In The Mail: Matchless - GolfBlogger Golf Blog

Arriving in the mail this week was a copy of Matchless: Joyce Wethered, Glenna Collett and the Rise of Women’s Golf by Stephen Proctor.

I had very much enjoyed Proctor’s The Long Golden Afternoon, and so am excited to read his latest work. I have also long been interested in the history of women’s golf, from Joyce Wethered to Alexa Stirling to the legendary thirteen founders of the LPGA.

LPGA Founder Shirley Spork played regularly at my home course — Washtenaw Golf Club — and I had the chance to chat with her online at one point.

I’ll have a review in short order.

Matchless on Amazon

From the publisher’s description:

Finally – a book that truly captures the inspiring and uniquely gifted women from a largely forgotten golfing age. A wonderful read from start to finish’ – Iona Stephen, Sky Sports presenter, commentator and host
From the moment women began hosting championships of their own in 1893, one of golf’s burning questions became whether any woman would ever approach the mythical ideal of playing perfect golf. It took three decades of striving – at a time when Suffragettes were stubbornly fighting for women’s rights – before Joyce Wethered and Glenna Collett delivered an unequivocal answer to that question.
From their first meeting at Troon in 1925, through a decade highlighted by their breathtaking match at St Andrews, the Englishwoman and the American brought out in one another golf so sublime that rare was the player, man or woman, who could perform as brilliantly.
The rivalry between Wethered and Collett generated such widespread interest and respect that it paved the way for the birth of a women’s professional tour. Matchless tells the story of these two incomparable golfers – women who personified the ambitions of their age.