Marley Joan Spearman ( Baker, later Harris, 11 January 1928 – 19 August 2011) She won the

British Ladies Amateur The Women's Amateur Championship, previously known as the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship, was founded in 1893 by the Ladies' Golf Union. It is organised by The R&A, which merged with the Ladies' Golf Union in 2017. Until the dawn of th ...

in 1961 and 1962 and the

English Women's Amateur Championship The English Women's Amateur Championship is the women's national amateur match play golf championship of England. It was first played in 1912 and is currently organised by England Golf. The English Women's Amateur Championship is contested thro ...

in 1964. She was in four

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 R&A and is contested by teams representing the United States and " ...

teams, in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1964.

Golf career

Spearman didn't start playing golf until she was in her early 20s, and first came to prominence in 1953 when reached the fifth round of the

and the final of the

Worplesdon Mixed Foursomes The Worplesdon Open Scratch Mixed Foursomes is an open mixed foursomes golf tournament contested annually at the Worplesdon Golf Club in Surrey since 1921. From its inception until the 1960s the event attracted many of the leading amateur golfer ...

. In 1955 she won the Middlesex title for the first time and played for England in the

Women's Home Internationals The Women's Home Internationals were an amateur team golf championship for women contested between the four Home Nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, where Ireland was represented by the whole island of Ireland on an All-Ireland basi ...

. She would win the Middlesex championship eight times between 1955 and 1965 and represented England in the home internationals each year in that period. In 1958 she won the

Spalding Women's Open Stroke Play The Spalding Women's Open Stroke Play was a national women's 72-hole stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes ...

at Moor Park, three strokes ahead of Elizabeth Price. In 1961 Spearman won the

beating Diane Robb 7&6 in the final. In the quarter-finals she had only beaten

Brigitte Varangot Brigitte Varangot (1 May 1940 – 12 October 2007) was a French amateur golfer. Early life Varangot was born in Biarritz in the French Basque Country and was a self-taught golfer, who did not take many lessons and did not practice a lot. Lally ...

at the 23rd hole. She retained the title in 1962 beating

Angela Bonallack Angela, Lady Bonallack ( Ward; 7 April 1937 – 1 July 2022) was an English amateur golfer. She was twice a finalist in the Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship and won the English Women's Amateur Championship in 1958 and 1963. She played ...

by one hole. In 1964 she won the

beating

Mary Everard Dorothy Mary Everard (also Laupheimer, 8 October 1942 – 28 May 2022) was an English amateur golfer. She was runner-up in the 1967 Ladies' British Open Amateur Championship. She won the Ladies' British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 1 ...

6&5 in the final, having beaten Bonallack in the semi-finals. Later in 1964 she won the

Astor Prince's Trophy The Astor Prince's Trophy was a women's 72-hole stroke play amateur golf tournament played at Prince's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent from 1961 to 1969. The event was dropped after 1969 because of a busy schedule. The Ladies' British Open Amateur St ...

, an event she won again in 1965. In 1965 she also won the

Hovis International The Hovis International was a women's amateur 72-hole stroke-play event. It was held from 1964 to 1972. The event continued as the Newmark International. Some of the later events were open to professionals. Winners References

{{Reflist Ama ...

, six strokes ahead of

Ruth Porter Ruth Porter (later Slark, 6 May 1939 – 15 September 2014) was an English amateur golfer. She had a successful junior career which included winning the 1956 Girls Amateur Championship and the 1958 British Girls' Stroke-play Championship. She ...

. She was also a joint-winner of the

Kayser Bondor Foursomes The Avia Foursomes was a women's foursomes golf tournament contested annually from 1958 to 1989. It was held at Sunningdale Golf Club in its first year but was then played at the Berkshire Golf Club near Ascot, Berkshire. The event consisted of 7 ...

in 1958 and, playing with Varangot, won the Casa Pupo Foursomes in 1965 by 21 strokes. In May 1958 Spearman was not in the original team of seven selected for the

team, being third non-travelling reserve. However Philomena Garvey later withdrew and team was expanded to eight, Spearman gaining a place. The match in August was tied, with Britain retaining the cup as the previous holders, although Spearman did not play in any matches. She was selected for the team in 1960 but she was again not chosen for any matches. The United States regained the cup. She was chosen for the 1962 team in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. The British lost heavily winning just one of the nine 36-hole matches. Spearman lost both her matches. She was selected for the 1964 match at Royal Porthcawl, the first to have 18-hole matches. Playing with

she won both her foursomes matches. She halved both her singles matches. The contest was much closer that in 1962 with the teams level at the start of the final round of singles matches. Spearman played in the first two editions of the

Commonwealth Trophy The Astor Trophy is a women's team golf tournament between teams of amateurs golfers from Great Britain and Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. It has been played every four years since 1959. From its foundation until 2007 it ...

, in 1959 in St Andrews and in 1963 in Melbourne. She played in the

Vagliano Trophy The Vagliano Trophy is a biennial women's amateur golf tournament. It is co-organised by The R&A and the European Golf Association and is contested by teams representing "Great Britain and Ireland" and the "Continent of Europe". It is played in od ...

in 1959 and 1961 and also in 1965 when the Continent of Europe won for the first time. She also played for England in the inaugural

Espirito Santo Trophy The Espirito Santo Trophy (World Women's Amateur Team Championships) is a biennial world amateur team golf championship for women organised by the International Golf Federation. The inaugural event was held in 1964. It was instituted by the Fren ...

contest in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, where the team finished in third place and Spearman was joint-third in the individual standings. In

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

she was a member of the English team that won the

European Ladies' Team Championship The European Ladies' Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for women organised by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1959. It was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been pla ...

, the first time an English team had entered the event.

Personal life

Spearman was the daughter of a businessman and was brought up in

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes ...

. After leaving school she became a dancer in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

. She married Tony Spearman in 1950 and ended her dancing career. It was not until after she was married that she started playing golf. In the late-1960s she was divorced and married Steven Harris.

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1958 (tie, retained trophy), 1960, 1962, 1964 *

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1959 (winners), 1961 (winners), 1965 *

(representing Great Britain): 1959 (winners), 1963 (winners) *

(representing England):

(winners) *

(representing England): 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958 (winners), 1959 (winners), 1960 (winners), 1961, 1962, 1963 (winners), 1964 (winners), 1965 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spearman, Marley English female golfers Amateur golfers 1928 births 2011 deaths