STORY BEHIND THE PIC

Although women have always enjoyed the same rights as men to play at the St Andrews’ Links Trusts many courses at the Home of Golf, it has been something of an anachronism that, up until 16 years ago, no competitive professional women’s event had been held on the Old Course for almost 80 years.

Until the Women’s British Open was staged on the Old Course in 2007, it was a rare occasion indeed to find a female golfer playing in a competitive event at St Andrews, let alone seeing one sitting casually on a rather scraggy-looking Swilcan Bridge smoking a cigarette.

The woman in this picture is Miss Margaret Hamilton, a debonair young lady who was taking a quick drag on a Capstan Full Strength while playing the 18th hole during the Ladies’ British Open Championship in 1929.

While Miss Hamilton failed to make much of a name for herself in the pro ranks, the tournament went on to go down in golfing folklore, as it saw the return of the legendary Surrey champion Joyce Wethered, who beat long-standing rival Glenna Collett in what is widely regarded as the greatest ladies’ match ever played. With over 3,000 spectators watching on, Wethered was five down at the turn, but battled back strongly on the back nine to win 3&1.

It was Miss Wethered’s fourth British Ladies title (‘22, ‘24, ‘25), with victory in St Andrews coming four years after she had supposedly retired from the game. Amazingly, her career only spanned nine years in which she also picked up five

English Amateur Championships.

After her famous triumph at the Old Course she retired from competitive golf and became the golf manager at Fortnum & Mason’s in London. Earning a living from golf brought her amateur status into question with the R&A, however Wethered settled the issue when she played a series of paid-for exhibition matches in the US in 1935, where she took on, and beat, numerous male professionals. In the course of her three-month trip in the US she travelled 15,000 miles, competed in 53 official matches, and broke the women’s course record at 34 different clubs.

Wethered aside, Lorena Ochoa’s victory 16 years ago at St Andrews in the Women’s British Open has yet to fully herald a new era of the women’s game at the Home of Golf, with the Old Course having only hosted the tournament there once since that time, when Stacy Lewis won in 2013. However, the R&A did take the long overdue step of admitting women members to its ranks in 2014. A change that Mary Queen of Scots, who was a regular visitor to St Andrews in the 16th century, would have been delighted about, as, no doubt, would Margaret Hamilton. Sadly, with the rules on smoking in public places have been considerably tightened since 1929, and it won’t be too long before lighting up on the Swilcan Bridge will also become a thing of the past.

The 2023 AIG Women’s Open is being held at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey for the very first time.

To get tickets to the championship, which takes place from August 10-13, visit www.aigwomensopen.com

US Amateur champion Sam Bennett looks to have the world at his feet after becoming the second highest amateur finisher in the Masters since 1961, when tieing for 16th at Augusta. Here, the 23-yearold from Texas relives the experience of going toe to toe with the world’s best and what he hopes to achieve in the years ahead

How do sum up a week that saw you play as an amateur alongside the likes of Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka at the world’s most famous golf tournament and perform in the manner that you did?

I’m going to need some time when I get back home to decompress and really look back at what I’ve done and enjoy it. To walk up the 18th fairway, and to get the reception that I did, was by far the coolest experience of my life. If you told me when I was a kid that one day I would be walking up the 18th fairway at Augusta with the galleries cheering, I’d have thought you were crazy.

I didn’t play how I wanted to over the final two rounds, but the experience of playing the weekend at Augusta is definitely going to help me be the golfer I want to be. And to be able to play the Sunday pins was just incredible.

It’s strange to say it, given how young I am, but I kind of ran out of puff over the weekend. It was a tiring week, and my body wasn’t moving how it should by the end. My legs kind of gave out. I wasn’t turning properly and started missing my drives left. I’ve seen how the top dogs play now and what they’re made of. I think I can hang in with them, and I think my game was good enough to compete, but I probably just need to get down the gym and get fitter.

From all the times you’ve watched the Masters on television and dreamed of playing there, what was the reality like?

It’s better than the dream, and it’s better than how it looks on TV for sure. Just the people, the property, the hills, the slopes, the scoreboards, I mean even the food. It was everything I could imagine and more. I really hope to be back some day.

It’s got to be nerve-racking to step up to the first tee as an amateur for the first time and you’re playing with the reigning champion. Talk about that experience as they called your name to the tee.

It was a long wait. This morning I was anxious. I was fiddling around. I couldn’t really sit still. I was ready to get off that box. I just tried to enjoy it. That’s where I want to be, to be able to hit those shots with the crowds and the pressure. I loved it. Like I’ve said multiple times, I’m experienced. I feel like I’m ready for this stage. I haven’t played my best in college golf, but when the pressure is on, I tend to play pretty well.

You started the tournament birdie, eagle and only dropped one shot in your first 36 holes. Could you believe this was happening?

I couldn’t have dreamed of a better start. I had these bad thoughts going through my head about what if i bogey the first or make a double, and the wheels come off. Thankfully I got out of the gates hot and then made a birdie on 6, and from then on I played steady golf. Hit a lot of good shots, gave myself some looks, kept it under the hole. Bogey-free, that’s something I love probably the most out of my experience here. To go around Augusta bogey-free is pretty cool.

You obviously sealed the Low Amateur prize by making the cut, but what was goal over the week, to try and stay in the top 12 to earn an invitation back next year?

Yeah, that was the goal coming in. I wanted to put up a good round, and finish as high as I could, but I knew if I hung up there in the top 12 I might get some sort of exemption for next year, but I wasn’t entirely sure. After I bogeyed 12, I knew that I needed at least two more birdies to get back into that spot. I wanted to make something happen on 15. I hit a good second shot in there, but just went brain dead on the putt and miss-hit it and ended up with a three-putt par.

Bogeying the last was annoying, but not the end of the world.

Along with Rahm and Koepka, you also played with Scottie Scheffler and Max Homa and pretty much went toe to toe with them every day. I know they have the experience, and the strength and stamina, but what did you see in their game that isn’t in yours quite yet?

Augusta played really long for me with the ball not bouncing or rolling out much, especially when it was cold. So I definitely could do with gaining some weight and getting a little more clubhead speed into my drives, but apart from that I think I’m in a pretty good place with my game.

Amateurs are embraced at the Masters in a way that they aren’t at the other Majors. How did it feel to part of amateur history at the Masters and to follow in the footsteps of Bobby Jones? That was cool. I learned a lot about Bobby Jones at the amateur dinner, what he’s done for the game and what he did at Augusta. They love amateurs at Augusta and I felt it all week. Five of us amateurs were able to stay in the Crow’s Nest in the clubhouse and I was a little late in registering, so they gave me a private room overlooking the 18th, which was pretty cool.

How about having your college coach, Brian Kortan, on your bag? Did he help you out with any reads?

For sure. All credit to Brian. He helped me get around this place good. We were smart, dialled in with our numbers, knew where we wanted to be. I had a lot of stress-free pars, which is what you want around this place.

Can you tell the story about the tattoo on your left arm, how you came to get it and what it means to you?

My dad died in 2021 from early onset Alzheimers, aged just 45, and one of the things he told me before he died was ‘don’t wait to do something’, so shortly after he died I got those words tattooed on my left arm, so I see it every time I’m gripping the club, You know, I thrive on it. I use it for some motivation. I know how happy he would have been seeing me out here at Augusta National doing what I’m doing. I’ve used it to just stay focused and really be locked into that one shot.

What do you think your father would have made of what you achieved at the Masters? He never really cared about my golf score or anything like that, as long as I was doing the right things and treating people the right way. I’m sure he’d think what I have achieved was cool, but more than anything, I think he would be proud about the person that I’ve become.