Betty June Stapleton

The Bobel family was one of Rhode Island’s best golfing families in the 1930’s. Mike won the State Amateur in 1933. Mike had a daughter who loved to play the game.

Betty June was movie-star pretty with a swing to match. From 1954 until 1969, she was as solid a player as there was in Rhode Island. She was also eerily consistent. Not only did she win the Rhode Island Women’s Golf Association State Amateur Championship five times from 1954-62, she managed to do it in just the even years.

She also made it to the 1954 USGA Junior Girls' Semifinals in 1954. In 1956, she was named the East Providence Athlete of the year. At Wannamoisett, she was the most dominant woman ever. Eight times she won the club championship.

As much as her individual talents brought her notice, it was her partnership with Fred Campanelli that thrust her into the male-dominated Rhode Island golf spotlight. A record nine times (1955, 1958-60, 1963-65, 1967 and 1969), they combined to win the RIGA Mixed Foursomes Championship. It is a record that will never be matched.

In 1969, Betty June was the Endicott Cup Champion given to the winner of the Tri-States Championship. It was the last state or regional trophy she would win. But it capped a career that put her at the level of Glenna Collett Vare and Joanne Gunderson Carner as Rhode Island’s best women golfers. She was a pioneer, a competitor and a champion.