Mary Allan Graham (9 February 1880 – 13 July 1950) was an amateur golfer. She won the

Womens Amateur Championship 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 the ...

at Aberdovey in 1901 and the

Scottish Women's Amateur Championship The Scottish Women’s Amateur Championship is the women's national amateur match play golf championship of Scotland. It was first played in 1903 and is currently organised by Scottish Golf. The Scottish Women's Amateur Championship is conteste ...

in 1904. Born in England to Scottish parents, she represented Scotland in international competitions.

Golf career

The 1901

was played at Aberdovey in Wales. Graham beat

Rhona Adair Rhona Kathleen Adair (2 September 1881 – 27 March 1961) was an Irish amateur golfer. She won the British Ladies Amateur twice and the Irish Ladies' Close Championships four times at the start of the twentieth century. Life Adair was born ...

, the defending champion, 3&2 in the final to win the championship. Adair had won the

Irish Women's Amateur Close Championship The Irish Women's Amateur Close Championship is the women's national amateur match play golf championship of Ireland. It was first played in 1894 and is currently organised by Golf Ireland. The Irish Women's Amateur Close Championship is contest ...

two weeks previously. In her semi-final match against

Sophie Stubbs Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of ...

, the referee had originally declared Stubbs the winner because of a mistake he had made in scoring the eighth hole. Graham appealed and then won the match at the 19th hole. Graham played for Scotland in the Women's internationals at Deal in 1902. On the first day, England beat Ireland and Ireland beat Scotland. The following day England beat Scotland 8–0 with two matches halved. Graham halved both her matches, against

and

Bertha Thompson Bertha Mildred Thompson (married name Walker, 25 October 1876 – 8 December 1953) was an English amateur golfer. She won the 1905 Womens Amateur Championship at Royal Cromer and reached the final the following year. She reached the quarter-final ...

. The first

was held in 1903. It was organised by the St Rule Club and played on the

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust under ...

. Graham met Alexa Glover in the final. The match was level after 17 holes but Glover won the 18th to win the match. In 1904, before the

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ...

, a triangular series of internationals were arranged. England beat Scotland 5–4, Ireland beat England 6–3 and Scotland beat Ireland 7–2, one match being halved in each contest. The first two matches were played at Troon, the third at

Prestwick Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...

. Graham lost to

Elinor Nevile Eleanor is a female given name. Eleanor, Elenore, Elinor, Elinore, Ellinore, Elynor or variations thereof may also refer to: Places * Lake Eleanor, a reservoir in Yosemite National Park, California * Eleanor, Iowa, an unincorporated community * E ...

but beat Florence Walker-Leigh. In the championship, Graham reached the semi-finals, losing 4&2 to

May Hezlet Mary Elizabeth Linzee "May" Hezlet (29 April 1882 – 27 December 1978) was a British amateur golfer and sports writer. She has been called "probably Ireland's greatest woman golfer". Early life Hezlet was born in Gibraltar, the daughter of Lie ...

. The

was held the following week at Prestwick, St Nicholas. On the final day, Graham won her semi-final and the final comfortably to win the title. The first official

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 ...

were played at Cromer in 1905. Scotland beat both England and Ireland to win the title. Wales did not complete. Graham beat

Lottie Dod Charlotte Dod (24 September 1871 – 27 June 1960) was an English multi-sport athlete, best known as a tennis player. She won the Wimbledon Ladies' Singles Championship five times, the first one when she was only 15 in the summer of 1887. She ...

but lost to

. The day before the Home Internationals an informal match was played between a team of American ladies and a team of British ladies. Graham played for the British team, winning her match against Mary Adams. The 1905

was the first one organised by the Scottish Ladies' Golfing Association and was held at

North Berwick Golf Club The North Berwick Golf Club (NBGC), at North Berwick, East Lothian, was founded in 1832. It is the 13th oldest golf club in the world and only St Andrews hosts a club which has played continuously over the same course for longer. Although the NBGC ...

. Graham reached final for the third year in a row, but lost at the 19th hole to

Dorothy Campbell Dorothy Lee Campbell (24 March 1883 – 20 March 1945) was a Scottish amateur golfer. Campbell was the first woman to win the American, British and Canadian Women's Amateurs. Early life She was born into a golfing family in North Berwick, Midl ...

. Graham again played in the

in 1906 at Burnham. Scotland retained the title by winning both their matches. Graham lost her two matches, to

and

Florence Hezlet Florence Eugenia Hezlet ( – 2 November 1945) was an Irish amateur golfer who played in the early 20th century. Early life Hezlet and her sisters, May Hezlet and Violet Hezlet, grew up in Ireland and became top golfers in their era. Golf caree ...

Personal life

Graham was born in February 1880 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, the daughter of John and Mary Gilkison Graham. Her brothers

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and

Allan Allan may refer to: People * Allan (name), a given name and surname, including list of people and characters with this name * Allan (footballer, born 1984) (Allan Barreto da Silva), Brazilian football striker * Allan (footballer, born 1989) ...

also became noted golfers. Graham died in

Conway, Wales Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on ...

in July 1950, aged 70. She was unmarried.

Team appearances

(representing Scotland): 1902, 1904, 1905 (winners), 1906 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Molly Scottish female golfers Amateur golfers Sportspeople from Liverpool 1880 births 1950 deaths