Grace DeMoss

Grace DeMoss Zwahlen (September 29, 1927 – November 25, 2024) was an American amateur golfer from Oregon.

DeMoss was the first Pacific Northwesterner to be named to the United States Curtis Cup team in 1952 and then again in 1954. After retiring from competitive golf, Zwahlen was elected to numerous sports Halls of Fame. From 1986 to 2017 she gave back to the game of golf by serving as a girls' golf coach at high schools in Oregon and Southern California.

Early life and college career DeMoss was born in Corvallis, Oregon on September 29, 1927, one of five daughters of Ray DeMoss, a Corvallis businessman. She started playing golf as a teenager at the Corvallis Country Club, though she was initially more interested in equestrian sports.

Golf career After her win in Portland, she entered tournaments across North America, primarily on the west coast. In 1949, she won her first major tournament, the Canadian Women's Amateur. Following that win, she played throughout the winter in California to keep her game sharp. In 1950, she won the Pacific Northwest Amateur Championship played at Capilano Golf and Country Club in West Vancouver, British Columbia. She followed this victory with a semifinalist finish at the U.S. Women's Amateur, and was a finalist at the Canadian Women's Amateur, the Women's Trans-Mississippi, and the Oregon Women's Amateur, and was medalist at the Women's Western Open. She was later married to Fred C. Zwahlen Jr., who was the founder and chairman of the Department of Journalism at Oregon State, from the late 1950s until his death in 2004.

DeMoss resided in Coto de Caza, California and had two children, daughter Molly Katherine Zwahlen Walsh (husband Mark Walsh) also of Coto de Caza and son Skip DeMoss Zwahlen of Venice, California. She died in Coto de Caza on November 25, 2024, at the age of 97.

Awards and honors In 1986, DeMoss earned entry into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. In 1991, she was inducted into the Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame. In 1993, DeMoss entered the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Hall of Fame. In 2016, she was inducted into the Corvallis High School Hall of Fame.

Tournament wins 1949 Arizona Women's Amateur, Pebble Beach Women's Golf Championship, Howell Team Trophy, Trans-Mississippi Golf Tournament (with Edean Anderson Ihlanfeldt), Canadian Women's Amateur 1950 Pacific Northwest Women's Amateur, Oregon Women's Amateur, Pebble Beach Women's Golf Championship, Monterey 54-hole stroke play 1950 Fresno Open 1951 Oregon Women's Amateur, Trans-Mississippi, Howell Team Trophy, Trans-Mississippi Golf Tournament (with Edean Ihlanfeldt) 1952 Howell Team Trophy, Trans-Mississippi Golf Tournament (with Edean Anderson Ihlanfeldt) 1954 Doherty Women's Amateur Championship 1955 Florida Women's Amateur 1956 Oregon Women's Amateur 1957 Oregon Women's Amateur, Florida Women's Amateur 1958 Oregon Women's Amateur, Florida Women's Amateur

Team appearances Amateur Curtis Cup (representing the United States): 1952, 1954 (winners)