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Jessie Valentine

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Jessie Valentine
MBE
Personal information
Full nameJessie Anderson Valentine
Born(1915-03-18)18 March 1915
Perth, Scotland
Died6 April 2006(2006-04-06) (aged 91)
Sporting nationality Scotland
Career
StatusAmateur

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]

Early life

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Valentine 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

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In 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

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Source:[1]

Team appearances

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Amateur

Awards

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Personal life

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Valentine 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

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After 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

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Valentine'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

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ "Jessie Valentine". Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Jessie Valentine". Sport Scotland - Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. 2003. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e Anderson, Alison (24 December 1999). "DK Thomson Award for Perthshire golf legend Jessie Valentine". Perthshire Advertiser.
  6. ^ a b c d Bannerman, George (11 April 2006). "'Queen of Golf' Dies". Perthshire Advertiser. pp. 1–2.
  7. ^ George, Jane (1997). "Women and Golf in Scotland". Oral History. 25 (1): 46–50. JSTOR 40179446.
  8. ^ George, Jane (2003). "Women and Golf in Scotland". Oral History Society. 25: 46–50.
  9. ^ a b c "Jessie Valentine". BBC. November 2005. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Mrs Valentine Sets Another Record in Retaining Golf Title". Perthshire Advertiser. 26 May 1956. p. 18.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ "Jessie Valentine". Scottish Golf Museum. Archived from the original on 29 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Worplesdon record win". The Glasgow Herald. 15 October 1965. p. 6.
  14. ^ "Anglo-Dutch pair win foursomes". The Glasgow Herald. 12 October 1968. p. 4.
  15. ^ 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.
  16. ^ United Kingdom list: "No. 41589". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1958. p. 19.
  17. ^ 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.
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