caddie, she won the 1988 NJ Women’s Senior Championship, and together with her daughter, Kendra, she won two WMGA tournaments – the 1982 Better-Ball in and the 1985 Mother-Daughter. Beard also won the 2005 and 2006 NJ Women’s Super-Senior titles.

Beard was also a highly decorated golf administrator and an expert Rules of Golf official across parts of three decades. She was a member – and later Chairwoman – of the USGA Women’s Committee, and served as president of the Garden State Women’s Golf Association and Women’s Metropolitan Golf Association. Her accolades were many; she was honored with the 1991 Metropolitan Golf Association’s Distinguished Service Award, the 1998 Judy Bell award (WMGA), the 2006 NJPGA/NJ Golf Distinguished Service Award, and the 2006 Ike Grainger Award by the USGA for 25 years of service to the game.

Beard is survived by her husband of 62 years, Carter Lee Beard; children, Kendra Beard Graham, and her husband Jack and Carter Lee Beard Jr. and his wife Marilou; and grandchildren, Justin, Collin, and Finley. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Ann’s memory to Taimaka, the not-for-profit organization founded by her grandson, Justin, which treats severely acutely malnourished children in northern Nigeria, taimaka.org.

Visitation will take place on Friday, January 24 from 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Shook-Farmer Funeral Home, 45 Roseland Avenue in Roseland, NJ. For a full obituary, click here.