Jessie Valentine
Jessie Valentine (née Anderson) MBE (18 March 1915 – 6 April 2006) was a Scottish amateur golfer who won the British Ladies Amateur in 1937, 1955 and 1958.[1] In 1937, after winning the British Ladies title at Turnberry she was the world number one ranking ladies golfer.[2] In 1959, Valentine was the first woman golfer to be appointed as an MBE for services to golf and was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.[1][3]
| Jessie Valentine MBE | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Jessie Anderson Valentine |
| Born | 18 March 1915 Perth, Scotland |
| Died | 6 April 2006 (aged 91) |
| Sporting nationality | Scotland |
| Career | |
| Status | Amateur |
Career
Valentine was born in Perth, Scotland in 1915.[2] Her father was for some time the professional at Craigie Hill Golf Club in Perth.[2] She started playing golf age five, was trained by her father, and was entered into the British Girls Championships at Stoke Poges in 1932.[4] She went onto win the Girls Amateur Championship in 1933.[2] Valentine became one of the dominant figures in women's golf for a period which spanned two decades from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s.[5] In the 1930s, women had little chance of playing out with the amateur system, as there was no professional tournaments or jobs as club professionals were extremely rare.[6]
In 1935, Valentine became the New Zealand Ladies Champion, and the following year the French Ladies Champion.[1] She was a member of the Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup team in 1936, famously holing a 60-foot putt on the 18th hole at Gleneagles to secure a win and help the team tie with the United States.[2][1] She represented Great Britain & Ireland in the Curtis Cup seven times between 1936 and 1958.[1]
Valentine won her first British Ladies title at Turnberry in 1937 beating Doris Park (daughter of the famous Willie Park, Jnr from Musselburgh, Scotland) 6&4 in the final.[7] In 1938 she won the first of her six victories in the Scottish Ladies' Amateur Championship and retained the title in 1939.[7] Between 1939 and 1945 she did not compete due to the Second World War.[2]
Valentine won the Scottish Ladies' Amateur Championship in 1951, 1953, 1955 and 1956.[1] In 1955, she won her second British Amateur title at Royal Portrush having been runner up in 1950.[1] In 1957 she won the Spalding Women's Open Stroke Play at Moor Park.[8] Valentine won the British Amateur title for the third and final time at Hunstanton Golf Club, Norfolk in 1958, her third final in four years.[7] She went into the tournament with a remarkable record and was rated as one of the favorites and she certainly lived up to those expectations. In contrast to her two previous successes the 1958 win was a much tighter affair, with Valentine overcoming Elizabeth Park by a single hole in closely contested match.[9] In 1960, at the age of 45, Valentine turned professional.[2]
Partnered with John Behrend, Valentine won the Worplesdon Mixed Foursomes three years in succession from 1963 to 1965.[10] She reached the final again in 1968, playing with Richard Brown.[11] In 1969 she was runner-up in the Astor Prince's Trophy.[12]
Valentine's career was the subject of a retrospective exhibition at Perth Museum and Art Gallery in 2019. His life and career were also the subject of a biographical book, Wee Jessie: Jessie Valentine: Whose Golf Swing Lasted a Lifetime, written by Dr Eve Souslby and launched at the exhibition in 2019.[13]
Notable wins
- Girls Amateur Championship – 1933
- British Ladies Amateur – 1937, 1955, 1958
- Scottish Ladies' Amateur Championship – 1938, 1939, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956
- New Zealand Ladies – 1935
- French Ladies – 1936
Source:[1]
Team appearances
Amateur
- Curtis Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1936 (tie), 1938, 1950, 1952 (winners), 1954, 1956 (winners), 1958 (winners)
- Vagliano Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1947 (winners), 1949 (winners), 1951 (winners), 1955 (winners)
Awards
- Appointed a Member of The Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1959 New Year Honours for services to women's golf.[14][1]
- Awarded the Frank Moran Trophy in 1967 for the 'Scot who has done most for the game of golf'.[1]
- Inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.[1]
- Inducted into Scottish Women in Sport Hall of Fame in 2020.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k . Sport Scotland. 2003. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Jessie Valentine World No 1 and three-times holder of the British Ladies' title". The Herald. 11 April 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ^ "Jessie Valentine". Sport Scotland - Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. 2003. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ^ George, Jane (1997). "Women and Golf in Scotland". Oral History. 25 (1): 46–50. JSTOR 40179446.
- ^ "Jessie Valentine".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ George, Jane (2003). "Women and Golf in Scotland". Oral History Society. 25: 46–50.
- ^ a b c "Jessie Valentine". BBC. November 2005. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ^ Wilson, Enid (26 October 1957). "Mrs Valentine improves to beat holder". The Daily Telegraph. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Jessie Valentine". Scottish Golf Museum.
- ^ "Worplesdon record win". The Glasgow Herald. 15 October 1965. p. 6.
- ^ "Anglo-Dutch pair win foursomes". The Glasgow Herald. 12 October 1968. p. 4.
- ^ Wilson, Enid (18 August 1969). "Astor goes to Belgina girl". The Daily Telegraph. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ O'Neil, Sean. "New museum exhibit to honour Perth's most famous golfing daughter Jessie Valentine". The Courier. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
- ^ United Kingdom list: "No. 41589". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1958. p. 19.