Glenna Collett-Vare
Encyclopedia
World Golf Hall of Fame
The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site serves both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 golf organizations from all over the world.The Hall of...
golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
ing champion whom the Hall calls the greatest female golfer of her day, and who dominated American women's golf in the 1920s.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, Glenna Collett was raised in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
by athletic-minded parents and at a young age was involved in sports such as swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
. At age 14 she took up the game of golf, and within two years had developed her skills to the point where she competed in the 1919 U.S. Women's Amateur, and won her first-round match. Two years later at age 18, she was the Championship medallist for shooting the lowest qualifying score.
In the pre-professional era, the U.S. Women's Amateur was the most prestigious event in the country. Her strength was off the tee
Tee
A tee is a stand used to support a stationary ball so that the player can strike it, particularly in golf, tee ball, American football, and rugby.- Etymology :...
. Collett was a student of golf instructor Ernest Jones
Ernest Jones (golfer)
Ernest Jones was an English professional golfer. He is renowned for his accomplishments in teaching many famous professional golfers as well as amateurs. He tutored Virginia Van Wie for many years, including during her stretch of three consecutive U.S. Women's Amateur Championships from 1932–34...
.
While setting a new single-round scoring record, in 1922 Glenna Collett claimed her first of six U.S. championships. The following year she was upset in the third round, but went north to win the Canadian Women's Amateur
Canadian Women's Amateur
The Canadian Women's Amateur is Canada's annual national amateur golf tournament for women. It is open to women from all countries and is played at a different course each year.-Winners:*2011 Rebecca Lee-Bentham*2010 Sydnee Michaels*2009 Jennifer Kirby...
. In 1924 Glenna Collett achieved the most remarkable record in golfing history, both female and male. Despite setting a new new single-round qualifying scoring record, Collett lost by a fluke in the semifinal of the 1924 U.S. Women's Amateur when on the 19th hole, Mary Browne
Mary Browne
Mary Kendall Browne was the first American female professional tennis player, a World No. 1 amateur tennis player, and an amateur golfer...
's ball caromed off hers and into the cup. However, that would be her only loss in a year where she won an astonishing 59 out of 60 matches, including her second consecutive Canadian championship.
Glenna Collett won the U.S. Women's Amateur again in 1925, and then reeled off three straight titles between 1928 and 1930. Between 1928 and 1931, she recorded 16 consecutive tournament victories. She won six North and South Women's Amateurs, six Women's Eastern Amateurs, and in between all this she was the runner-up in the 1929 and 1930 British Ladies Amateurs. She also went to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where she won the French Women's Amateur. After marrying Edwin H. Vare, Jr. and having two children, Glenna Collett Vare came back in 1934, but lost in the semi-finals to Virginia Van Wie
Virginia Van Wie
Virginia Van Wie was an American amateur golfer, best known for winning three U.S. Women's Amateurs, 1932-34. The Illinois-born golfer was the daughter of wealthy parents, and learned the game at the Beverly Country Club, and during the summers, she would go with her parents to summer homes in...
. However, the following year she won her sixth U.S. championship by defeating future star Patty Berg
Patty Berg
Patricia Jane Berg was an American professional golfer and a founding member and then leading player on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Her 15 major title wins remains the all-time record for most major wins by a female golfer...
in the finals.
Glenna Collett Vare was a member of the American team that won the first Curtis Cup
Curtis Cup
The Curtis Cup is the best known team trophy for women amateur golfers, awarded in the biennial Curtis Cup Match . It is co-organised by the United States Golf Association and the Ladies Golf Union and is contested by teams representing the United States and "Great Britain and Ireland"...
played at the Wentworth Golf Club in England in 1932. She served as player-captain in 1934, 1936, 1938, and 1948. After winning 49 championships, she ended her competitive golf career at the age of 56, with a victory at the 1959 Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
Women's Golf Association tournament.
She was the author of two books on golf: Golf For Young Players in 1926, and Ladies in the Rough in 1928.
Since 1953, the Ladies Professional Golf Association has awarded the Vare Trophy to the golfer who has the lowest average strokes per round in professional tour events.
In 1965, Collett Vare was the recipient of the Bob Jones Award
Bob Jones Award
The Bob Jones Award is the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. It is named in honor of Bobby Jones.-Winners:*1955 Francis Ouimet*1956 William C. Campbell*1957 Babe Zaharias...
, the United States Golf Association 's
United States Golf Association
The United States Golf Association is the United States' national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the Rules of Golf. The USGA also provides a national handicap system...
highest honor given in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. In 1975 she was part of the first class inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame
World Golf Hall of Fame
The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site serves both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 golf organizations from all over the world.The Hall of...
. At the age of 81 she still had a 15 handicap and played in her 61st consecutive Invitational event in 1984 at the Point Judith Country Club in Rhode Island.
In her 1977 book, One Hundred Greatest Women in Sports, author Phyllis Hollander listed Glenna Collett Vare ahead of Babe Zaharias
Babe Zaharias
Mildred Ella "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias was an American athlete who achieved outstanding success in golf, basketball, and track and field...
and Patty Berg
Patty Berg
Patricia Jane Berg was an American professional golfer and a founding member and then leading player on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Her 15 major title wins remains the all-time record for most major wins by a female golfer...
, stating that "her career was unequaled in the annals of golf". Gene Sarazen
Gene Sarazen
Gene Sarazen was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s. He is one of five golfers to win all the current major championships in his career, the Career Grand Slam:U.S...
called her "the greatest woman golfer of all time".
Collett Vare died in 1989 in Gulfstream, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Books
- Golf For Young Players by Glenna Collett (1926) - Little, Brown and CompanyLittle, Brown and CompanyLittle, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...
- Ladies in the Rough by Glenna Collett with a Foreword by Bobby JonesBobby Jones (golfer)Robert Tyre "Bobby" Jones Jr. was an American amateur golfer, and a lawyer by profession. Jones was the most successful amateur golfer ever to compete on a national and international level...
(1928) - Alfred A. KnopfAlfred A. KnopfAlfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...