Mary Lawrence's pioneering spirit was a good match for the game of golf.

When women first began to find opportunities in the game, Lawrence was there, as a member of one of the first college teams to provide scholarships for women, the University of Miami.

When golf underwent another boom in the 1990s, Lawrence was there, returning to her hometown of Canton to oversee the beginning of men's and women's golf teams at St. Lawrence University.

Along the way, Lawrence won two state titles, played for two NCAA championship teams, and competed on the LPGA Tour for five years.

Lawrence graduated from Canton high school in 1974, one year after she captured the New York State Junior Championship. In 1977, she was a New York State Women's Champion and an All-America at Miami, where she helped lead the Hurricanes to a pair of national championships. That same year, she was the individual champion of the prestigious Ryder Florida Women's Collegiate Golf Championship.

Lawrence played on the LPGA Tour from 1978-83 and won five professional events. She played in nine U.S. Opens and participated in the 1994 Women's British Open. She's also played on the Women's Senior Golf Tour.

In the 1990s, she ended her job as the head teaching professional at San Luis Rey Downs Country Club in Bonsall, Calif., to return to Canton, and then was hired as head coach for SLU's fledgling golf program.

The program began in 1999 and both the men's and women's teams went to the NCAA Division III tournament in their fourth year of existence. She was named Northeast Coach of the Year in 2006.

Lawrence also is a teaching professional and director of golf at the St. Lawrence University Golf Course.

To read about previous selections to the Times' list of The North Country's Greatest 100 Athletes of All Time, log on to www.watertowndailytimes.com