Women have played an important part in the history of golf from the beginning
Scotland is known as the birthplace of the sport of golf. “The Royal and Ancient” at St. Andrew’s is where it all began. While it might feel like women have only been part of the sport in recent history, the game’s origins in Scotland centered around a female player who was rather well known– Mary Queen of Scots! It was the queen who commissioned the course after discovering a similar game during a trip to France. The term “caddie” comes from Mary Stuart’s nickname for her on-course assistants who were formally called “cadets.” The athletic queen helped popularize the sport in the mid-1500’s.
Unfortunately, it took almost 400 years for the world to catch up to what Mary Queen of Scots knew from the beginning — that women belonged on the golf course alongside of men. The LPGA was formed in 1952 and women like Babe Didrickson-Zaharias, Nancy Lopez, Karrie Webb, and Annika Sorenstam have been making history ever since.
Want to learn more about women breaking through barriers on and off the course? We would like to recommend this article.