A “teenage golfing sensation” who was one of the first stars of women’s golf is to be honoured with a blue plaque at her home club of Royal Portrush later on Monday.
May Hezlet, from Aghadowey in Co Derry, won the British Ladies’ Championship three times and the Irish Ladies’ five times between 1899 and 1908.
“That era was the beginning of ladies’ golf in Ireland, and she was the first Irish person, man or woman, to win an international event,” says her biographer and former ladies’ president at Royal Portrush, Kath Stewart-Moore.
“She was a leader of Irish golf, and it’ll be very good to have that plaque up, she certainly deserves it.
Red card for Tipperary’s Darragh McCarthy was justified but it broke an unwritten rule
China exerts control from a nondescript office on Dublin’s Capel Street
China’s intimidation of an Irish citizen in Dublin: ‘I wanted to escape. It’s scary’
Irish woman living legally in US for decades detained after visiting her father in Ireland
“Irish golfers are all still in her legacy,” she said.
From a famous golfing family – her mother, brother, and three sisters also played – May won her first competition aged 11, was Irish champion at 16 and British champion at 17.
She believed golf was a means of emancipating women, and in her book Ladies’ Golf – written aged 22 – she described golf as “the game par excellence for women”.
“Household duties are a very necessary part of life, and sewing and amusements of like nature are excellent in moderation, but they are not enough to satisfy the tastes of the modern girl,” she wrote.
She also lobbied for suitable clothing for women golfers, saying “nothing looks more untidy or unsuitable for games than a long skirt” and calling instead for “a short skirt - really short, not simply a couple of inches off the ground”, and insisted that when setting up ladies’ golf clubs, women should manage their own finances, not have men take over.
May went on to become ladies’ president at Royal Portrush; the current holder, Shirley Robinson, said she was “delighted” to receive the plaque from the Ulster History Circle commemorating “a wonderful pioneer of Ladies’ golf who brought worldwide recognition to Portrush.
“If she were looking down from above today, I am very sure she would be gratified to see that the Ladies’ Branch of Royal Portrush has continued to produce Curtis Cup, international players and champions,” she said.
She would be equally delighted to witness the success of Royal Portush as a venue for the British Open, and the return of the tournament – and newly minted Career Grand Slam winner Rory McIlroy – this summer.
His victory at the US Masters was “fantastic, you couldn’t have written the script,” says Stewart-Moore. “He seemed to throw it away quite often, he had us on tenterhooks all the time, but it was absolutely brilliant that he won it.
“I hope he’ll now relax and be able to win some more Major championships.
“Of course, May would have been watching it, she certainly would.”
