Such was her longevity, Lady Hilda Britten-Jones dominated the SA amateur titles through the 1920s but also her won the title again in 1939, making a total of 10 State titles.
Lady Hilda Madeline Britten-Jones was born in 1892 and, unlike those of today, reached her golfing peak in her late 30s and 40s.
She dominated the South Australian amateur championship titles throughout most of the 1920s but also her won the same title as late as 1939, just prior to the commencement of WW2.
It might be assumed it was within her capability to extend that dominance had it not been for the discontinuation of the competition due to the war.
As a South Australian golfer, Britten-Jones earned rare Australian team selection in the 1936 Tasman Cup, the tournament between Australia and NZ, at the age of 44.
It was played in Adelaide immediately after the 1936 Australian championships.
In a close match and in front of a large crowd, Australia, with Britten-Jones playing on a familiar course, took the Tasman Cup title on the final hole of the day.
She was also the eight-time Royal Adelaide Golf Club Associate Club Champion.
As was common in those early days of sport putting down its roots, women were often both a dominating athlete and an administrator or official of the same sport.
That also applied to Lady Britten-Jones.
She was appointed Royal Adelaide Club Captain in 1925 and again from 1930 to 1932, Associate Club President from 1930 to 1950, and was awarded Associate Honorary Life Membership in 1952.
Britten-Jones was SA Ladies Golf Union President and a delegate to the Australian Ladies Golf Union between 1932 and 1935. She also played tennis for SA in 1913.
Her titles are outlined below: Early Adelaide Golf, pp. 105-106. Andrew Baker
The Advertiser in 1936 described her country women’s championship performance this way: “The highlight of the days play in the country women’s golf championship meeting at Glenelg yesterday was the brilliant form shown by Mrs. E. Britten-Jones, the Royal Adelaide champion. Playing in the open stroke handicap event, she had a faultless 78, which established a new course record for women at Glenelg.”
Lady Britten-Jones was married to one of Adelaide’s leading physicians, who received his knighthood in the New Year Honours list in 1953, only months before his death.
