Beatrix Hoyt (July 5, 1880 – August 14, 1963) was an American amateur

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

er. Hoyt is the third youngest golfer to ever win the

U.S. Women's Amateur The U.S. Women's Amateur, also known as the United States Women's Amateur Golf Championship, is the leading golf tournament in the United States for female amateur golfers. It is played annually and is one of the 13 United States national golf ch ...

, and is one of only five competitors to win the championship three consecutive times. Hoyt was born in

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

, the youngest of William Sprague Hoyt and Janet Ralston Chase's four children. The Hoyts were a distinguished family. Beatrix's paternal great-grandfather, William Sprague, served as Governor of Rhode Island. Her maternal grandfather was

Salmon P. Chase Salmon Portland Chase (January 13, 1808May 7, 1873) was an American politician and jurist who served as the sixth chief justice of the United States from 1864 to his death in 1873. Chase served as the 23rd governor of Ohio from 1856 to 1860, r ...

(1808–1873), the

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

under

President Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War, defeating the Confederate State ...

and later,

Chief Justice of the United States The chief justice of the United States is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States and is the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. federal judiciary. Appointments Clause, Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution g ...

. A member of the

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is a links-style golf club located in an unincorporated area of the Town of Southampton on Long Island, New York, situated between the Peconic Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Founded in 1891, it is one of the oldest golf ...

Southampton, New York Southampton, officially the Town of Southampton, is a town in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town had a population of 69,036. Southampton is included in the stre ...

, which encouraged juniors and females to play the game, in 1896, at the age of 16, and after only two years of playing golf, Hoyt won the

, making her the youngest woman to win until

Laura Baugh Laura Zonetta Baugh (born May 31, 1955) is an American professional golfer, who played the LPGA Tour for 25 years. She is a published writer and golf broadcaster. Early life Baugh was born in Gainesville, Florida. Her father Hale Baugh, a lawye ...

's victory in 1971. She went on to win the championship the following two years as well. She was also the medalist for shooting the lowest score in the tournament's qualifying round, something she would accomplish for five straight years. 1896 was the second edition of the championship and the first year that the Robert Cox Cup was awarded to the winner. With partner William Sands, in November 1897, she won the mixed foursome championship at Westchester Country Club. At age 19, she retired from competitive golf after losing to

Margaret Curtis Margaret Curtis (October 8, 1883 – December 24, 1965) was an American golf and tennis champion and lifelong social worker. From the Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts area, she was the youngest of ten children. Her father was a colonel ...

in the semi-final round at the 1900 tournament, ultimately pursuing a career in

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and landscape

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyt, Beatrix American female golfers Amateur golfers Winners of ladies' major amateur golf championships Golfers from Westchester County, New York 1880 births 1963 deaths