06 December 2011 09:59
GMT
Women’s golf has changed a great deal since its earliest days of organised competition back in the late 19th century but one thing that has not altered is the support it has received from Royal Lytham & St Annes.
The famous Lancashire club was given the honour of hosting the inaugural Ladies’ British Amateur Championship back in 1893 and since then has staged the Championship on three further occasions. It has also hosted the Curtis Cup, several English Ladies’ Championships, the Ladies’ Home Internationals, the Vagliano Trophy and is a regular venue for the Ricoh Women’s British Open.
Indeed, the club’s links with ladies’ golf would appear to be strengthening as time has moved on, with Lytham being invited to host the latter Championship four times since 1998 and on no less than three occasions during the last nine years.
Come next July, Lytham will measure well over 7,000-yards when Darren Clarke defends the title at the 141st Open Championship but back in 1893, at the inaugural Ladies’ British Amateur, it was set up some 5,000-yards shorter. The Championship was won by Lady Margaret Scott, from Cotswold Golf Club, whose brother the Hon. Michael Scott was to claim the men’s Amateur Championship 40 years later.
Scott went on to win a hat-trick of titles between 1893-5 and set the tone for the calibre of women’s champions Lytham has produced. In 1921, the incomparable Joyce Wethered won the English title at Lytham perpetuating a record that was to see her play in 11 national championships, winning nine, losing once in the final and once in the semi-final. In 1948, the reigning US Amateur champion, Louise Suggs, who was to go on to become a founder of the LPGA Tour, defeated Britain’s best golfer, Jean Donald in the final of the Ladies’ Amateur Championship while, in 1964, Marley Spearman became the first golfer to defend the English Ladies’ title when she survived a titanic semi-final tussle against Angela Bonallack and then defeated Mary Everard in the final.
The cream also rose to the top in 1993 when, to celebrate the centenary of the inaugural Championship, the Ladies’ British Amateur returned to Lytham and was won by Scotland’s Catriona Lambert. On that occasion, Lambert, from North Berwick, defeated Lancashire County player, Kirsty Speak in the final, and 16 years later the Scot would famously return under her married name of Matthew to beat all-comers and win a Major title at the Ricoh Women’s British Open.
Nowadays, Lytham’s name is inextricably linked with that latter Championship and it is an association of which the club is justifiably proud. It staged its first Women’s British Open in 1998, three years before the Championship was conferred Major status, and has hosted three more since, in 2003, 2006 and 2009. All four have proved to be a massive success and have left lasting memories at the club.
The Club’s Secretary, Graham Cochrane, said: “We have a long history of hosting women’s golf events. We have staged a number of Women’s Opens in recent years and they have all proved to be very popular events.
“They are very popular events because many of our members and spectators think they can relate to the game the women play. They can’t, but they think they can….”
Lytham’s first Women’s British Open was won by America’s Sherri Steinhauer who opened with what looked like a ruinous 81 before responding with rounds 72, 70 and 69 to pip Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson by a single shot. It was the first of three successes the American was to achieve in the Championship, with that run culminating with a second victory at Lytham in 2006. To this day, Steinhauer’s maiden victory is recalled with particular fondness by the club thanks to the charming thank-you letter the champion penned on her return across the Atlantic. “Knowing the history and tradition of Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club made the whole experience a real treat” she wrote. “I have a lifetime of memories and look forward to coming back in the future.”
With the benefit of hindsight, Steinhauer’s final words seem almost prophetic but she would have to wait eight years before recording her second success at Lytham, this time with a three shot victory over Gustafson and her compatriot, Cristie Kerr.
In the interim, in 2003, Lytham had played host to a second Women’s British Open and it will always be remembered as the Championship at which the Swede, Annika Sorenstam, became only the sixth woman to achieve the career Grand Slam.
Sorenstam came into the Championship having won two US Women’s Opens, two Nabisco Championships and one LPGA title and she completed the elusive set with a one shot victory over Korea’s Se Ri Pak. It was her 46th LPGA Tour victory, her 56th worldwide and meant an enormous amount to the winner.
“I felt the pressure, but then on the other hand, I felt this is what it’s all about, to play in a Major Championship when you have to perform,” the Swede said. “I’ve won another Major and now I’ve won all four. It’s a great feeling, sitting here with the trophy. This is what I have wanted for so long.”
Sorenstam’s victory in 2006 remains one of the most memorable episodes in Woman’s British Open history. However, in the minds of many it was surpassed three years later by the exploits of “Mega Mum”, Matthew, who returned to the scene of her triumph in the 1993 Ladies’ British Amateur and put together rounds of 74, 67, 71, 73 to finish three shots ahead of seven-time Major champion, Karrie Webb, on three under par 285. Incredibly, that victory came just 11 weeks after the Scot had given birth to her second child, Sophie, and just a matter of days after her husband and caddie, Graeme, had sustained burns to his feet when the couple were fleeing a hotel fire in France.
“It’s amazing, unbelievable, I’m not sure what I can say,” said the first Scot to win a women’s Major title. “Two weeks ago, when I came back (after giving birth to Sophie), I was just hoping to make two cuts. Now I have won a Major. To be honest, I don’t really know what to say.”
“The Women’s Open is a wonderful experience,” said the Club’s long-serving professional Eddie Birchenough. “Everybody loves it, the members love it and we have this lovely awareness that the players are so appreciative of coming to a top course.
“They (the women) are also very proactive in promoting their game and there is a lot of interaction with the crowd. Over the years there have been a lot of women who have played in it and haven’t played on a links course before because we were the first Open venue to host the Women’s Open. They have been some of the best events that I have been involved in.”