Born in North Vancouver, Susan grew up on Saltspring Island and moved to Victoria where she graduated from Victoria High School. At age 12, Susan started playing tennis at the Victoria Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club, and was coached by her father Jack Butt. It wasn’t long before she made her mark on the tennis scene at age 17 by winning the Victoria City Singles and Doubles Championships (the youngest women ever to win the titles), Vancouver Island Open Singles and Doubles Championships, BC Open Junior Singles and BC Closed Junior Women’s Championship in 1955. That year she also received the Fred Fatlin Trophy for outstanding ability and sportsmanship in BC tennis competition. Susan finished her junior career by winning the Western Canadian Singles crown and was Canadian Junior Champion.

Susan was a six-time BC Open Singles Champion (1958-63), and never lost a BC Hardcourt Women’s Open Championship, winning the Stanley Park tournament eight times. She ranked as Canada’s top women’s singles player three times (1960, 1961, 1967), and was second in 1958. She also won a Canadian National Championship in Doubles. A four-time member of Canada’s Federation Cup team (1967, 1970-72), Susan served as Team Captain four times.

Susan played in tennis tournaments on four continents and won championships all over North America and Europe. Her list of achievements include: the Federation Cup, French Open, US Open, Australian Open, South African Open, and US Nationals. Susan competed at Wimbledon in 1961, reaching the third round in Singles play before falling to the tournament’s top seed on Centre Court. She also competed at Wimbledon in 1967.

During the height of her tennis career, Susan managed to organize her life to also graduate from the University of British Columbia before earning a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Chicago in 1967. While competing, Susan wrote a series a columns for the Victoria Times newspaper and following her career, lectured and wrote numerous books on the psychology of sport.

Susan was an active tennis player from the late 1950s through the early 1970s and was inducted into the Canada Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000, Pacific North West Hall of Fame in 2007, and this year will also be inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame. Her mentors include Gordon Hartley, Jack Milledge, Jim Macken and Jim Skelion.

Susan is currently living in Victoria and lives by her motto which she learned during her years at Norfolk House School for Girls – “Do thy best and rejoice with those that do better”.