Margaret Curtis

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Margaret Curtis in 1903

Margaret Curtis ( October 8, 1883 - December 24, 1965 ) was an American golf and tennis player at the beginning of the 20th century .

Life

Margaret Curtis was the youngest of 10 children. Her father was a Colonel in the Union Army Cavalry during the American Civil War .

Her cousin Laurence Curtis , who was the second president of the United States Golf Association from 1897 to 1898 , encouraged the family to play golf. Because of this, Margaret and her sister Harriot began playing golf at a young age and became members of the Women's Golf Association of Massachusetts . This association was founded in 1900 and was the first women's golf association in the United States.

After studying at Simmons College School of Social Work in Boston , Margaret became a member of the Family Service Society and stayed with that society for 51 years.

During the First World War she went to Paris and joined the Red Cross for three years as the head of the Office for Refugees . This time in Paris was followed by stays in various locations across Europe for several years in the service of the Red Cross.

Margaret Curtis died in 1965 at the age of 82.

Golf career

At the age of 13, Margaret Curtis qualified fourth in her first participation in the United States Women's Amateur Golf Championship in 1887 . In 1906 her sister Harriot won this championship. Despite health problems that did not allow Margaret to participate in the championship for several years, Margaret Curtis won the US championships in 1907, defeating her sister Harriot in the final. She repeated this success twice (1911 and 1912).

In 1932 Margaret Curtis and her sister donated the Curtis Cup for the biennial golf competition between the United States and Great Britain .

Because they played golf most of their lives, the Golf Association of Massachusetts established a golf tournament in honor of the Curtis siblings . The winner's cup ( The Curtis Bowl ) is a replica of the Curtis Cup .

Margaret Curtis received the 1958 Bob Jones Award , the United States Golf Association's (USGA) highest honor . The prize was donated in honor of Bobby Jones (1902–1971) and is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding athleticism in golf.

Tennis career

In addition to her golfing successes, Margaret Curtis was also an excellent tennis player.

In 1908, she and her compatriot Evelyn Sears , sister of Eleonora Sears , won the women's doubles at the US tennis championships (now the US Open ). They defeated Carrie Neely and Miriam Steever in three sets 6: 3, 5: 7, 9: 7.

With this win, Margaret Curtis was the only woman to date to hold a US golf and US tennis title at the same time.

Trivia

Margaret Curtis' defeat at a stroke play golf tournament at Walton Heath near London in 1907 is legendary . On the last hole , Margaret led 5 strokes ahead of her competitor May Hezlet . Margaret's tee landed in a very dense and prickly gorse bush that occurs everywhere in Europe, but is unknown in America. It took her 13 strokes to complete the hole and she lost the tournament.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ US Women's Amateur History

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Web links

personal data
SURNAME Curtis, Margaret
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American golf and tennis player
DATE OF BIRTH October 8, 1883
DATE OF DEATH December 24, 1965