Jessie Valentine (née Anderson) MBE (18 March 1915 – 6 April 2006) was a Scottish amateur golfer who won the British Ladies Amateur in 1937, 1955 and 1958.[1] In 1937, after winning the British Ladies title at Turnberry she was the world number one ranking ladies golfer.[2] Valentine was one of the dominant figures in women's golf for a period which spanned two decades from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s.[3] In 1959, she was the first woman golfer to be appointed as an MBE for services to golf and she was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.[1][4] She was considered one of Perthshire's greatest sporting personalities of all time and was known locally as "Wee Jessie" and the "Queen of Golf".[5][6]
| Jessie Valentine MBE | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Jessie Anderson Valentine |
| Born | 18 March 1915 Perth, Scotland |
| Died | 6 April 2006 (aged 91) |
| Sporting nationality |  Scotland |
| Career | |
| Status | Amateur |
Early life
editValentine was born Jessie Anderson in Perth, Scotland on 18 March 1915.[2] Her father, Joe Anderson, was for some time the professional at Craigie Hill Golf Club in Perth.[2][5] She started playing golf aged five and was trained by her father, who entered her in the British Girls Championships at Stoke Poges in 1932.[7] She went on to win the Girls Amateur Championship in 1933.[2]
Sporting career
editIn the 1930s, women had little chance of playing outwith the amateur system, as there were no professional tournaments and jobs as club professionals were extremely rare.[8] In 1935, Valentine (as Miss Anderson) became the New Zealand Ladies Champion, and the following year the French Ladies Champion.[1] She was a member of the Great Britain and Ireland Curtis Cup team in 1936, famously holing a 60-foot putt on the 18th hole at Gleneagles to secure a win and help the team tie with the United States.[2][1] She represented Great Britain and Ireland in the Curtis Cup seven times between 1936 and 1958.[1]
Valentine won her first British Ladies title at Turnberry in 1937, beating Doris Park (daughter of the famous Willie Park, Jnr from Musselburgh, Scotland) 6&4 in the final.[9] In 1938 she won the first of her six victories in the Scottish Ladies' Amateur Championship and retained the title in 1939.[9] She did not compete between 1939 and 1945 due to the Second World War.[2] During the war, she drove a truck for the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS).[6]
Valentine won the Scottish Ladies' Amateur Championship in 1951, 1953, 1955 and 1956.[1] In 1955, she won her second British Amateur title at Royal Portrush having been runner up in 1950.[1] She became the first holder of both the British and Scottish women's championships in the same year.[10] In 1957 she won the Spalding Women's Open Stroke Play at Moor Park.[11] Valentine won the British Amateur title for the third and final time at Hunstanton Golf Club, Norfolk in 1958, her third final in four years.[9] She went into the tournament with a remarkable record and was rated as one of the favorites. In contrast to her two previous successes the 1958 win was a much tighter affair, with Valentine overcoming Elizabeth Park by a single hole in a closely contested match.[12] In 1960, at the age of 45, Valentine turned professional.[2]
Partnered with John Behrend, Valentine won the Worplesdon Mixed Foursomes three years in succession from 1963 to 1965.[13] She reached the final again in 1968, playing with Richard Brown.[14] In 1969 she was runner-up in the Astor Prince's Trophy.[15]
Notable wins
edit- Girls Amateur Championship – 1933
- British Ladies Amateur – 1937, 1955, 1958
- Scottish Ladies' Amateur Championship – 1938, 1939, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956
- New Zealand Ladies – 1935
- French Ladies – 1936
Source:[1]
Team appearances
editAmateur
- Curtis Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1936 (tie), 1938, 1950, 1952 (winners), 1954, 1956 (winners), 1958 (tied)
- Vagliano Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1947 (winners), 1949 (winners), 1951 (winners), 1955 (winners)
Awards
edit- Appointed a Member of The Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1959 New Year Honours for services to women's golf.[16][1]
- Awarded the Frank Moran Trophy in 1967 for the 'Scot who has done most for the game of golf'.[1]
- Received the DK Thomson Award, awarded annually to residents of Perth and Kinross for outstanding achievement, in 1992.[5]
- Inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.[1]
- Inducted into Scottish Women in Sport Hall of Fame in 2020.
Personal life
editValentine was married for 41 years to George Valentine, a Perth and Kinross councillor, who ran the company Valentine's Motors. They had one son, Iain, born in 1948.[5]
Later life and death
editAfter her retirement, Valentine wrote a book Better Golf - Definitely in 1967. She was invited to 'hansel' the new golf course at Gleneagles with golf legend Jack Nicklaus and partnered tennis player Virginia Wade at the age of 78.[6] In 1999, she donated mementos of her career to Perth and Kinross Council's archives.[5]
Valentine died at Moncreiffe Nursing Home, Bridge of Earn, on 6 April 2006, aged 91 years. Her death was announced by Peter Alliss during live coverage of The Masters on the BBC.[6] Flags flew at half mast at Craigie Hill and Blairgowrie Golf Clubs, where she held honorary membership.
Legacy
editValentine's career was the subject of a retrospective exhibition at Perth Museum and Art Gallery in 2019. She was also the subject of a biographical book, Wee Jessie: Jessie Valentine: Whose Golf Swing Lasted a Lifetime, written by Dr Eve Souslby and launched at the exhibition in 2019.[17]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Jessie Valentine". Sport Scotland. 2003. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Jessie Valentine World No 1 and three-times holder of the British Ladies' title". The Herald. 11 April 2006. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ^ "Jessie Valentine". Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ "Jessie Valentine". Sport Scotland - Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. 2003. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Anderson, Alison (24 December 1999). "DK Thomson Award for Perthshire golf legend Jessie Valentine". Perthshire Advertiser.
- ^ a b c d Bannerman, George (11 April 2006). "'Queen of Golf' Dies". Perthshire Advertiser. pp. 1–2.
- ^ George, Jane (1997). "Women and Golf in Scotland". Oral History. 25 (1): 46–50. JSTOR 40179446.
- ^ George, Jane (2003). "Women and Golf in Scotland". Oral History Society. 25: 46–50.
- ^ a b c "Jessie Valentine". BBC. November 2005. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ^ "Mrs Valentine Sets Another Record in Retaining Golf Title". Perthshire Advertiser. 26 May 1956. p. 18.
- ^ Wilson, Enid (26 October 1957). "Mrs Valentine improves to beat holder". The Daily Telegraph. p. 3. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Jessie Valentine". Scottish Golf Museum. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ^ "Worplesdon record win". The Glasgow Herald. 15 October 1965. p. 6.
- ^ "Anglo-Dutch pair win foursomes". The Glasgow Herald. 12 October 1968. p. 4.
- ^ Wilson, Enid (18 August 1969). "Astor goes to Belgina girl". The Daily Telegraph. p. 6. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ United Kingdom list: "No. 41589". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1958. p. 19.
- ^ O'Neil, Sean. "New museum exhibit to honour Perth's most famous golfing daughter Jessie Valentine". The Courier. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2021.