History of Women's Golf
A Celebration of 100 Years
1914 – 2014
The first formally recorded beginnings of women’s golf was in 1889 at the Cape Golf Club where they admitted women for the first time, mainly because they were battling to keep the club alive. It would appear that golf was being played at various clubs around the country, and the first recorded photograph of women golfers was taken at Graaff-Reinet in 1897.
In 1898 Maritzburg Golf Club admitted women members whilst Durban Club only allowed ladies to join in 1903, and the historian tells us they were “merely tolerated – and were required to give way to male players if so requested”!
Past Presidents
Presidents of the South African Ladies Golf Union which became Womens Golf South Africa in 2005
| SALGU | ||
| 1914 – 1916 | Mrs J.A.P. Gibb | Johannesburg |
| 1917 – 1918 | Mrs C. Stuart | |
| 1918 – 1919 | Mrs May Brinton | |
| 1919 – 1923 | Mrs J.A.P. Gibb | Johannesburg |
| 1924 – 1925 | Mrs K. Jooste | Johannesburg |
| 1925 – 1927 | Mrs V. Grindley-Ferris | Johannesburg |
| 1928 – 1931 | Mrs K. Jooste | Johannesburg |
| 1932 – 1933 | Mrs V. Grindley-Ferris | Johannesburg |
| 1934 – 1935 | Mrs H.R. Mullins | |
| 1937 – 1939 | Mrs G. R. Wilkinson | |
| 1939 – 1948 | World War | |
| 1948 – 1950 | Mrs Maud Leeds | |
| 1951 – 1953 | Mrs Guy Darwell | Johannesburg |
| 1954 – 1956 | Mrs C.M. Catterall | |
| 1957 – 1960 | Mrs J. Pinchuck | Johannesburg |
| 1960 – 1963 | Mrs E. Stuart Findlay | Cape Town |
| 1963 – 1966 | Mrs W. Mac Gregor | Cape Town |
| 1966 – 1969 | Miss D. Robinson | Pietermaritzburg |
| 1969 – 1972 | Mrs E.M. Gallie | Johannesburg |
| 1972 – 1975 | Mrs J.S. Dowie Dunn | Cape Town |
| 1975 – 1978 | Mrs E.V. Butt | East London |
| 1978 – 1981 | Mrs L. van Diggelen | Pietermaritzburg |
| 1981 – 1984 | Mrs F. D.Daniel | Durban |
| 1984 – 1987 | Mrs J.A. Eustice | Johannesburg |
| 1987 – 1990 | Mrs E.B. Tribelhorn | Cape Town |
| 1990 – 1993 | Miss E.M. Neethling | Bloemfontein |
| 1993 – 1996 | Mrs F.D. Daniel | Durban |
| 1996 – 1999 | Mrs V.V. Harrington | Johannesburg |
| 1999 – 2002 | Mrs E.K. Van Schalkwyk (then Smit) | Senekal |
| 2002 – 2005 | Mrs Alma Truss | Johannesburg |
| WGSA | ||
| 2005 – 2008 | Mrs Caroline F. Kettlewell | St Francis Bay |
| 2008 – 2011 | Mrs Erica Lefson | Cape Town |
| 2011 – 2014 | Mrs Cynthia Rayner | Somerset West |
| 2014 – 2017 | Mrs Karen Olivant | Umtentwini |
| 2017 – | Ms Sally Greasley | Port Alfred |
Past Secretaries
| 1914 – 1918 | Mrs K Jooste | Johannesburg |
| 1919 | Mrs U Beres | |
| 1920 – 1924 | Mrs V Grindley Ferris | Johannesburhg |
| 1924 – 1925 | Mrs T Glencross | |
| 1926 – 1929 | Mrs Y Lindsay | |
| 1930 – 1947 | Mrs Maud Leeds | |
| 1948 – 1955 | Mrs AHV Cooper | |
| 1956 – 1963 | Mrs E Carelse | Durban |
| 1963 – 1965 | Mrs H Wilson | Cape Town |
| 1965 – 1970 | Miss EM Neethling | Bloemfontein |
| 1970 – 1997 | Mrs Esther Cutler | Vereeniging |
| 1997 – 2008 | Mrs Vivian Horak (Treasurer from 1999) | Randfontein |
| 2008 – 2012 | Mrs Paddy Goodwin | Paarl |
| 2013 | Ms Lali Stander | Somerset West |
| 2014 – 2017 | Ms Sonia Schoeman | Somerset West |
| 2017 – | Ms Verucia Bell | Somerset West |
Past Treasurers
| 1997 – 1999 | Mrs Esther Cutler | Vereeniging |
| 2008 – 2010 | Mrs Cynthia Rayner | Somerset West |
| 2010 – 2012 | Ms Sandy Smuts | Somerset West |
| 2013 – 2017 | Ms Caroline Kettlewell | St Francis Bay |
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