MAY HEZLET, winner of the British women's open amateur championship three times - 1899, 1902 and 1907. Image by courtesy of Gillian Kirkwood.
By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Whether or not you believe in ghosts, reincarnations or whatever, there was definitely something spooky about Lauren Taylor - 16 years and just about 10 months of age - winning the 108th staging of the British women's open amateur golf championship over the Royal Portrush links in Northern Ireland last week.
By her own admission, Lauren has never played to that level of sustained brilliance previously in her young life. Apart from suggesting that the game plan devised by herself and her dad-caddie Martin to remove "stress" from the picture and play the LGU's flagship amateur championship as though it was the Woburn junior medal worked big-time, Lauren could not explain what made her play like the second coming of May Hezlet day after day.
Why May Hezlet and who was she? I hear you ask.
Gillian Kirkwood, the LGU chairman is an authority on the history of women's amateur golf and she put me in the picture.
There were four Hezlet sisters, all good golfers - May, Violet, Emily and Florence - and, wait for it, Portrush (the "Royal" prefix came later), was their home-town course.
May won the British tltle three times - 1899 (at Co Down, the "Royal" came later), 1902 at Deal and 1907 when she beat sister Florence in the final when the championship was back at Co Down.
Florence reached the final again in 1909, when Portrush was again the venue, and Violet made it to the final in 1911. Both sisters were beaten by the legendary Dororthy Campbell.
When May Hezlet won the championship in 1899, it was played in May, and she had just passed her 17th birthday by a matter of days. The championship had been played for the first time in 1893 and six years later May Hezlet was the youngest winner at that point in the early days of the tournament.
Fast forward 112 years to June 2011 and going into last week's 108th British championship, almost incredibily May Hezlet was still the youngest-ever winner of the coveted trophy.
May died in her 80s in the 1960s but I like to think that last week her spirit was still around the Portrush links she graced as a girl when a 16-year-old from England finally took over the "youngest-ever winner" tag with inspired golf.
I very much doubt if Lauren Taylor has ever heard of May Hezlet but it is an uncanny coincidence that the same golf course - on two occasions 112 years apart - witnesses the two youngest winners of a major women's amateur golf title.
I don't know about you but it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end just thinking about it.
Northern Ireland in general and Portrush in particular was a hot bed of girls/women's amateur golf in those long-ago days when only a fraction of the current number of female golfers would have played the game.
Hard to believe but May Hezlet was not the only Portrush lady member who won the British title over her home course back in those distant days when they probably never thought anything of it.
Rhona Adair was the British champion in 1900, was beaten in the final in 1901 and won it for a second time in 1903 when Portrush was again the venue (Portrush had hosted the British championship three times by 1911
E-MAIL FROM LAUREN TAYLOR'S MUM, JACKIE
Colin
What a fantastic article about Lauren and May - it certainly made me think. Even more spooky is that Lauren's great grandfather was Irish; born in Clones I definitely believe she had the luck of the Irish with her last week.
Lauren has written a lovely card to Royal Portrush – thanking them – I think she can’t wait to go back and see her name on the board; she remembers every shot. The Ladies of the IGU were also really supportive of Lauren and she appreciated their and your support all week. Thank you again; the articles have been brilliant.
From a very proud Mum.
Jackie
BRITISH GIRLS' CHAMPIONSHIP STARTED IN 1919, NOT 1950
*Gillian Kirkwood has also put me right on the history of the British girls' open championship. I stated it was played for the first time in 1950 in one of my recent articles. Wrong! Gillian tells me that it was started in 1919 wen Audrey Croft was te first winner. The Ladies Golf Union has run the Under-18s' championship since 1950, which explains why the LGU Yearbook only lists the finalists in the British girls from that year on.
"Many famous names, such as Simon de La Chaume, Enid Wilson, Jessie Valentine and Lally Vagliano, won the British girls' title before World War II," says Gillian.
My fear, given that there is a whole list of winners between 1919 and 1949 I have never seen, that perhaps Mickey Walker (1972) and Belen Mozo (2006) are not the only players to have won the British women's and British girls' titles in the same year.
But Gillian Kirkwood has gone over the full list of British girls champion and confirms that only Walker and Mozo have done the double.
Labels: THE WAY THEY WERE
