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GOLF

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MODERN TIMES

  • The updated list of all time earnings for female golfers has Swedish professional Annika Sorenstam at the top with career winnings of more than $22.5m.
  • Australian Karrie Webb is second placed with $20,000,000 of prizemoney.
  • There are almost 100 players who’ve earned at least $5m from on-course earnings.
  • The LPGA – Ladies Professional Golf Association – unlike its male counterparts, hosts five major tournaments in each year. The men have four.
  • They are the Chevron Championships, the US Open, Women’s PGA Championship – all held in the US, then the Evian Championship (France) and the Women’s Open (UK).
  • The US Open is the richest tournament offering total prizemoney of $US12m.
  • However, beyond the top earners, the income drops away significantly. Players must pay their own travel expenses and caddies, who typically receive 7 percent of a player’s prize money for a top 10 finish.
  • Travel costs and expenses for coaches, trainers and agents can range from $40,000 to $100,000 per year.
  • A few of the top players may travel in private jets, but the majority travel by car or bus and may share expenses to keep costs down.
  • Golf SA manages golf in South Australia, after the men’s and women’s association merged in 2008. Club players are amateur players in SA.

RECORDS. MILESTONES. MOMENTS.

Late 1800s

With its increasing popularity, each state formed its own Ladies Golf Union. Australia became one of the few countries in the world where women’s golf was entirely controlled by women.

2026

Australian Karrie Webb is currently the third placed highest female money earner with $20,000,000 of prizemoney.

1936

Marjorie Ridgway was elected President of the SA Ladies Golf Union. Giving outstanding service and leadership, she served in this position for 29 consecutive years, until 1964.

HISTORICAL TIMELINE

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Pre-1900's

  • It’s generally accepted that modern golf started in Scotland – and women in the UK were known to play golf in the 1500s.
  • In fact, it’s said that Mary Queen of Scots was known as The Empress of Golf and it was she who introduced the idea of caddies.
  • The first golf course in Adelaide, belonging to the Adelaide Golf Club, was created in 1870 near the site of the old Victoria Park Racecourse. The fairways were about 50 metres wide, and the longest about 120 metres. There was no watering of the grass which was natural pasture. The club ceased to exist in 1872.
  • By the late 1800s, Australian women were playing and in 1894 they made history by arranging the Golf Championship of Australasia.
  • With its increasing popularity, each state formed its own Ladies Golf Union, making Australia one of the few countries in the world where women’s golf was entirely controlled by women.
  • The Australian Ladies Golf Union was formed in 1921, established to manage and co-ordinate all women’s golf, largely because of women’s desire to play being largely ignored by men’s committees.
  • Similar stories about the restrictive clothing for women applied to golf too. The long, flouncy skirts and shirts made it difficult to swing golf clubs effectively and many women used elastic bands to stop their skirts from blowing outwards in the wind.

1900's

  • Tournaments for women were organised by the SA Golf Association from 1905 to 1929, and it is known that members of the Adelaide Ladies Golf Club were admitted to the Adelaide Golf Club as Associate Members in 1907.

  • In 1929, the SA Ladies Golf Union was established, from then on controlling its own operations.

  • The North Adelaide Golf Club was officially opened in 1905 and within four years there were more female members than male: 56 to 50.

  • After a hiatus of 22 years, the Adelaide Golf Club was re-formed in the North East Park Lands in 1894, moved to Glenelg in 1896 and then to Seaton in 1906. In 1923, the club was granted Royal status and became the Royal Adelaide Golf Club.

  • Some of the regular female players throughout this decade were: Florence Ayers (aka Mrs Maxwell Fowler), Constance Trew (aka Mrs Julian Ayers), Elizabeth Margaret Wake, (aka Mrs Gordon Ayers) and Sylie Blue aka Shylie (aka Mrs Herbert Rymill).

  • A limit of 30 was set as the highest official handicap.

  • On 3 May 1906, the North Adelaide, Adelaide and Glenelg Golf Clubs co-funded the services of a golf professional. The game was now becoming organised, competitive and nationally sanctioned.

  • The official opening of the Adelaide Golf Club at Seaton took place in 1906. Female members, soon after referred to as “associates” were described as wearing the following: “navy cloth costumes, scarlet facings to the firmly fitting Norfolk Jackets, large navy caps worn flat or at rakish angle, high starched collars with bow ties, short skirts fully one inch from the ground and neat lace-up tan boots.”

Denis Brien Source: Supplied by Denis Brien

1910's

  • The Australian Ladies’ Championship was hosted at the Adelaide Golf Club in
    Seaton.
  • Such was her individual dominance, Florence Ayers took out the State titles for
    women in 1910, 1911 and 1912.
  • Golf competition was halted during the years of WW1: 1914-1918.
    When competitive resumed in 1919, numbers had decreased, more to do with the high costs associated with the game than with the war itself.
  • A typical set of golf clubs would have generally included one wood, a driving iron, a lofting iron, a general iron, a wedge, and the putter.
  • Much of the game was played along the ground throughout this period.
  • It should be noted that golf was primarily played by the leisure class, the sons and daughters of wealthy physicians, businesspeople and pastoralists.

1920's

  • In September 1920, the long-awaited Australian Ladies Golf Union was established, but it took a further five years before SA affiliated.

  • SA was the last State to join.

  • The South Australian Ladies Golf Union was finally formed in 1929. Before this, women’s golf championships and any associated activities in SA were conducted under the auspices of the South Australian Golf Association (SAGA) from 1905.

  • It had been Mrs Shylie Rymill and Miss Ethel Wyatt who were the main instigators of creating the SA Ladies Golf Union.

  • Shylie’s husband, Herbet Lockett ‘Cargie’ Rymill had been responsible for maintaining the links at the Adelaide Golf Club. He was also the founder of the Kooyonga Golf Club and the architect of the links there.

  • In 1923 the Adelaide Golf Club was conferred the title of Royal. Every capital city in Australia then had a golf club with the title Royal associated with it – apart from Darwin.

  • Also in 1923, the first Australian championships for women were also held under the auspices of the Australian Ladies Golf Union.

  • SA’s Lily Gordon won the national title in 1923, the year it was played at the Royal Adelaide Golf Course.

  • Remarkably, more than 100 years later, Lily Gordon remains the only SA female to have won the national amateur title.

  • Women were restricted to using three or four clubs, perhaps a spoon, mashie, putter and a long mid-iron – all with leather grips – as more would make the bag too heavy to carry.

  • There were no tees, instead a little pile of sand was used for teeing, and a can of water was placed near the green to wash the ball.

  • The advent of the Kooyonga Club added to numbers of “associates”, prompting
    interclub competitions to be arranged.

1930's

  • Until the 1930s the ALGU had no ambitions to have players compete internationally, although individual players had competed abroad.
  • It was around this time that the Australian Ladies Golf Union, now in control of the women’s game nationally, looked for opportunities for women to compete overseas.
  • Worth noting is that South Australian, Florence Fowler, was the first Australian to claim an international title when she won the Italian title in 1931.
  • Players had also competed in the British Championship from very early times,
    several of them doing extremely well.
  • Leading into WW2, the last Australian Championship was played in 1939.
  • Marjorie Ridgway was elected President of the SA Ladies Golf Union in 1936. Giving outstanding service and leadership, she served in this position for the next 29 consecutive years, finishing in 1964.
  • She also held the position of Australian President and Vice-President during a time of notable expansion and modernisation.
  • Marjorie Ridgway was also the captain of the only SA team to win the Gladys Hay Interstate Cup in 1939. The team was: K. Rymill, E. Britten-Jones, M.L. Taylor and J.F. Astley.
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1940's

  • Golf competition was postponed for much of the 1940s. Any entry fees for competitions that were held – plus all fundraising efforts – resulted in thousands of pounds being donated to Red Cross and Fighting Forces Comfort Fund.
  • The first post-war Australian Ladies Championships was held in 1947. Meanwhile, the State Ladies championships resumed in 1946 with Ms S. Fisher, Ms. D Boully, and Ms D. Denehey sharing the titles until the 1950s decade commenced.
  • During the 1930s and 1940s, golf was one of the most popular sports for women. In 1940, a report compiled on sports played by women in Australia and New Zealand put golf at second, behind tennis.

1950's

  • In 1950 Australia sent its first official touring team overseas. The team comprised eastern states players with no South Australian representatives.

  • Three years later Australia had its first competition against South Africa in a series of matches played in Australia. Australia and South Africa exchanged visits until 1969.

  • Rhonda Watson won five of her 12 State women’s titles in the 1950s, her first in 1952.

  • By the 1950s, several golf clubs or country clubs were thriving including Barossa
    Valley (1904), Mt Gambier (1909), Pt Lincoln (1915), Berri (1924), Port Augusta (1926).

  • By 1951, the number of affiliated clubs had more than doubled since 1946.

  • SA State players were given a 25-Pound subsidy to assist with uniforms and travel expenses. By the mid 50s, this had risen to 59 Pounds.

  • Attempts were being made to interest schoolgirls and young women in the game.

  • The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), established in 1950, is one of the longest-running women’s professional sports associations in the world and has its HQ in Florida.

1960's

  • In 1963 several overseas golfers competed in the Australian championships for the first time, the women coming from Canada, USA and Great Britain.

  • Rhonda Watson absolutely dominated SA women’s golf during this decade, winning her first state championship in 1961 then six in a row. A loss followed in 1967, but she returned to the podium with a victory in 1968.

  • Clinics for juniors and schoolgirls were being held with competitions being sponsored by Ansett. An interstate competition between SA and Victoria was set up.

  • Glenelg and Royal Adelaide Clubs hosted the Australian Amateur Championships in 1962 and 1967.

     

  • These tournaments retained their amateur status despite the LPGA establishing
    professional tournaments around the world.

  • After 29 years of leadership of the SA Ladies Golf Union, Marjorie Ridgway stepped down, replaced by Jean Angove.

1970's

  • The names of Jane Crafter and Sue Tonkin begin to emerge in SA golf circles in the 1970s.
  • While the Australian Ladies Golf Union directed women’s amateur golf tournaments, in 1974 it also took the initiative to introduce the Australian Women’s Open Championship. The Australian Ladies Open was founded in 1974 as a 54-hole event but folded after 1978.
  • The amateur events plus the new Colgate Far East Tournament allowed golf fans to see some of the world’s best women professional golfers in action and also gave an opportunity to showcase Australia’s home-grown talent.
  • Since then, numerous women from South Australia and Australia have pursued successful professional careers. Jan Stephenson (NSW), for example, achieved superstar status in the US.
  • Stephenson, from NSW, won 23 tour events, including the US Women’s Open in 1983.
  • She is reported to have won more than $2.5 million in prize money.
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1980's

  • The Equal Opportunities Act (SA) passed in 1984 required, among other things, that men and women be given equal rights in golf clubs.

  • By now, Adelaide featured multiple well established and well utilised golf courses including Flagstaff Hill, Thaxted Park, Blackwood, Mt Osmond, Tea Tree Gully, and Marino.

  • A new golfer, Jan Dale, was making her mark on golf courses in South Australia, winning four SA titles in the 1980s, first in 1983, then two years later, she won three consecutive titles.

  • Her predecessors, Sue Tonkin and Jane Crafter, both won one SA title each during the 1980s.

  • A new Pennant Golf format was introduced in 1982, with the competition extended to four grades. Each of the six clubs involved could field one team in each grade.

  • Many working women had their playing opportunities restricted because of a ban on women playing on the weekends, however for its 60th birthday celebrations, The Grange Club in 1986 permitted women to play on Saturdays for the first time for many years.

2000's

  • By the early 2000s, committees such as at the Royal Adelaide Club had agreed to free up its membership structure.
  • New members were keen golfers and from then on, the affluent families’ stranglehold on membership was diminished and the culture of the club shifted, becoming more inclusive.
  • At age 18, South Australian Steph Na blitzed the field to win the stroke-play at the Australian Women’s Amateur Championship. She won by seven strokes.
  • She set a course record at the RAGC with a first round of 69, repeating it in the fourth round.
  • Golf Australia became the governing body for golf in Australia, formed in 2006 after the Australian Golf Union (AGU) and Women’s Golf Australia (WGA) agreed to merge.
  • Following this amalgamation, women’s and men’s golf in South Australia followed suit, officially amalgamating to form Golf SA in 2008.
  • Prior to this, the two separate entities had governed golf for over 100 years: the South Australian Golf Association (SAGA – men’s) and Women’s Golf South Australia (WGSA).
  • The national decision was made after the Australian Sport Commission threatened to withdraw its financial support unless the two bodies amalgamated. The ASC contributed approximately $1.5m annually to the Australian Institute of Sport for golf funding.
  • In South Australia, following the amalgamation, Golf SA decided to combine the State Women’s and Men’s Championships into one event.

2010's

  • The SA Golf Industry Hall of Fame was established in 2011. Of the first five members inducted, two were women – Rhonda Watson and Jane Crafter. Pauline Sanderson was inducted in 2012.
  • On 22 December 2017, Sarah Chia became the first woman to be elected to the Royal Adelaide GC’s main committee.
  • This was made possible after rule changes adopted a special general meeting.

  • The number of Australian women playing golf sat at about 20 per cent of golf club members nationally, declining in particular over the last two decades. 

  • The sport’s national body and local clubs established new initiatives to drive change, including changing perceptions about golf. 

  • “Women and girls still think golf is a sport for old males,” was the view of the national body at the time.

  • Royal Adelaide Golf Club was tracking above average, with 30 per cent of its memberships held by females, after allowing women access to Category 1 (full) membership.

  • The new national body, Golf Australia, supports the state associations Golf NSW, Golf NT, Golf Qld, Golf SA, Golf Tasmania, Golf Vic, and Golf WA – who are responsible for the governance, delivery and direction of golf in their State.

  • Since 2018, Golf SA staff have been employed by Golf Australia Ltd as part of the above national “One Golf” services agreement.

  • With golf being readmitted back into the Olympic fold at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the role of Golf Australia was strengthened further. As part of this the Australian Sports Commission raised the funding to the sport in April 2011.

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2020's

  • In 2021, total membership of Golf SA was 35,704: comprising 29,296 males and 5,274 females.
  • From the year 2020, there were 4,003 new male members and 100 new female members.
  • There were also 960 boy members and 174 girl members.
  • There were 218 affiliated clubs, including 21 metro clubs and 121 country clubs.
  • MyGolf is Australia’s junior golf program – lessons for beginners with a focus on games-based activities and fun and supported by Golf Australia and the PGA of Australia.
  • In an Australian first, men and women golfers competed against each other for the same prize purse with the inception of Golf Blitz in January 2019.
  • Blitz is a fast-paced competition that comprises four rounds in half a day, combined with a carnival-type atmosphere.
  • The latest initiative, backed by the PGA of Australia, will see both men and women compete against each other for the same total prize pool of $150,000 in 2020.
  • It was described this way by golf’s innovator, Simon Zybek: “Our competition in 2020 will be the first time we see this level of gender equality in Australian sport.”
  • By the mid 2020s, women’s access to full membership and playing rights were established in most SA golf clubs.
  • Some clubs had incorporated special introductory memberships and pathways to encourage more females into golf.
  • Women had the same access to all club facilities.
  • Of the eight members of Golf SA committee, four were women.

Footnotes:

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STORIES OF OUR PIONEERS

Meet the trailblazers of SA golf. 

Denise Norton

SA’s first female Olympian, represented SA and Australia in swimming in the 1950's.