Ada Mackenzie – Part IV, First Lady of Golf

The fourth and final part of our series showcasing the remarkable life and golfing career of Ada Mackenzie features the concluding chapters of Ada’s life from 1936 to 1973 when her astonishing achievements continued to be recognised whilst some of her golf was truly phenomenal.

If you have not read some or all of the previous parts in this series and you wish to do so, please click on…

Ada Mackenzie – Part I, Havergal College Alumna narrates Ada’s time growing up as a student and outstanding sportswoman at Havergal College, Toronto and her formative years as a golfer up to and including 1924.

Ada Mackenzie – Part II, Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto chronicles how Ada almost single-handedly established the Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto, the oldest existing club in the world founded by a woman for women.

Ada Mackenzie – Part III, Trailblazing Champion covers the years 1925 to 1935 when Ada unquestionably cemented her place in the elite constellation of champion women golfers and was a trailblazer on and off the Links.

Notice Board

At times during this article, I will state Ada’s age to emphasise the magnitude of a specific golfing achievement…but throughout please try to remember that she was born on 30th October 1891 so at the opening of Part IV Ada was 44 years old.

Several non-major amateur championships are featured in Part IV to further illustrate Ada’s longevity as an elite golfer, her competitiveness and the ability to shoot some incredible rounds whatever her age.

The well of research material for Part IV is, as they say, vast and inexhaustible…thus I had no alternative but to leave some potential narrative on the cutting room floor. Also, at times I have skipped several years whilst at other times there is concentrated focus on a specific year, championship or event.

On the subject of material…at the foot of the article, I have acknowledged the global golfing community (individuals, golf clubs and organisations ) who have so kindly supported me throughout this series. At this point, and as I have done previously for Parts I, II & III, I would like to take the opportunity to thank Margaret McLaren, the self-appointed historian at Rivermead Golf Club, Ottawa. Margaret’s innate ability to meticulously uncover facts, figures and the occasional ‘golden nugget’ is second to none and I can’t thank Margaret enough for her continuous unconditional input and support.

I hope you enjoy ‘Ada Mackenzie – Part IV, First Lady of Golf’.

Hot and Cold

Royal Montreal Golf Cub welcomed one of the strongest fields for the 1936 renewal of the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, including several top golfers from the United States.

As defending champion, Ada was expected to lead the challenge from the home nation but she really struggled in the Strokeplay qualifier and only just scraped through to the match play knockout stage…rather harshly, several commentators labelled her performance ‘Unimpressive’.

The following day in the Round of 32, Ada played golf of sublime quality and was immediately installed (by the same above-mentioned commentators) as co-favourite to win the championship for the sixth time…oh how fickle the media can be!! However, in the Round of 16, Ada struggled once again and was defeated 2&1 by one of the American ladies.

This championship was possibly the first time where Ada had been unable to maintain her form over a sustained period…maybe moving more towards hot and cold?

The following week, Ada reached the semi-finals of the Canadian Ladies’ Closed Championship and the week after reached the Round of 16 at the U.S. Women’s Championship. Although this was a comparatively lean season by Ada’s high standards she played fine golf throughout the year.

Punch Golf

A fantastic article was published in Maclean’s Magazine titled ‘Punch Golf by Dink Carroll’…what a great name for an author!! At the time Punch was the term used for Power and Ada’s views on the subject of power in the sport of golf were solicited.

In the article, Ada commented that lots of lady golfers tried to use the same clubs for each shot as their gentleman counterparts but as a consequence, they were only handicapping themselves…Ada continued by saying that women simply don’t have the power and that the average woman golfer should depend on the perfection of her timing rather than the strength of her muscles.

Ada stated that Joyce Wethered, Glenna Collett and Virginia Van Wie were the best players she had competed against so far and they were all brilliant with timing, coordination and rhythm to execute quality shot-making.

Competitiveness #1

The following year, Ada travelled to Bermuda to contest the annual Bermuda Women’s Championship played at Riddells Bay.

Ada led the qualifiers with a round of 77 and proceeded to win her knockout matches with some ease to reach the 18 hole final where she met Katherine Sylvester of New York. The final was watched by a large gallery, most of whom expected Ada to win but her American opponent had other ideas. A hard-fought match saw Ada hold a slender 1 hole advantage playing the last but Katherine nearly drove the short par 4 18th to win the hole and force sudden death.

The 19th was halved but at the 20th Ada drew on all her experience to win the hole and the championship with a birdie 3.

Sensational

In September 1938, Ada captained the Ontario Province team in the annual Canadian inter-provincial 36-hole team championship (a prelude to the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship), where drizzling rain made for challenging conditions in the first round for all the competitors at the difficult Royal Ottawa Golf Club.

Ada bogeyed the par 5 opening hole but then…birdied the 8th, 9th, 12th and 17th…one-putted 12 times (though most of those were short putts as a consequence of her impressive approach play)…and set a course record 73 (at the time the ladies par was 76). To provide some context of how good Ada’s round was that day…

• Shattered the course record by 5 shots!!
• The record was previously held by none other than Alexa Stirling Fraser (one of the all-time greats of women’s golf as covered in Parts I & III).
• The second best score was an 81 from…Alexa Stirling Fraser (an honorary member at Royal Ottawa).

Even though it was not one of the major amateur championships (British, American or Canadian), the New York Times dedicated several column inches to Ada’s course record, opening with “Shooting the most sensational golf of her career…”

As Ada commented afterwards “it is the best score I have ever made in a tournament”…and done only a few weeks shy of her 47th birthday!!

Quintet

At the start of October, the Royal Ottawa Golf Club staged a match, comprised of 2 foursomes and 5 singles, between a quintet of players from the 1938 Great Britain Curtis Cup team who had just lost to the United States and the best quintet of players from Canada.

Ada Mackenzie captained the team and played in the top match in the foursomes and singles. Although Ada lost her foursomes by 1up and her singles by 4&3, she was up against Scotland’s Jessie Anderson in both matches, a player who the previous year was rated as the best player in the world. Great Britain won the match but the score of 5 points to 2 points flattered the visitors as most of the head-to-head contests could have gone either way.

The Canadian Ladies Golf Union were subsequently unsuccessful in their valiant attempt to convince the Ladies Golf Union and the United States Golf Association to expand the Curtis Cup matches to include Canada.

Medallist

The schedule was relentless…the following day, all of the players from Canada vs. Great Britain joined over 80 players for the 18-hole Strokeplay qualifying round for the 1938 Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship.

Jessie Anderson, Alexa Stirling Fraser and Ada Mackenzie led the quality field, all with brilliant rounds of 79…Ada was awarded the medal as the top qualifier as she had the best back nine. But to the dismay of her many supporters, Ada was knocked out in the Round of 32.

Competitiveness #2

One of Ada’s final appearances in tournament golf before the cancellation of championships due to the Second World War was at the 1939 Ontario Championship staged at York Downs, where Ada was looking to add to her record number of 5 wins in this Canadian Provincial Championship.

In the quarter-finals, all appeared lost until Ada staged a brilliant recovery to win 1up. A comfortable win in the semi-final set up a final against Marion Mulqueen, the reigning Canadian Women’s Amateur Champion and recognised as one of the toughest match play competitors in the world.

A thrilling match ensued…Ada was 3up at the turn but Marion gradually eroded the deficit and finally levelled the match on the 18th. The first 3 holes of sudden death were halved but at the 22nd hole of the contest, Ada played beautifully to firstly stymie her opponent and then birdie the par 5 to secure a sixth Ontario Championship.

And at the end of the season, Ada reduced her handicap back down to scratch once again.

National Salvage

During the Second World War Ada joined a women’s auxiliary group of speakers who communicated the demands of the war effort as part of the overall Canadian Salvage Committee.

As reported in the Globe and Mail, in April 1942 Ada spoke at a meeting of the Women’s Board of the Toronto Hospital. The following are extracts from the message she delivered…

“We are asked to save every scrap of waste material for the war effort. We must save bones, to make glue for planes…from rags, the woollens to be reprocessed and the cotton to be used as wipers for machines and guns…all sorts of metals to make tanks and machines. We are urged to save paper, glass and bottles of all sorts including those broken, and save rubber down to the smallest elastic band”

Ladies’ Golf & Tennis Club of Toronto

In 1943 Ada was elected President of the Ladies’ Golf and Tennis Club of Toronto, succeeding Lady Baillie who had held the position since 1924, when the club had been established (by Ada).

The following year, the club was in serious financial difficulties and reportedly the Board proposed the Club should be closed. But a group of newer members disagreed with the proposal and devised a plan to revive the club…as an experienced business person, Ada fully understood the desire of others to save the Club (which they did) and in time Ada stood down as President.

In January 1944 Ada’s mother Mary Ann Mackenzie sadly passed away, aged 81.

Post WW2

After a gap of 7 years, Ada returned to competitive golf by winning her seventh Ontario Championship.

The following year Ada claimed her eighth Ontario Championship at the 1st hole of sudden death in the final. Also in 1947, the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship resumed and Ada rolled back the years to reach the semi-final, where she was defeated by the eventual champion Grace Lenczyk, a mere 36 years younger than Ada!!

The following year at Riverside Golf Club, history repeated itself when Ada lost once again in the semi-finals to Grace, who went on to defend her crown…a few weeks later Grace Lenczyk also won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship.

Retirement…Never

A new decade and yet another title when in 1950 Ada was crowned Ontario Ladies Champion for the ninth (and final) time…28 years after she had won her very first Provincial Championship!! Fittingly this success was achieved at Mississaugua Golf Club, the club where Ada first played golf at the start of the 20th century and the club she represented for almost two decades before establishing the Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto.

Not long afterwards she told reporters that…

“I should have stopped playing tournament golf long ago but I couldn’t bring myself to stop this year as the Curtis Cup is being played in the United States and the British team have agreed to also come to Canada to play against our International team…it will be too exciting to miss!!”

Superstitious

Ada invariably wore a golfing outfit from the range of items promoted and sold in her sportswear store Ada Mackenzie Ltd. in Toronto (this business was featured in Part III).

But Ada was superstitious. When playing golf she never wore green apart from when she represented Canada in an International match…and whenever she had a good round of golf she would wear the same outfit the following day, as she thought changing attire might result in losing her touch on the golf course!! As newspapers reported at the time, that approach might be good for her golf but not so good from a business perspective by not advertising different outfits from her store!!

Finest Round

The 1950 Canadian Ladies’ Closed Championship was played over 54 holes at the St. Charles Country Club course in Winnipeg (twelve months earlier the format of this championship had changed from Strokeplay qualifying followed by knockout match play to three rounds of Strokeplay).

In the opening round…intermittent rain, howling winds and freezing temperature seriously hindered the majority of golfers…but not Ada. Observers watched in awe as (58-year-old) Ada shot an incredible 37 (1 under par) on the front nine and 41 (3 over par) for the back nine to be the leader in the clubhouse by two strokes at the end of day one.

Alex ‘Sandy’ Weir, a fine amateur golfer who played in the 1930 British Open won by Bobby Jones, was the respected writer for over 25 years of the highly entertaining golf column ‘Tee Topics’ in the Winnipeg Free Press. Of Ada’s round of 78 he wrote…

“Considering the weather (conditions) that is the finest round of golf I’ve ever known a lady to turn in here”

Unfortunately, Ada had an absolute shocker in round two but recovered well to shoot an impressive 81 in the final round to finish runner up, only 3 shots behind the winner.

Marlene Stewart

The following week at the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship, Ada’s reward (if that is the correct term) for battling through the Round of 32 was a match against a little known, diminutive, 16-year-old Canadian golfer by the name of…Marlene Stewart.

Marlene had only been playing golf for a couple of seasons and this was only her second tournament!! Displaying unbelievable skill and maturity for one so inexperienced, Marlene was 3up after 9 having dropped only 1 shot to par…and on the back nine played ‘safely for halves’ when required to eventually wrap up the match at the 15th.

Obviously, neither player was aware of the wider significance of this match, but it was probably the moment that signified the start of the end of Ada’s (30+ years) reign as Canada’s #1 woman golfer and the start of Marlene’s long reign as Canada’s #1…but in no way did this mark the end of Ada’s tenure in the elite echelon of championship golf.

Cuppers vs. Queens

One of the Canadian Newspapers ran with the headline ‘Curtis Cuppers Prepare to Play Canadian Queens’…referring to the upcoming match at the Toronto Golf Club between the 1950 Great Britain Curtis Cup team and the Canadian International team which as you read earlier Ada was ‘too excited to miss’.

Ada was once again the captain of the Canadian team…despite winning her singles match by 3&1 against opposing captain Diana Critchley (née Fishwick), one of the greatest ever English golfers, the visitors ran out easy winners by 8 points to 2.

As they had done twelve years previously, the Canadian Ladies Golf Union made overtures to participate in a triangular Curtis Cup series…initial feedback was that their application would be considered favourably, but in the end, their application was rejected and the Curtis Cup remains to this day a biennial contest between Great Britain and the United States.

A few days later, Ada’s twin brother George Innes Mackenzie died of a sudden heart attack, aged only 58. George was an insurance executive who lived and worked in Winnipeg…he was an avid golfer and curler and was one of the founders of the Western Canada Golf Association.

Sportswriters Poll

At the end of 1950, the Canadian sportswriters conducted a poll to select Canada’s outstanding female athlete of the first half of the 20th Century….and the Top 3 were:

1. Bobbie Rosenfeld ~ Athlete who won Gold and Silver Medals at the 1928 Olympics.
2. Barbara Ann Scott ~ Figure Skater who was Olympic Champion in 1948 and World Champion in 1947 and 1948.
3. Ada Mackenzie ~ Hopefully, Parts I, II, III & IV capture Ada’s achievements on and off the Links.

Little Ben

In 1951, Ada attempted to defend her Ontario Ladies Championship and win the title for the tenth time but in one of the early rounds was drawn against Little Ben (as in Ben Hogan and the nickname of Marlene Stewart).

After six holes Ada found herself six down for the one and only time in her career…as Ada said after the match she was playing pretty well but Marlene was 4 under fours after six holes!! But Ada gradually fought back to be 3 down with 5 to play and feeling that Marlene’s inexperience at this level might be starting to show…then with a single putt at the 14th which Marlene confidently holed to arrest the slide, she proved herself to Ada and eventually went on to knock Ada out of the championship.

A few months later, Ada said that it was “no surprise to her” that Marlene won the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship in 1951, beating Grace Lenczyk in the final…in fact “nothing that little girl does in golf from now on will surprise me”.

Ada was most definitely spot on…Marlene Stewart Streit, as per her married name, is the only golfer in history to win the British, U.S., Canadian and Australian Women’s Amateur Championships and in 2004 she was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Marlene and Ada became firm friends and Marlene will continue to feature prominently in this article.

Historic Overseas Trip

Spring 1952 and the British Ladies Golf Union invited their Canadian counterparts to send a team of seven golfers to Great Britain to play in various events (team and individual) the following year.

The executive of the Canadian Ladies Golf Union decided that a captain should be immediately appointed so that they could be in regular contact with the players throughout the season. Ada Mackenzie was the unanimous choice of the executive to be the playing captain of the first-ever official women’s golf team to represent Canada overseas…Ada proudly accepted the role.

The jam-packed golfing itinerary for this historic (6 weeks) trip in 1953 was as follows:

• Lady Astor Salver, to be played at The Berkshire Golf Club.
• International Match vs. Wales, to be played at Maesdu Golf Club.
• British Women’s Amateur Championship, to be played at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club.
• Commonwealth Tournament, to be played at Formby Golf Club.
• International Match vs. Ireland, to be played at Royal Portrush Golf Club.
• International Match vs. Scotland, to be played at Gullane Golf Club.
• International Match vs. England, to be played at Hollinwell Golf Club.
• Sunday Graphic, to be played at Sunningdale Golf Club.

The Canadian team all had nicknames for one another…unsurprisingly, Ada was known as ‘Boss’.

(There was also an invitational tournament played at Royal St. David’s Golf Club but Margaret and I have been unable to x-reference and validate the sketchy outputs from our composite research….best theory is that this event was played between the International match against Wales and the British Women’s Amateur)

Coronation

Ada and her Commonwealth Team flew from Montreal, arriving in London on 29th May. Throughout their trip, the Canadian ladies were treated to a series of social events, with the highlight occurring before a single golf shot had even been played!!

On 2nd June the team were invited by William Garfield Weston (a multi-millionaire Canadian businessman and philanthropist, who established one of the world’s largest food processing and distribution operations and also served as an MP in England during the Second World War) to join him and guests in his ‘grandstand’ on London’s Oxford Street to watch the parade for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Lady Astor Salver

The first Tournament was the 36-hole Lady Astor Salver staged at The Berkshire Golf Club. Newspaper reports commented on how most of the caddies were men wearing coats and ties and that remarkably one of the golfers from England had a French poodle which she passed to her caddie to hold every time she made a shot!!

Having said that, this was (and still is to this day) a prestigious tournament on the golfing calendar and back in 1953 was won by Jeanne Bisgood with an aggregate score of 147 (73-74) with Marlene Stewart finishing runner up on 149 (77-72).

Ada did not play in this opening event but remarked…

“I’m quite pleased with our showing…we did quite well once we got warmed up“

Wales vs. Canada

After the Lady Astor Salver, the Canadian team travelled to the Maesdu Golf Club, Llandudno to play a match against Wales.

Before the match, the teams were given a civic welcome by the chairman of the urban council, the captain of the golf club and the chairman of the golf club…and as reported by the local newspaper, the golf club were also the hosts for lunch and tea!!

Canada won the match (comprised of 7 singles) by 5 points to 2 points. As playing captain, Ada won her singles by 5&4 against Wilson Jones, deputising for (the Wales captain) Lady Ashcombe.

Headline Maker

The British Women’s Amateur Championship of 1953 was played at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club, the second time the Championship had been staged on these historic Links, the first being in 1934 (Royal Porthcawl hosted the event for the third time in 1974 and would have hosted the Championship for the fourth time in 2021 but for the Covid-19 pandemic…instead, the club is really looking forward to next hosting the event in 2025).

After successfully navigating the first two rounds, Ada was drawn against Jeanne Bisgood in the Round of 32. As just mentioned, Jeanne Bisgood was in excellent form having won the Lady Astor Salver (she had also won the Salver in 1951 and 1952)…she was also English Ladies Champion in 1951 (and again in 1953 and in 1957).

By far and away the best report about the match opened with the sentence…

“Miss Mackenzie was completely imperturbable and Miss Bisgood never settled down”

Magnificent play on and around the greens enabled Ada to birdie the 9th and the 11th to be 2up…but lost the 12th after her only venture into the rough. Ada soon rectified this solitary blip by winning the next 3 holes to secure a famous victory by 4&3.

The British Newspapers ran headlines including words such as shock, surprise and sensation as the #1 English player had been unexpectedly outplayed and outthought by a golfer whose best days were supposedly well in the past!!

Having to play again in the afternoon (her fourth match in less than 3 days), Ada was unable to maintain her form and was defeated in the Round of 16 by 2&1 (several years later in an interview Ada said that despite being 61 years of age, the 1953 Championship was her best chance to win the title!!).

However, her disappointment was short-lived as Marlene Stewart was crowned champion following a sublime 7&6 victory over Irish champion Philomena Garvey in the final. Ada was full of praise for Marlene (who was still only 19 years of age) saying…

“Now there is a golfer. She is as cool as you can be. Nothing upsets her. That’s the way a golfer has to be”

Commonwealth Tournament

The Commonwealth Tournament was played over three days at Formby Golf Club, one of the best links courses in the world. This Tournament was the forerunner of the Astor Trophy (formerly known as the Commonwealth Trophy), which was established in 1959…today the Astor Trophy is contested every four years by teams of 4 women golfers from Australia, Canada, Great Britain & Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa in a round-robin format.

Back in 1953, there were teams from Great Britain (all Curtis Cup Internationals), Great Britain Juniors (U21), New Zealand and Canada. Each team played one another with matches comprising of 2 foursomes in the morning and 5 singles in the afternoon.

Ada decided to be a non-playing captain for this event… this could have been due to the physically demanding travelling and playing schedule…or maybe Ada wanted to provide her young team with the maximum opportunity to gain further experience on the international stage.

Day One ~ Canada struggled at times against New Zealand but eventually won by 4 points to 3 whilst Great Britain’s Curtis Cup players proved too strong for the Great Britain Juniors by 6 points to 1.

Day Two ~ A titanic match unfolded between Canada and Great Britain. The teams could not be split after the morning foursomes or after the afternoon singles and the match finished as a draw. In the other match, the Great Britain Juniors clinched a thrilling contest against New Zealand by 4 points to 3.

Day Three ~ For Canada to win the tournament they needed to defeat the Great Britain Juniors, which they did by 5 points to 2 and hope that New Zealand could defy the odds and not lose to Great Britain…it was not to be as Great Britain whitewashed the touring team from New Zealand…thus Great Britain was awarded the trophy as they had accumulated more points than Canada in the other 2 matches!!

Despite not winning this International Tournament, Ada must have been incredibly proud of her team.

Hell Bunker

The next stop for the Canadian team was at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland…the home team’s experience and knowledge of the historic links proved decisive as they won the match (comprised of 3 foursomes and 7 singles) by 7 matches to 2 with 1 halved…Ada sat out the foursomes and halved her singles match.

From Northern Ireland, the team travelled to Edinburgh to play against Scotland at Gullane Golf Club. There was no time for a practice round (this match was played only 2 days after the match in Ireland)  so it was no surprise that the Canadian team struggled at times, in particular on the greens. In the morning the hosts won all 3 foursomes but in the afternoon both teams won 3 singles matches with one halved…Ada only played in the singles where she was unable to ‘land a blow’ against Jeanette Robertson.

The following day, Ada and her team played at the Old Course, St Andrews with the St Rule Ladies’ Club who at the time were the Scottish Club Champions. Only Ada had previously played there before and thus she explained to her team they could not be considered real golfers until they had played at the home of golf!! During the informal match, all of the Canadian team deliberately played into Hell Bunker to match their skill against this most notorious of hazards…they repeated the exercise at the infamous 17th by attempting to play off the road next to the green!!

England vs. Canada

The Canadian team then embarked on the long journey south from St Andrews to play against England at Hollinwell Golf Club, one of the best courses in the United Kingdom.

This was the first time an International match had been played in the county of Nottinghamshire. The day before the match the Nottingham Journal dedicated many column inches previewing this historic contest.

And what a contest…as apart from the top foursomes all games finished on the 17th or 18th!! The teams could not be split after the morning foursomes with 1 win each and a halved match. In the afternoon singles, the English team just edged out the tourists to clinch the match by 5&1/2 points to 4&1/2 points…in her singles match, Ada birdied the par 3 13th to grab the lead and eventually won by 2&1.

After the match, the teams were the guests of honour at a civic dinner where all the players were presented with lace tablecloths embroidered in a coronation design. At the dinner, Ada was full of praise for all of the people and Golf Clubs who had made the Canadian team so welcome and finished by saying…

“This has been a wonderful tour for us and a grand finale”

Sunday Graphic

The International match against England at Hollinwell Golf Club should not have been the finale of this historic trip. All of the Canadian women were due to play in the ‘Sunday Graphic’, the first-ever 72 hole Strokeplay tournament for women played over 2 days on the New Course at Sunningdale Golf Club.

The civic dinner (following England vs. Canada) finished late on the evening of Saturday 11th July whilst the ‘Sunday Graphic’ started early on Monday 13th July…that would have meant travelling all day Sunday with no time to practice. Already ‘over-golfed and exhausted’ from such an extensive tour of Great Britain over such a short period (or as Marlene Stewart told reporters…we talked golf, played it, ate it and slept it), Ada and her team understandably withdrew from the Tournament to rest before travelling home to Canada.

Whilst ‘resting’, the team managed to visit many famous London landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, both Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London… Ada then spent a few days sightseeing in Paris before returning to Canada at the end of July.

(For the record, Frances ‘Bunty’ Stephens of Royal Birkdale won the ‘Sunday Graphic’, played in horrendous conditions, with a score of 315 (81-79-81-74)…her closing round of 74 was a course record)

Senior Champion

Ada’s 1954 golfing season was severely disrupted when a car door was closed on her right hand and she suffered a broken thumb and a laceration which required several stitches…one of the events she sadly missed was the Toronto District Championship played at the Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto…the first time this event had been hosted at the club Ada founded.

The following year, Ada finally acknowledged her age (she was now 63) and entered the Canadian Senior Women’s Championship for the very first time (the qualifying age was 60)…Ada won the 36-hole Strokeplay tournament played at Lambton Golf Club by a margin of 8 strokes from the defending champion!!

Ada’s achievements were once again honoured when in 1955 she was inducted into the newly established Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, in recognition of bringing fame to Canada through sport. The other golfer inducted in the same category was George Seymour Lyon whose many achievements included winning the Gold Medal as Golf Champion at the 1904 Olympics held in St. Louis…this was the last time golf was part of the Olympic Programme until 2016 when Justin Rose won the Gold Medal!!

Ada Mackenzie Challenge Trophy

Also in 1955, Ada continued her love and support of junior girls golf by donating the ‘Ada Mackenzie Challenge Trophy’ to the Canadian Ladies Golf Association, to be awarded to the team with the lowest aggregate nett score at the Canadian Junior Inter-Provincial Championship.

(From 1962 the trophy was awarded to the team with the lowest aggregate gross score…and more about this trophy’s provenance later)

Bercanus

The Bercanus Golfing Society, comprised of golfers from Canada, the United States and Bermuda, convened annually to promote golf and social fellowship.

In 1958, the Bercanus Tournament was staged at the Belmont and Mid Ocean Golf Clubs in Bermuda. Ada won first prize in the Ladies’ event and in partnership with her brother John finished runner up in the mixed foursomes.

Unconditional Volunteer

Ada returned to Great Britain in 1959 where she reached the 2nd round of the British Women’s Amateur Championship. Ada then competed in the Daks Women’s International Match Play Tournament played on the West Course, Wentworth. This major event attracted players from around the world…and was unique in that the matches were not played off scratch but from a players handicap!!

At the age of 67, Ada Mackenzie was playing off a handicap of 5 and remarkably reached the third round despite conceding several shots to her opponents…the winner was none other than Marlene Stewart Streit, playing off a handicap of +3.

After this event, Ada volunteered as a last-minute substitute to play in a combined South African / Canadian team against 12 of the most promising young players in Great Britain at North Hants Golf Club…Ada’s unconditional support of junior golf was not limited to her home country.

Although not an official member of the team, Ada accompanied the Canadian team to St Andrews for the inaugural Commonwealth Trophy (six years after the forerunner event at Formby Golf Club where Ada had been the non-playing captain). Great Britain lifted the Trophy after winning all of their matches against Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand…Canada finished runners up after victories over South Africa and New Zealand and a draw against Australia.

Six Consecutive

Back in Canada, Ada was one of 175 golfers who entered the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship. Several commentators quietly questioned whether this was a good idea as Ada could possibly struggle against an array of much younger and talented golfers…Ada proceeded to shoot the 5th lowest qualifying score of 82, only 7 shots behind the best qualifier (Marlene Stewart Streit)!!

The following morning Ada won her (Round of 32) match by 1up but in the afternoon was defeated 5&4 by the youngest player in the field, 15-year-old Gayle Hitchens of Vancouver…maybe the age concession of 52 years and playing 32 holes in a single day was just too much, even for Ada!!

At the Canadian Senior Women’s Championship, which Ada won by 8 strokes in 1955 (as covered earlier)…and again in 1956, 1957 and 1958 (all by the incredible margin of 13 strokes), she captured a fifth consecutive title, this time by only 11 strokes!!

Ada clinched a sixth consecutive Senior Women’s title in 1960…and would go on to add titles seven and eight in 1962 and 1965 respectively…thus becoming the first golfer to win the title on eight occasions.

Recipe for Success

During an interview, Ada attributed her longevity and continued success down to relaxation and slightly tongue in cheek said she was no longer striving to win!! She then added (and I paraphrase)…

“I just live naturally. I don’t eat as much during a tournament as the excitement affects my appetite. And as for training…that is only necessary if you are earning a living from playing golf and I can’t imagine anything worse!!”  

North and South

Established in 1901, the North and South Amateur Golf Championship is an annual invitational tournament for men and women played at the Pinehurst Resort. The honours board reads like a who’s who of golfing legends…such as Walter Travis, Francis Ouimet, Glenna Collett, Babe Zaharias and Jack Nicklaus!!

The inaugural North and South Senior Women’s Championship was held in 1958 where Ada finished 6th, recording a 77 in the second round, the equal best score of the championship. Two years later she finished 3rd, only 2 shots behind the winner Maureen Orcutt (remember her from Part III?).

In 1962 the championship became a 54 hole Strokeplay event (hitherto it had been Strokeplay over 36 holes). Then in 1963, aged 71, Ada produced three rounds of astonishing consistency and quality (79+76+80=235) to win by an incredible 9 strokes from a field that included the reigning U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Champion…and add her name to the illustrious honours board.

Afterwards, Ada openly admitted to still being incredibly nervous whenever she teed it up at a championship saying…

“If I was not nervous and edgy I wouldn’t be much of a competitor”

I believe this was Ada’s best-ever performance.

The following year, Ada returned to Pinehurst to defend her title. There was a story that during the second round the Canadian players, including Ada, were caught up in a tremendous deluge of rain. As the players returned to their rooms their soaking wet clothes were taken by the staff to be dried.  After dinner, the players returned to find that no clothing had yet been brought back to their rooms…but as Ada opened the door to her room they found her bed was piled with golf clothing, each article with the name Ada Mackenzie clearly printed on the inside!!

Distinguished Contribution

In 1964, Ada Mackenzie was presented with an achievement award by John Parmenter Robarts, the Premier of Ontario, in grateful recognition of a distinguished contribution in the field of fitness and amateur sport.

In support of the award was a lengthy citation, from which I have extracted the first and last sentences…

“The problem with saluting Miss Ada Mackenzie is in trying to assess which of her many accomplishments should be placed in a paramount position” 

“Her charm and grace, her modesty and kindliness, have established her as a worthy recipient of the award given to her this May 5th, 1964”

Final Championship

In 1965, Ada won her first Ontario Senior Women’s Championship. Four years later, the event was played at the London Hunt and Country Club, which today is one of the best courses in Canada.

Ada entered the single round Strokeplay championship, even though she had not played for over a year following a heart ailment…Ada shot an 86 (10 over par) to finish T1 with fellow Toronto golfer Florence Seawright.

Ada drew on all of her golfing skills and experience to win the playoff at the third extra hole…thus almost 50 years to the day since Ada won her first Championship at the age of 27 (the Canadian Women’s Amateur), she won her final championship aged 77.

Canadian Golf Hall of Fame

The Royal Canadian Golf Association (branded as Golf Canada) established the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in February 1971. The first six golfers inducted into the Hall of Fame included two women golfers…Marlene Stewart Streit and Ada Mackenzie.

Sadly, none of Ada’s siblings was able to witness her tremendous achievement as her older sister Mary Georgina ‘Donie’ Mackenzie died in 1967 and her younger brother John Hall Mackenzie died in 1970.

To recognise and to help celebrate Ada’s induction the Canadian Ladies Golf Association re-designated the Ada Mackenzie Challenge Trophy so that it was now awarded to the winner of the Canadian Senior Women’s Championship…and Ada herself presented the Trophy to the winner in 1971.

And rather appropriate that Marlene Stewart Streit won this Trophy in 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1993.

Guests of Honour

In November 1971, Marlene Stewart Streit and Ada Mackenzie were the guests of honour at a reception and dinner sponsored by the Canadian Ladies Golf Union at the Manitoba Club, Winnipeg where they were officially inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame.

At the reception, Ada was interviewed about a variety of golf-related topics, including expressing her strong views about preferring match play over Strokeplay. Ada commented that…

“It’s more fun and challenging to pit your skill against that of your playing opponent and when the match is over to sit in the clubhouse and enjoy a cup of tea or a drink and talk things over” 

Sadly, Ada collapsed (either at the end of or just after the dinner…newspaper reports are rather sketchy) after suffering a heart attack and was immediately taken to the intensive care unit of a Winnipeg Hospital…thankfully her condition stabilised and in time she returned home.

Ada was also inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1971.

But just over a year later, after being ill for a couple of months, Ada Mackenzie died on 25th January 1973 at the age of 81. A private funeral service was held in Toronto the following day. Ada was buried in the same plot as her beloved parents, George Grieve and Mary Mackenzie, at the Park Lawn Cemetery in Toronto.

Incomparable

Ada Mackenzie’s collective achievements on and off the Links are incomparable.

Ada announced herself to the golfing world by almost defeating Dorothy Campbell at the Canadian Women’s Amateur Championship in 1912 and won her final championship 57 years later!! As Bobbie Rosenfeld noted in 1950, Ada was known as the ‘Blue Chip’ woman by her fellow golfers as she was always in close propinquity to championship honours.

Hundreds upon hundreds of women golfers play and enjoy golf today because of the unconditional and encouraging seeds sown by Ada throughout her life and the Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto is testimony to what can be achieved against all the odds.

The Ada Mackenzie Memorial Foundation, established in her honour, gives awards to high school and college wheelchair athletes through the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association…and Marlene Stewart Streit was a Director of the Foundation from 1974 to 1994 and served as President from 1984 to 1985.

Not long before her death, Ada gave her boat ‘Highland Queen’ to the camp of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind at Muskoka Lakes…and the Ada Mackenzie Park in Richmond Hill, Ontario is named in her honour after having made the area her home from 1940.

Ada was posthumously inducted into the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame when it was established in 2000 and in 2003 she was posthumously inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.

In 2016 the Bank Of Canada invited nominations for a Canadian woman to be featured on the new $10 Canadian note. Ada was the only golfer who made the long list of 461 women…achieving the criteria of having broken or overcome barriers, being inspirational, made a significant change and leaving a lasting legacy…Ada did not make the shortlist of 12 from which Viola Desmond, an Entrepreneur and Defender of Social Justice, was deservingly selected.

And so on, ad infinitum.

Epilogue

Rolling the clock forward to 2021 and the life and achievements of Ada Mackenzie continue to be recognised and celebrated.

The Canadian Golf Hall of Fame is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2021. They have shortlisted the Top 50 Moments in Canadian Golf, one of which is about Ada Mackenzie establishing the Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto…I was honoured and humbled when Golf Canada invited me to support Ada’s nomination as one of the Top 50 Moments.

(A few weeks after publishing this article, Golf Canada held a virtual gala to celebrate their Hall of Fame day and reveal in reverse order the Top 10 (out of the 50) Moments…after all the votes had been counted, Ada’s Moment (the growth of women’s golf and establishing the Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto) was announced as #9…with #1 being Mike Weir winning the Masters in 2003)

In 2024 the Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto will be celebrating its centennial and I would imagine that preparations are already underway to ensure that the year is packed full of events on and off this historic course to honour their beloved founder.

And as for me…well, I have been absorbed in researching and writing about Ada Mackenzie for the past five months or so. I started with a blank piece of paper and ended up publishing a series about a remarkable, unique lady the like of which we will never see again…and I don’t mind admitting that I shed a tear or two when the final i’s were dotted and the final t’s were crossed.

I recently listened to a song that I have not listened to for several years, namely ‘Life’s What You Make It’ by Talk Talk (an English band from the 1980s). In my humble opinion, the following lyrics from this song capture the essence of Ada Charlotte Mackenzie, without a doubt the First Lady of Golf…

Life’s what you make it

Don’t back date it

Life’s what you make it

Celebrate it

Acknowledgements

And finally, a massive thanks to…

• Margaret McLaren ~ ‘Self-appointed’ Historian, Rivermead Golf Club
• Marlene Stewart Streit ~ Member of the World Golf Hall of Fame
• Margaret Auld ~ Archivist, Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto
• Paul Doucet ~ General Manager, Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto
• Debra Latcham ~ Archivist, Dr Catherine Steele 1928 Archives, Havergal College
• Jeff Germond ~ Chief Operating Officer, Mississaugua Golf and Country Club
• Meggan Gardner ~ Director, Heritage Services, Golf Canada
• Jean Leduc ~ Golf and Operations Director, Rivermead Golf Club
• Jaime Steedman ~ Head Professional, Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto
• Josée Dallaire ~ Communications and Technology, Rivermead Golf Club
• Mackenzie Knowles ~ Owner of Ada’s Golf Boutique
• Joyel Singfield ~ General Manager, The Royal Ottawa Golf Club
• Alexandra Pappas ~ Communications Manager, Scarboro Golf and Country Club
• Jason Ludke ~ General Manager, Pine Ridge Golf Club
• Irene Nalaskowski ~ Publications, Cherry Valley Club
• Kim Daniels ~ Office Administrator, Toronto Golf Club
• Matt Lorenz ~ Head Golf Professional, Elmhurst Golf & Country Club
• Alex Podlogar ~ Senior Media Relations Manager, Pinehurst Resort & Country Club
• Oliver Baines ~ Assistant Manager, Hollinwell Golf Club
• Brandie Cooper ~ Membership and Communications Manager, London Hunt and Country Club
• John Edwards ~ Secretary, Royal Porthcawl Golf Club
• Stuart Leech ~ Secretary Manager, Formby Golf Club
• Jim Mackenzie ~ A distant relative of Ada
• Ladies’ Golf Club of Toronto
• St Andrews Links Trust
• Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

…who so kindly provided assistance and support for this series of articles about Ada Mackenzie.