Catherine MacCann ( Smye, 20 February 1922 – 29 April 2010) was an Irish amateur golfer. She won the British Ladies Amateur in 1951, the Irish Women's Amateur Close Championship in 1949 and 1961 and was a member of the

1952 Curtis Cup The 7th Curtis Cup Match was played on 6 and 7 June 1952 at Muirfield in Scotland. The British Isles won by 5 matches to 4, to win the Curtis Cup for the first time. The British Isles won two of the three foursomes matches and tied the singles to ...

team.

Golf career

Irish women's golf after World War II was dominated by

Philomena Garvey Philomena Garvey (26 April 1926 – 5 May 2009) was an Irish amateur golfer, the daughter of James and Kathleen Garvey (née Owens). She was born in the village of Baltray, which is on the north shore of the Boyne estuary approximately four miles ...

. Garvey won the Irish Women's Amateur Close Championship 14 times between 1946 and 1963. Garvey missed two events, in 1956 and 1961, and was only beaten twice in that period in 1949 and 1952, both times in the second round. MacCann played in the event in 1946, losing at the quarter-final stage. In 1947 she reached the final but lost to Garvey. She lost in the quarter-finals in 1948 but in 1949 took advantage of Garvey's early exit to win the title, beating Dorothy Beck in the final. MacCann won for a second time in 1961 but lost further finals to Garvey in 1957 and 1960 and to Dorothy Forster in 1952. MacCann first played in the Women's Home Internationals in 1947, after reaching the final of the Irish championship. She played again in 1948 and 1949. These events were played on the Friday and Saturday before the start of the British Ladies Amateur at the same venue on the following Monday. However it seems that MacCann did not play in the British Ladies Amateur until 1950. She did play in the event in 1950, losing in the third round to

Jessie Valentine Jessie Valentine (née Anderson) (18 March 1915 – 6 April 2006) was a Scottish amateur golfer who won the British Ladies Amateur in 1937, 1955 and 1958. In 1937, after winning the British Ladies title at Turnberry she was the world number ...

. In 1951 at Broadstone she beat

Moira Paterson Moira Christine Milton (née Paterson) (18 December 1923 – 24 January 2012) was a Scottish amateur golfer. She won the British Ladies Amateur in 1952, and was a member of the winning Great Britain and Ireland 1952 Curtis Cup team. Early life ...

in the quarter-finals and then

Jeanne Bisgood Jeanne Mary Bisgood (born 11 August 1923) is an English former amateur golfer. She won the English Women's Amateur Championship three times, in 1951, 1953 and 1957 and played in the Curtis Cup three times, in 1950, 1952 and 1954. Early life Bi ...

in the semis, both matches going to extra holes. In the final she beat

Frances Stephens Francis or Frances Stephens may refer to: * Francis Stephens (scientist), see List of Fellows of the Royal Society S,T,U,V *Frances Stephens (philanthropist) (1851–1915), Canadian of Scottish origin prominent in Montreal society *Frances Stephens ...

4&3 in the 36-hole final, to become the first Irish winner since 1907. MacCann was selected for the

team at Muirfield. MacCann was not selected for the foursomes, the British team taking a 2–1 lead on the first day, MacCann was also not selected for the singles. However Elizabeth Price was not well in the morning and might have been replaced. However MacCann was also ill and so Price played her singles match. Price beat

Grace DeMoss Grace DeMoss Zwahlen (born 1927) is a former competitive women's American amateur golfer from Oregon. She was the first Pacific Northwesterner to be named to the United States Curtis Cup team in 1952 and then again in 1954. After retiring from c ...

3&2 and, with the singles matches tied 3–3, the British Isles won their first Curtis Cup.

Personal life

MacCann was born Catherine Smye in

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

, County Tipperary, Ireland on 20 February 1922. Her father and brothers were amateur golfers. She married Pat MacCann on 16 February 1950. She died on 29 April 2010 at the age of 88.

Team appearances

* Curtis Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland):

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

* Women's Home Internationals (representing Ireland): 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacCann, Kitty Irish female golfers Amateur golfers 1922 births 2010 deaths