International Women’s Day

To celebrate International Women’s Day I took a look at some of the most influential and wonderful women in the history of golf through to the present day.

Mary Queen of Scots – Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-87), was an avid golfer, she allegedly coined the term “caddie” by calling her assistants “cadets.” Some say this is a myth but Mary Queen of Scots was the first female to ever play golf. The Queen traveled to France to play golf and historic documents report that she was criticized for playing golf and not spending enough time attending to Royal business. It was during her reign that the famous golf course at St. Andrews was built.

Women and Golfing history
The first recorded mention of women playing golf is at Bruntsfield Links in 1738 Women’s golf societies were not formed until the last quarter of the 19th century though at which point there was an explosion of interest in women’s golf and golf clubs which has continued into the present day.

Miss Isette Pearson
Miss Isette Pearson, was founder of the Ladies Golf Union – the first ever womens golf union and she was the developer of the universal handicap system, as well as a firm follower of Edwardian fashion.
Isette was a spinster for most of her life and then in her fifties, in 1912, married Tommy Miller Jnr, which caused a lot of comment and talk within the contemporary social circles. An affair following her husbands death with a vicar caused more local gossip about Isette. It is fair to say that Issette Pearson was not a woman who worried about what other people thought – an inspirational woman indeed.

Joyce Wethered – Joyce dressed in true flapper style golf gear won the British Ladies Amateur Championship four times in 1922, 1924, 1925 and 1929 and the English Ladies’ champion five years in a row between 1920–24. Bobby Jones called her the best golfer, male or female that he had ever seen.

Kathy Whitworth – The first woman to reach career earnings of $1 million on the LPGA Tour in 1981. Kathy achieved the title of LPGA Tour 88 times which is the highest of all time in golf history. She won 6 LPGA major championships in her active playing career which includes winning Western Open in 1967, Titleholders C’ship two times

Mickey Wright became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1955. She ranked as the top woman golfer and the ninth greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine in 2000. Achieved the title of LPGA Tour 82 times – the second highest of all time

Babe Zaharias“Babe” Didrikson Zaharias achieved the most success in a variety of sports including track and field. Babe obtained the title of LPGA Tour 41 times which is the tenth highest of all time in golf history. She received the Bob Jones Award by the United States Golf Association in 1957.
Named Female Athlete of the Year a record six times by the Associated Press from 1932 to 1954.

Patty Berg was the founding member and then a leading player on the LPGA Tour during the 1940s till 1960s. Achieving the title of LPGA Tour 60 times which is the fourth highest of all time in golf history.

Lets hope thats todays female golfers, Lexi, Lydia, Stacy and all of the current high profile women in golf continue to encourage, inspire and drive more women into the world of golf, I recently saw a photoshoot that Lexi Thompson did in victorian golf wear – I thought that was a nice way to end this post – a tribute to the original inspirational ladies of golf from a current lady golfer.