During the 2026 United States Golf Association (USGA) annual meeting, Mary Anne ‘Mimi’ Henderson (The Kittansett Club) was among four recipients of the Ike B. Grainger Award, which recognizes 25 years of service as a volunteer committee member for the USGA.
Established in 1995, the Issac B. Grainger Award is named after the USGA’s president from 1954-1955. Grainger led the USGA effort to develop the first unified code of the Rules of Golf with The R&A in 1951.
“Being a 2026 Ike Grainger Award Recipient is an exceptional honor for me,” said Henderson from her residence in Osprey, Florida. “I am grateful to the USGA and all my fellow USGA Committee Members for their friendship and support.”
Henderson, who has stepped forth to volunteer at just about every level of golf, first got involved with golf administration through the Women’s Golf Association of Massachusetts in the late 1990s. She continues to volunteer for Mass Golf events and is often part of the all-women officiating group that oversees the Mass Women’s Amateur from the quarterfinals through the final match.
She was appointed to the USGA Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship Committee in 2001, serving as a Rules Official and Referee for the event for several years. There, Henderson said she enjoyed engaging with players who were mothers, professionals, and members of the military, all balancing their elite play with their daily lives.
More recently, she helped organize the 2022 U.S. Senior Amateur at The Kittansett Club and was both a Rules Official during the event, as well as an Observer for the final match. Two years later, she was a Rules Official for the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur, contested locally at Brae Burn Country Club.
She also has past experience on the executive board of the Women’s Eastern Golf Association (1999-2012), serving as President from 2004-2006.
Sandy Dowling, past president of Mass Golf, was the most recent Mass Golf member to receive the Grainger Award, earning the distinction in 2024.
Mass Golf is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is dedicated to advancing golf in Massachusetts by building an engaged and inclusive community.
With a community made up of over 145,000 golf enthusiasts and over 360 member clubs, Mass Golf is one of the largest state golf associations in the country. Members enjoy the benefits of handicapping, engaging golf content, course rating and scoring services along with the opportunity to compete in an array of events for golfers of all ages and abilities.
At the forefront of junior development, Mass Golf is proud to offer programming to youth in the state through First Tee Massachusetts and subsidized rounds of golf by way of Youth on Course.
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