Whether she was playing or teaching golf, Lou Weddington Hart had a storied career surrounding the game.

A 1970 Meridian High School graduate, Hart competed on the Meridian Junior College men’s golf team, two years before Title IX passed, and helped lead the Eagles to consecutive conference championships and won the first-ever women’s amateur state title. While at Florida State from 1972-74, she was a two-time state amateur champion.

In an amateur career that spanned five decades, Hart amassed nine state titles in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, was a member of the Mississippi squad that earned 10 Southeastern Amateur team championships from 1993-2006 and captured the Mississippi Women’s Golf Association Amateur Championship in 2002 and 2006. 

Hart also served as head coach for the Meridian Community College golf team from 1994-2006, winning seven NJCAA Region 23 titles, three MACJC state titles and being named Region 23 Coach of the Year seven times. Her 1998 squad finished second at the national championship that year. 

She was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, joining her father, and in 2016 became the first female inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame.

Hart, a Meridian native, died Thursday at 67 years old. She was a lifelong member of Northwood Country Club, and general manager Bill Pomeroy said she embodied the sport of golf.

“Lou Hart is the epitome of a true champion of life, love, family, friendship and golf.  She spent so much time from practicing to playing to coaching to laughing and helping others enjoy the great game of golf.  We will hold near to our heart the memories shared with her,” Pomeroy said. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to Alan, the entire Weddington family and all of us who are grieving. Lou Hart will be forever our champion.” 

During a friendship that lasted more than 35 years, Pam Posey and Hart would often team up for golf events, and they won the MWGA’s state four-ball tournament in 2017. Posey said she continually learned from Hart, who was always willing to teach. 

“She was such a mentor to me, and that’s the way she was with everyone she met. I was always learning from Lou, and now she’s not going to be here, and I’m just so sad,” Posey said. “She was just full of that wisdom and knowledge of the game, and she never minded sharing it.”

Posey added that her friendship with Hart stretched beyond golf.

“That’s what I want to hold at the top of my list. She really became a sister to me that I never had and so desperately needed,” she said. “We enjoyed a lot of things together. Some wonderful talks, wonderful trips — and of course some wonderful golf. How can you not have wonderful golf when you’re paired up with Lou Hart? She was just a total blessing in my life in so many different ways.”

Virginia Derby-Grimes’ friendship with Hart was also built through golf as the two would play together as well. Also comparing their relationship to that of sisters, Derby-Grimes said Hart’s ambition as a golfer made her want to play better.

“We played a lot, and every time we went out, she was competitive,” Derby-Grimes said, chuckling. “Just with us playing around at Northwood, she was always competitive, so it always made me realize I needed to go play, too. When I played with Lou, I knew she was going to be competitive, and it helped me down the road when I went to tournaments.”

Away from the sport, Derby-Grimes recalled the time after she was involved in a car accident several months ago. She said Hart checked in on her every day.

“She was calling and texting,” she said. “You couldn’t have asked anymore from a friend than what she did during that time for me.”

Read Hart’s obituary here.