Melissa Ann Baker (Furrow) was the first female Vol golfer, playing on the men’s golf team at UT in 1964 and 1965, being named to a men’s golf scholarship during the very brief period when the Southeastern Conference allowed women to play on men’s varsity teams. She was the first (and only) woman to play on a UT men’s varsity team and the first to hold an athletic scholarship. She was successful her freshman year, ending the season playing third “man.” In her sophomore year, the SEC passed a ruling that prohibited women from competing on men’s sports teams but stated that those already competing could continue.
Furrow was also the first recipient of a Neyland Scholarship and was also the first woman (and the youngest person) appointed to the UT Board of Trustees, upon which she served for 18 years. She served as vice chair of the board, and also served as chair of the Academic Affairs Committee of the board for 10 years. Additionally, in 1971 she was the first female commencement speaker.
As an amateur golfer, Furrow had a distinguished career. In 1962 she won the Western Junior Championships and placed second at the USGA National Amateur. She was then the number-one-ranked woman golfer and the 10th-ranked golfer overall in the United States. A five-time Tennessee Women’s Golf Association champion, she also won the 1978 Women’s Southern Amateur Golf Championship. In 1991, when the Women’s Athletics Department began the process of adding golf as a sport for 1992, Furrow worked with Athletics Director Joan Cronan on its establishment and the hiring of the first golf coach, Linda Franz (Sower) in January 1992, serving as interim head coach until the permanent coach was hired. She has been inducted into the Tennessee, Greater Knoxville, and Blount sports halls of fame.
The main road leading into Sorority Village is named Ann Baker Furrow Boulevard for 1967 graduate Furrow, a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority.