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Alexa Glover was only 19 when she won the very first Scottish Ladies (Closed) Championship
She was a graceful golfer, played in many British events, and was a member of that first fateful Scotland international team in 1902. Her golfing prowess was well-known. Alexa, for many years, held a plus four club handicap and an Ladies Golf Union handicap of scratch. Cecil Leitch said that Alexa was one of the most brilliant and impressive players ever produced by Scotland. “The Ladies Field” publication of 1912 said: “It was no less fitting that the first winner of the honour (Scottish Ladies Champion) should be a player whose style and game were the pitome of Scottish golf. This was Miss A Glover. Champions may come and champions may go, but there will never be one to improve on Miss Glover as a model of Scottish golf.” Alexa was a teenage prodigy. She was still only 19 when she won the first Scottish Ladies Championship and was the youngest player in the field. She had played for Scotland by that time and was well known in open tournaments as far afield as Nice, Cannes and Biarritz, which were the Continental golfing haunts of the rich and the royal 100-odd years ago. Having a wealthy father, Mr Thomas C Glover of Mountgrange, Edinburgh, undoubtedly helped Alexa’s golfing development but she had the natural talent in the first place. The Glovers were popular figures in Earlsferry where Alexa, coached by the local professional, A H Scott, learned to play the game, and Mr Glover “lent considerable aid financially and by personal exertions to have both courses at Elie brought to a perfect state besides being the means of encouraging professional matches,” according to the “East Fife Record” of the day which also reported: “When the result (of the Scottish Ladies Championship final) reached Earslferry, Miss Glover’s present residence, intense satisfaction prevailed. The bell of the Town Hall was rung and flags were hoisted …. Later Mr Glover, of Earlsferry House, entertained a large company in Earlsferry Town Hall to mark the important victory.” Surprisingly for one so talented at an early age, the 1903 Scottish Ladies (Closed) Championship was Miss Glover's only success in her native championship. She was runner up in 1906 and 1910, and a regular international player before World War I , as well as playing in a match against the United States in 1905, which became a precursor to the Curtis Cup. There were 46 entrants for the first Scottish Ladies (Closed) Championship played from the morning of Tuesday, June 16 until lunch-time on Friday, June 19, 1903. There had been a stroke-play competition over the Old Course on the Monday, won in very windy conditions by Mrs McMahon with a 94 (she was the only player to break 100 but bear in mind the hickory shafts and inferior golf balls) – but there was no qualifying round for the championship, the players going straight into match-play. The championship could have been finished off in three days but a putting competition, supported by 40-odd of the competitors, was held on the Thursday afternoon and the championship final between Alexa Glover and Molly Graham (St Rule) was not contested until the Friday morning. Five of the original entrants scratched, leaving the following 41 players to do battle:
Old Tom Morris, who celebrated his 82nd birthday on the first day of the championship, was the official starter.
Quarter-finals: Semi-finals Final (18 holes) There had been big galleries, with at least as many men as ladies, for some of the earlier ties, particularly the Glover v Campbell semi-final but the biggest turn-out was for the final. No estimate is given in the reports of the day but there were enough to justify the use of ropes by stewards to keep the crowds back from the players. A fair guess might be in the hundreds, perhaps as high as 1,000. We’ll never know. Here is the “Golf Illustrated” report of the final: “Miss Glover drove off a splendid ball while Miss Graham’s was missed (she topped it!). The former, however, put her second in the burn and thus required 4 to reach the green while Miss Graham was on in 4 and won the hole in 5. “At the second, Miss Graham was bunkered and Miss Glover squared the match by getting a 6 to her opponent’s 7. Miss Glover assumed the lead at the third and would probably have increased her lead at the fifth where she had only a short putt to go two up but she inadvertently pressed the turn while brushing away an obstacle with the back of her hand and the referee ruled that she forfeited the hole. The match was again all square. “Miss Glover won the next and her lead was increased to two at the High Hole, Miss Graham giving up. The Short Hole was halved in 3 and Miss Glover, missing a short putt, lost the hole and turned one up. She won the 10th in 4 and again stood two up. “At the 11th, Miss Graham holed a splendid 2 and reduced Miss Glover’s lead once more to one. Miss Glover missed a short putt for a half at the 12th and the 13th was halved in 6. “At the 14th, Miss Graham squared the match. The 15th was halved in 6 but the “Duke” went to Miss Glover in 4 to 5. At the 17th, Miss Graham again squared matters. (At the 18th) Miss Graham topped her second and lay on the road and failed to reach the green with her third. This Miss Glover did and, holing out in 5 to Miss Graham’s 6, she won by match by one hole.” |
Alexa
Glover, the winner of the inaugural Scottish Ladies Championship over
the Old Course 100 years ago, was born in Edinburgh and was a member of
Elie and Earlsferry Ladies Golf Club.
Here
are the results of the closing stages of the championship:|
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