There have been as few as two and as many as five in a single season. The first woman to win one did so 20 years before they formally existed. And, befitting a global game, the events have been played across four different countries. No question: the majors of women’s golf are dynamic—and not just for the level of play

Next time you get together with your know-it-all sports trivia friend, ask this: How many female major winners were there by the end of the LPGA’s inaugural year? It was 1950 and there were three majors on the calendar, so the answer would seem to be one, two or three. But the correct answer is 14.

That’s because two of the three majors had been retroactively designated as such (the Western Women’s Open, which debuted in 1930, and the Titleholders Championship, which launched in 1937). This immediately established the likes of Patty Berg, Louise Suggs, Helen Dettweiler and others as major winners, despite the fact that none of them won a major in 1950.

That year, the legendary Babe Didrikson Zaharias took all three majors, adding the U.S. Women’s Open to victories at the Western and Titleholders events and becoming the first female player to win the closest thing to a Grand Slam in women’s golf at the time. Only one other player would come close, Sandra Haynie, who won both majors in 1974, one of 10 years during which there were only two: the U.S. Women’s Open and the LPGA Championship.

At various points since 1950, there have been two majors per year (1968-1978), three majors per year (1950-1954; 1967; 1972; 1979-1982), four majors per year (1955-1966; 1983-2012) and five majors per year (2013-present).

The Western and Titleholders events were gone by the late 1970s, eventually replaced by the du Maurier Classic and the Kraft Nabisco Championship. But the du Maurier lost its sponsor in 2001 and was itself replaced by the Women’s British Open, now a Ricoh event, formerly sponsored by Weetabix. In 2013, France’s Evian Championship joined the club and became the fifth major on the LPGA Tour. That event, formerly known as the Evian Masters, is now one of two supported by both the LPGA and the Ladies European Tour (the other is the Women’s British Open).

In all, eight different events have been regarded as LPGA majors, and, in contrast to the men’s game, all but one of them have had title sponsors. The U.S. Women’s Open remains the sole exception, with the USGA event providing a kind of consistency throughout the LPGA’s history (and even making some history of its own in 2014, hosting the event at Pinehurst the week after the men’s U.S. Open was played there).

The more majors there are in a given year, the greater the chance of players amassing major victories, but with the addition of the Evian, the prospect of a five-way Grand Slam occurring is extremely unlikely.

Kathy Whitworth came close to sweeping the major titles in 1967—a “three major” year—when she took both the PGA Championship and Western Open but missed out on the U.S. Women’s Open. Similarly, two more came close in “four major” years: LPGA Hall-of-Famer Mickey Wright in 1961 and Pat Bradley in 1986, each missing by one victory.

But what of the majors victories total, a standard by which the greatest in the game are often measured? In the case of women’s golf, trying to establish a “best ever” ranking is mind-twisting indeed.

Patty Berg currently leads the LPGA’s list of all-time major wins with 15

Patty Berg currently leads the LPGA’s list of all-time major wins with 15, but eight of those are retroactively counted among Women’s Western Open and Titleholders victories prior to 1950. Subtract the retroactive tournaments from her (and from Louise Suggs’ 11 wins) majors totals, and suddenly Mickey Wright becomes the all-time women’s majors leader with 13 and Annika Sorenstam moves not second place, currently tied for fourth with Babe Zaharias at 10 major victories.

Further complicating matters is how various tournaments have been regarded as they transformed into majors.

The Women’s British Open was long considered a major before its official LPGA designation as such in 2001. Likewise, entertainer Dinah Shore helped to launch the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 1972 as the Colgate-Dinah Shore Classic. Its large purse and high profile had many immediately considering it as a major, but it didn’t receive major status until 1983. On the other hand, the du Maurier (then the Peter Jackson Classic, now the Canadian Open) was added to the LPGA’s schedule in 1973 but didn’t seem to hold a particularly elevated status with the public. Despite that, it was designated a major in 1979, four years before Dinah Shore’s tournament.

Had the Kraft Nabisco had its victors prior to 1983 awarded retroactive major victories, the record books would look quite different: Judy Rankin, Jane Blalock and Jo Ann Prentice all won the tournament, but have no major wins on their records. Sandra Post, the first Canadian on the LPGA Tour, won back-to-back titles there in 1978 and ’79, which would have put her majors total at three (she won the LPGA Championship in her rookie year, 1968). Likewise, World Golf Hall-of-Famer Nancy Lopez is only considered to have won one major, the LPGA Championship, albeit three times: 1978, ’85 and ’89. But she took the Kraft Nabisco in 1981, shortly before it became a major. Sally Little, the last woman to win the tourney as a non-major, has two other major victories on her record (1980 LPGA Championship and the ’88 du Maurier Classic), but would have added a third. Lastly, a semi-retired Mickey Wright took it in 1973, a fantastic victory in any case, which would have put her all-time majors total at 14.

As for the future of LPGA majors, could even more be added to the schedule? With Asian players holding at least five of the top 10 spots on the money list over the last five years (and as many as seven spots) and at least three of the top five spots on the scoring average list during that period, it seems only a matter of time before China or South Korea hosts a major, which would make that clean sweep an even more elusive prize—but what a prize it would be!

So, changing schedules and sponsors, wildly varying numbers and a history of organizational dynamism. Who’s the LPGA’s greatest of all time? If major wins are anything to go by, we have no idea.