Hanson was born in Fargo, North Dakota, in 1924.^[1]^[2] She studied at the University of North Dakota, Mills College in Oakland, California, and the University of Wisconsin^[2] and was a bassoon player, performing with civic orchestras. As an amateur golfer, she won the Texas Open in 1949 and both the California and Southern California ladies' championships. She was a member of the 1950 U.S. Curtis Cup golf team^[1] and that year won the U.S. Women's Amateur.^[1]

In 1951, Hanson turned professional and won the first event she competed in. She won the inaugural LPGA Championship in 1955,^[1] defeating Louise Suggs. In 1958 she was the leading money winner on the LPGA Tour.

Hanson had 17 career wins on the LPGA Tour^[3] of which three were majors. Besides the inaugural LPGA major title, in 1956 she won the Women's Western Open and in 1958 the Titleholders Championship.

Hanson died on April 12, 2014, in Twin Falls, Idaho, from complications from Alzheimer's and COPD.^[4]^[5]

Hanson was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2023 and will be inducted in 2024.^[6]

Professional wins (18)

Source^[7]^[8]

Major championships

Year	Championship	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1955	LPGA Championship	4 & 3		Louise Suggs
1956	Women's Western Open	E (75-81-72-76=304)	4 strokes	Louise Suggs
1958	Titleholders Championship	+11 (72-80-73-74=299)	5 strokes	Betty Dodd

Amateur

Women's PGA Championship champions

† event won in a playoff; ‡ event won wire-to-wire

Titleholders Championship champions

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; # indicates the event was won by an amateur

Women's Western Open champions

Women's Western Open champions
Match-play era	1930 Lucia Mida 1931 June Beebe 1932 Jane Weiller 1933 June Beebe 1934 Marian McDougall 1935 Opal Hill 1936 Opal Hill 1937 Helen Hicks 1938 Bea Barrett 1939 Helen Dettweiler 1940 Babe Zaharias 1941 Patty Berg 1942 Betty Jameson 1943 Patty Berg 1944 Babe Zaharias 1945 Babe Zaharias 1946 Louise Suggs 1947 Louise Suggs 1948 Patty Berg 1949 Louise Suggs 1950 Babe Zaharias 1951 Patty Berg 1952 Betsy Rawls 1953 Louise Suggs 1954 Betty Jameson
Stroke-play era	1955 Patty Berg 1956 Beverly Hanson 1957 Patty Berg 1958 Patty Berg 1959 Betsy Rawls 1960 Joyce Ziske† 1961 Mary Lena Faulk 1962 Mickey Wright† 1963 Mickey Wright 1964 Carol Mann 1965 Susie Maxwell 1966 Mickey Wright 1967 Kathy Whitworth
† indicates the event was won in a playoff