Ada Mona MacLeod (7 June 1895 – 27 January 1953) was an Australian amateur golfer. She won the Australian Women's Amateur in 1921, 1926, 1927 and 1932 and won the

Victorian Women's Amateur Championship The Victorian Women's Amateur Championship is the state amateur golf championship of Victoria, Australia. It has been played annually since 1900, except for the war years. Format The event is a match play tournament. In 2021 and 2022 there were ...

five times between 1925 and 1933.

Golf career

MacLeod was runner-up in the 1919

behind Caroline Austin. She was tied with Violet Yuille but took the second prize after beating Yuille in an 18-hole playoff the following day. In September 1921 she won the Australian Women's Amateur for the first time. Played at Royal Melbourne she won by 14 strokes. The following month she was runner-up in the Victorian championship behind

Gladys Hay Gladys may refer to: * Gladys (given name), people with the given name Gladys * ''Gladys'' (album), a 2013 album by Leslie Clio * ''Gladys'' (film), 1999 film written and directed by Vojtěch Jasný * Gladys, Virginia, United States * ''Gladys t ...

and she was second again in 1922 behind Cecily Lascelles. MacLeod spent much of 1923 in Europe. She played in the

Women's 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 ...

but lost in the first round to Lena Scroggie, a member of the Scottish team in the Women's Home Internationals that year. In the 1924 Australian Women's Amateur Macleod led at the start of the final round. She finished second but was later disqualified for failing to replace her ball after it been moved by another competitor's ball. Macleod finished runner-up to

Nellie Gatehouse Eleanor Wright Gatehouse ( Austin, 12 May 1886 – 30 August 1972) was an Australian amateur golfer. She won the Australian Women's Amateur in 1909, 1925 and 1928 and won the Victorian Women's Amateur Championship five times between 1907 and 19 ...

in the 1925 Australian championship but won the Victorian championship for the first time. She won the 1926 Australian championship at Royal Adelaide, eight strokes ahead of

Susie Tolhurst Susie is a female name that can be a diminutive form of Susan, Susanne, Suzanne, Susannah, Susanna or Susana. Susie may refer to: Songs * "Susie Q" (song), a 1957 song by Dale Hawkins, covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968) *"Wake Up ...

, and retained the Victorian title. MacLeod's run of successes continued in 1927 when she retained the Australian championship at Royal Mebourne. However she was disqualified in the Victorian championship after twice playing the wrong ball at the very first hole. She completed the round in 81, six strokes better than any other competitor. In 1928 the two championships, Australian and Victorian, switched from 54-hole stroke-play to match-play. MacLeod reached the final of both events, She lost 9 and 8 to

in the Australian championship at Royal Sydney, but beat

3 and 2 in Victorian event, her third win in four years. She failed to reach either final in 1929, losing to Susie Tolhurst in the semi-finals of both championships. MacLeod travelled to Europe again in 1930. She reached the quarter-finals of 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 ...

before losing to the eventual winner,

Helen Holm Helen Warren Holm (née Gray) (14 March 1907 – 14 December 1971) was a Scottish amateur golfer. She was Scottish champion five times and she won the British Ladies Amateur twice. The Helen Holm Trophy is named in her memory. Life Holm was born ...

. In MacLeod's absence in 1930,

had won both the Australian and Victorian championships. In 1931 MacLeod and Tolhurst met in the final of both events, Tolhurst winning both times. MacLeod won her fourth Victorian championship in 1932. Tolhurst was returning from Britain and missed the event. Tolhurst returned in time for the Australian championship at Kooyonga. The pair met in the quarter-finals, MacLeod winning narrowly. MacLeod went on to win her fourth Australian title, beating

Jess Russell Jess is a unisex given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Jessica, Jesse, Jessie, etc., and a surname. It may refer to: Given name * Jess Atkinson (born 1961), American football player * Jess Cain (1926–2008), American radio host * J ...

in the final. MacLeod and Susie Tolhurst met again in the final of the 1933 Victorian championship, MacLeod winning her fifth title by a 9 and 8 margin. The first Tasman Cup match against New Zealand was played in 1933, between the qualifying for the Australian Women's Amateur and the match-play stage. Australia won 3 of the 4 singles matches in the morning but after lunch three of the five Australian players, including MacLeod, were unable to play in the foursomes because of illness, and they had to concede the second foursomes match. New Zealand won the foursomes match that was played and the match was tied at 3 matches each. The result was decided on holes won and, with the conceded match being scored as a 10 and 8 win, New Zealand won by 13 holes to 8. MacLeod had not fully recovered when the first round of the Australian championship match-play was played and lost 8 and 7 in the 18-hole match, failing to win a single hole. MacLeod had health problems from 1934 for a few years. She played in two further Tasman Cup matches, in 1934 and 1936. She also reached the final of the

in 1936 but had to concede the match to

Susie Morpeth Susie is a female name that can be a diminutive form of Susan, Susanne, Suzanne, Susannah, Susanna or Susana. Susie may refer to: Songs * "Susie Q" (song), a 1957 song by Dale Hawkins, covered by Creedence Clearwater Revival (1968) *"Wake Up ...

, the former Susie Tolhurst, when she was too ill to play. MacLeod was president of the Victorian Ladies' Golf Union from 1948 until her death.

Personal life

MacLeod was born on 7 June 1895 in

Penshurst, Victoria Penshurst is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is in the Shire of Southern Grampians local government area and is located at the foot of Mount Rouse, an extinct volcano. At the , Penshurst had a population of 461. Basic facilities include a hosp ...

, the eldest child of James Alexander MacLeod and Eveline Mary Kate Grylls who had married in August 1894. James MacLeod was the manager of the National Bank in Penshurst. She died, unmarried, on 27 January 1953, aged 57.

Team appearances

* Tasman Cup (representing Australia): 1933, 1934 (winners), 1936 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacLeod, Mona Australian female golfers Amateur golfers Sportswomen from Victoria (state) 1895 births 1953 deaths