Page 4 - Alabama Golf Association

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As you probably know, our modern game of golf began in Scotland around 1457. In the United States, the first mention of the game was recorded in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1739, with the oldest continuous golf course noted as Saint Andrews Golf Club in Yonkers, New York, coming on board in 1888. The golf courses were “MALE ONLY.” Our ladies were at home cleaning, cooking, and raising future male golfers.
Around the late 1800s, the ladies caught on to the joy of hitting the little white ball around on beautiful sunny days. By the early 1900s women were seen on the Country Club of Birmingham’s new nine-hole course; long now Highland Park Golf Course downtown. They hosted the Women’s Southern Golf Championship in 1915. Hats, gloves, and long skirts blended together with golf clubs and balls. A true social extravaganza.
Foreword
by Jean Miller
Jean Miller
The Great War was over. The Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Age. A decade of prosperity; we had become a fun-
loving nation. Golf had become a popular pastime with both men and women. Exciting, enjoyable, and social!
You will be fascinated reading about 5’ 3” “Miss Sadie” Roberts of Birmingham. Her leadership and passion was full- blown when she established the Women’s Alabama Golf Association (WAGA) in 1928. “Southern Hospitality” was her theme as well as “Golf by the Rules.” The first WAGA Amateur Championship was held at the Country Club of Birmingham.
Miss Sadie presided over women’s golf in Alabama until 1956. Some of you may remember “Babe” Zaharias and her visit to Birmingham encouraging women golfers. “It’s not enough to swing at the ball. You’ve got to loosen your girdle and really let the ball have it!” she said in 1948. You, dear reader, will learn of the many dedicated women who championed the game— not all great players, but women who had fallen in love with a game that developed character, integrity, and courtesy.
The next three decades brought expansion and excitement to the WAGA