The Ladies' Golf Union (LGU) was the governing body for women's and girls' amateur

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. It was founded in 1893 and was based in

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourt ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

until merging with The R&A at the start of 2017. Issette Pearson was a founding member and the first Secretary of the LGU. The LGU was governed by an elected council with equal representation from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It was funded by a levy on women golfers' club membership fees, and indirectly represented over 200,000 golfers. It dealt with major policy issues, all-Britain and Ireland tournaments, and international competitions. It had affiliates in

, Ireland, Scotland and Wales which organise local tournaments, ran the

handicapping Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning. The word also applies to the various methods by which th ...

system, liaised with clubs, and promoted the sport at a local level. The LGU administered the

Women's British Open The Women's Open (originally known as the Women's British Open, and still widely referred to by that name outside the UK) is a major championship in women's professional golf. It is recognised by both the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour ...

, one of the major championships in global women's golf, which is open to professionals and nowadays dominated by them. It also ran several of Britain and Ireland championships:

Amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

, Mid Amateur, Girls', Stroke Play, and Seniors. Additionally there are several competitions for club golfers. The LGU ran three sets of international matches between teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales: the Home International Matches (mainstream adult competition); the Girls International Matches; and the Senior International Matches. The LGU was also involved in running several competitions involving teams from beyond its home territory: Curtis Cup; Vagliano Trophy;

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 ...

; and

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

competitions.

References

{{Authority control Golf associations Golf in Scotland Golf in the United Kingdom Women's sports governing bodies in Scotland Women's sports governing bodies in the United Kingdom Organisations based in Fife St Andrews 1893 establishments in the United Kingdom Women's golf in the United Kingdom Women's golf in Ireland 2016 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Sports organizations disestablished in 2016 Sports organizations established in 1893

See also

References