The iconic Carnoustie Ladies Golf Club – located just opposite the 18th hole – is the oldest Ladies Club in the world, founded in 1873. The clubhouse was built in 1892 and is still an active club today.
In the 21st century, Carnoustie remains as a leader in the world of women in golf. In 2018, when other golf clubs were still debating the merits of permitting women to become members, local woman Patricia Sawers welcomed the world to Carnoustie for the 147th Open as the only female to have been the chairman of an Open Championship golf course in the history of the event and perhaps the only one at any of the host courses for the Majors across the world.
Carnoustie is now a regular host of the British Women’s Open.
When the game of Croquet was introduced to Britain it was considered very suitable for the upper class ladies of that time, a gentile game played on rolling lawns on a summer evening. However, in Scotland the ladies were doing things a bit different, they embraced golf over croquet. At that time, health was becoming very important and the prospect of being out in bracing air and vigorous exercise making use of hitherto unused muscles was very appealing. At first, the ladies played on a separate 18-hole golf course from the men.
In Carnoustie the ladies were encouraged to play golf and the gentlemen of the Dalhousie Golf Club in particular were very supportive. The first entry in the club’s minute book, 23rd August 1873 refers to a golf competition for the ladies hosted by the men of the Dalhousie Club. In 1878, gentlemen were invited to become associate members of the Ladies Club as a means of providing financial support but by 1886, the club independently viable and the help of men was no longer needed.
The reaction to the participation of women in golf has not always been positive and for those that played golf, societal norms meant that women had to be fully covered at all times. However, the women felt it was easier to play without their hems trailing on the grounds and chose to wear slightly shorter skirts. This caught the attention of the local newspaper, the Carnoustie Gazette, who ran a story referring to “the brazen hussies” of Carnoustie Ladies Golf Club who actually showed an ankle, to the horror of their douser sisters”.
Another controversial topic was the opening of the golf courses on a Sunday, which was first considered in the mid-1920s. The resistance was not just from the churches, but because it would put an end to a local custom – the fashion parades. Every Sunday the 2nd hole had been used as an arena for local and visiting women to don their finery and to parade through “The Gullery” as the men sat on the slopes on either side to “eye them up”.
The Ladies Club is still thriving and of course, the members play as equals with men.