💫 Mabel Emily Stringer (1868–1958) – The Maverick of Women’s Golf

Community Builder • Club Captain • Journalist • LGU Architect • Founder of Senior Women’s Golf • Pioneer of Women’s Sporting Communities

1. Introduction

Mabel Emily Stringer stands among the most influential — yet least recognised — women in the founding generation of British women’s golf.

A natural organiser, gifted communicator, and visionary builder of community, she shaped the environment in which the Ladies’ Golf Union (LGU) was born, and then helped construct the structures that sustained women’s golf for decades.

For more than twenty years she represented Littlestone at national level, served on the LGU Council from 1893, worked closely alongside Issette Pearson, and captained one of the earliest organised women’s golf clubs in Britain.

Mabel was not a ceremonial name on a committee list.
She was a hands-on builder — creating belonging, strengthening competitions, forming networks, mentoring women, and weaving together the relationships that made early women’s golf possible.

As we revisit the history of the game with fresh eyes, Mabel Stringer emerges not only as an early player, but as a foundational architect of community, competition, and governance.

Mabel Emily Stringer stands as one of the true visionaries of early women’s golf — a maverick who refused to accept limits on what women could do, play, or organise.

She believed that women could find strength, friendship and self-belief through golf, and she set out to create the structures to make that happen.

At a time when women golfers were expected to remain quietly in the background, Mabel stepped forward as player, captain, journalist and founder — determined to give every woman, regardless of age or background, a fair place on the course.

2. Early Life & Golf at Littlestone

Mabel learned to play golf in the most unconventional way: on the men’s championship links at Littlestone, long before a women’s club existed. As a young girl, she:

• played freely on the men’s course

• was largely self-taught

• mastered the cleek, a heavy mashie and her beloved long-used putter

• became a capable and confident player before 1890

By the time the Littlestone Ladies’ Golf Club was formed in 1891, Mabel was already a respected presence. She became:

➡️ the club’s first Captain,
➡️ and held the role for its first five formative years.

The women’s course — affectionately dubbed “the hen run” — was a rough nine-hole strip along the sea wall. Their “clubhouse” was an empty Coastguard cottage. Yet this humble setting held enormous meaning: it represented independence, agency, and women carving out space where none existed.

This is where Mabel’s leadership sensibilities first came into view:
she could create order, joy, and community from almost nothing.

3. The Historic Meeting with Issette Pearson (1893)

In autumn 1893, Mabel received a letter:
Miss Issette Pearson was coming to Littlestone to assess the links for the first Ladies’ Championship (1894).

The next morning, the two women played together on the men’s course. Mabel beat her — “quite respectably,” she later wrote — and the two formed a connection that would shape women’s golf for three decades.

This moment is one of the quiet turning points in the history of the women’s game.

It led to:

• Mabel joining the LGU Council from day one

• A deep, lasting professional partnership

• Joint work on the earliest competitions and administrative frameworks

• A long friendship characterised by mutual respect and affection

Pearson sought out Stringer even before the LGU was formally established — placing Mabel squarely in the organisation’s inner circle from its inception.

4. Leader of the Early LGU (1893–1910s)

After their match, Mabel was drawn immediately into national work.
She writes that she:

• joined the LGU Council in November 1893

• represented Littlestone for twenty years

• served at times as Assistant Honorary Secretary

• attended the earliest meetings at the Freemasons’ Tavern

• travelled with Pearson to establish relationships with clubs

• helped lay the foundations of competitive and administrative structures

These were not symbolic roles.
She was among the handful of women who:

• drafted early governance

• built county and club relationships

• created the first coherent competitive frameworks

• supported the early national championships

• shaped the collaborative, volunteer-driven character of women’s golf

Her writing in Golfing Reminiscences reveals someone witty, insightful, practical, and remarkably competent — a brilliant administrator with a light touch.

5. Co-Architect of Early Competitive Structures

Mabel’s quiet administrative work shaped the competitive system that women still use today.

She was deeply involved in early discussions leading to:

• the formation of county competitions

• the network that became the Pearson Trophy

• early thinking on universal handicapping

• expansion of inter-club and inter-county play

• broadening competitive access for ordinary club women, not just elites

These contributions matter because they reveal that women themselves, not men, designed the first structured, grassroots competitive systems in England.

Pearson may have provided the strategy, but Stringer provided the structure, communication, and community-building that made the plan work.

6. Journalist, Advocate & Voice for Women Golfers

Alongside her LGU leadership, Mabel became Sports Editor for The Gentlewoman (1905–1910), one of the most widely read women’s magazines of its era.

Through this platform she:

• elevated women golfers in national press

• wrote with clarity, humour, and respect

• challenged dismissive attitudes toward women’s sport

• spotlighted emerging talent

• advocated for improved facilities and treatment

• helped normalise women’s competitive golf

Her editorial influence directly contributed to the creation of the Girls’ Amateur Championship (1919) — one of the most important youth pathways in the women’s game.

7. Builder of Women’s Sporting Societies (1911–1921)

Stringer was also a visionary founder of women’s golf communities.

Between 1911 and 1921, she established several groundbreaking societies:

1911 — Women Medicals & Parliamentarians’ Golf Society

The first professional women’s golf society, linking female doctors and MPs.

1912 — Ladies’ Legal Golf Association (LLGA)

Still active today with championships and inter-club matches.

1914 — United Services Ladies’ Golf Association (USLGA)

Created during wartime to connect women from naval, army and air-force families.

1919 — Girls’ Golfing Society / Girls’ Amateur Championship

Born from her editorial campaign for opportunities for young players.  The girls amateur championship is now run by the R&A.

1921 — Veteran Ladies’ Golf Association (VLGA)

Her most enduring legacy — a complete competitive pathway for women 50+.

These societies made golf accessible to women across professional, social, and generational lines — a radical idea in the early 20th century.

The VLGA has evolved in to the Senior Womens Golf Associations across the UK:

Scottish Senior Womens Golf Association

Northern Veteran Ladies Golf Association

Midlands Senior Womens Golf Association

Senior Women’s Golf Association (South)

The Senior Womens Golf movement is global:

European Senior Womens Golf Association

and other senior womens golf associations around the world.

8. Founder of Senior Women’s Golf (1921 onwards)

Mabel’s most transformative insight emerged in the years after WWI:

Senior women were leaving competitive golf not because they wanted to stop, but because the system stopped making space for them.

She saw three problems:

1. No senior competitions

2. No inter-club or regional networks for older women

3. Friendships dissolving once women aged out of county play

Her response was revolutionary.

In 1921, she founded the Veteran Ladies’ Golf Association — an independent, volunteer-led, self-governing senior system built by women for women.

Her model expanded into:

• county and regional senior associations

• scratch leagues

• inter-club matches

• national senior championships

• cross-country and later European competitions

Today, the Senior Womens Golf movement, the descendent organisations from the VLGA  remain among the strongest, most vibrant structures in Womens Golf in the UK and beyond.

Senior women stay because Mabel created a place for them.

1921 — Veteran Ladies’ Golf Association (VLGA)

In 1969, the VLGA split from being one national association to 4 regional associations.

Scottish Senior Womens Golf Association

Northern Veteran Ladies Golf Association

Midlands Senior Womens Golf Association

Senior Women’s Golf Association (South)

The Senior Womens Golf movement is global:

European Senior Womens Golf Association

The Swiss Senior Womens Golf Association is the oldest in Europe, with its formation in 1959.  Its history is here

9. Personality, Character & Voice

Through her writing and the stories surrounding her, a vivid personality emerges:

• humorous and self-deprecating

• sharp and observant

• egalitarian

• quietly rebellious

• generous with time and spirit

• mischievous (she delighted in recounting victories, including one in which a beaten male opponent vowed thereafter to support women’s suffrage!)

• admired widely and respected deeply

Her warmth and intelligence made her an anchor of every community she touched.

10. Life in Context — Courage & Constraint

Mabel and her contemporaries built women’s golf within astonishing constraints:

• heavy petticoats and long skirts

• sleeves supported by elastic straps

• hats that caught the wind

• rough, undeveloped courses

• improvised clubhouses

• societal disapproval

• restricted access to mainstream clubs and competitions

And yet they built:

• clubs

• competitions

• governance

• systems

• camaraderie

• belonging

Their triumph was not just athletic — it was cultural, organisational, and social.

11. The Later Years: Heritage & Continuity

Mabel continued to lead and mentor long after her formal roles ended.

In 1938, she chaired the founding committee of the Women Golfers’ Museum, one of the earliest organised efforts to preserve women’s sporting heritage.

Her 1924 book, Golfing Reminiscences, remains a treasure of early golf literature — rich with humour, memory, and affection for the game.

She remained active in veterans’ events and LGU initiatives through the 1940s and early 1950s.

She died in 1958 in Kent, leaving behind a network of women’s golf societies that are still alive today.

12. Organisational Legacy Timeline (1890s → 1950s)

1891 — Joins Littlestone Ladies’ Golf Club; becomes Captain
1893 — Meets Issette Pearson; joins LGU Council
1894 — Littlestone hosts early LGU championship work
1895–1900s — Competitor, organiser, and commentator
1902 — Plays in International Cup
1905–1910 — Sports Editor, The Gentlewoman
1911 — Founds Women Medicals & Parliamentarians society
1912 — Founds LLGA
1914 — Founds USLGA
1919 — Proposes Girls’ Amateur Championship
1921 — Founds VLGA
1924 — Publishes Golfing Reminiscences
1938 — Chairs committee for Women Golfers’ Museum
1945–50s — Supports veterans’ and LGU structures post-war
1958 — Passes away; her societies flourish into the 21st century

13. Enduring Legacy

Mabel’s influence is structural and enduring:

✔ Pioneer Captain of Littlestone Ladies
✔ Early LGU architect and long-serving Council member
✔ Co-designer of early competitive and county networks
✔ Foundational partner to Issette Pearson
✔ Creator of societies supporting women of all ages and professions
✔ Founder of the senior women’s golf pathway
✔ Guardian of community, continuity, and heritage

Many of the structures she built more than 100 years ago still govern the way women’s golf operates today — especially senior golf, which remains one of the strongest communities in British golf.

14. Why Mabel Stringer Matters Today

Her story is profoundly relevant:

• senior women remain one of the strongest, most loyal player groups

• younger women leave the game because they lack the pathways Mabel built

• women’s leadership and volunteer labour have always driven the sport

• the historical absence of women in formal governance created lasting gaps

• modern reforms echo the systems Mabel pioneered

Your project brings her back into the story — not as a footnote, but as a central architect of the women’s game.

15. A Legacy That Lives on Every Fairway

Every time:

• senior women gather for a VLGA meeting

• LLGA lawyers tee it up

• servicewomen play USLGA matches

• a Girls’ Amateur champion is crowned

• a club welcomes women as equal members

• volunteer committees keep women’s golf thriving

They walk in the footsteps of Mabel Emily Stringer.

Her legacy is alive in the laughter, friendships, traditions, and communities she created — a testament to a woman who believed that golf belonged to everyone.

True pioneers don’t just play the game.

They change it for everyone who follows.

16. A Living System — And Why It Must Evolve

One of the most important truths about Mabel Stringer’s legacy is this:

The systems and structures she helped create worked brilliantly for the world she lived in — a world that no longer exists.

The LGU frameworks developed by Mabel, Pearson, and their contemporaries in the 1890s–1920s were visionary for their time:

• built by women, for women

• volunteer-led, community-driven

• grounded in friendship and local belonging

• designed around the social realities of 19th- and early 20th-century women

• centred on weekday golf, domestic rhythms, and community leadership

Their brilliance is proven by the fact that many of these structures remain in use today — county networks, inter-club competitions, senior societies, amateur pathways, and the culture of women’s golf that thousands still cherish.

But over the last 135 years, women’s lives have changed profoundly:

• women now work full-time in every sector

• education, careers, and mobility shape modern life

• families share domestic responsibilities differently

• women seek weekend access, flexibility, and inclusive pathways

• competitive motivations and lifestyle demands have evolved

• the meaning of “amateur” has shifted

• women’s expectations for representation and governance are higher

This means the original LGU-era system — still the backbone of women’s golf today — is both a treasure and a constraint.

**Foundational, but no longer fully fit for purpose.

Valuable, but incomplete for modern life.
Historic, but ready for renewal.**

To honour Mabel’s legacy is not to preserve her system unchanged, but to recognise the spirit behind it:

Women built their own structures when none existed.
Today, we must do the same again.

The challenge — and opportunity — for the 2020s is to:

• preserve the community, heritage, and volunteer spirit Mabel championed

• modernise pathways to reflect the realities of today’s women (and men)

• rebuild the missing layers of competitive progression

• reconnect juniors → mid-ams → seniors into a single continuous pathway

• ensure that the structures of 1893–1921 evolve to serve 2025–2125

This is not a criticism of the old system.
It is an act of continuity.

The world Mabel lived in has changed beyond recognition.
The system she built must now change with it.

And in doing so, we are not undoing her legacy — we are extending it.

🕰️ Part 1 – Timeline: Mabel Stringer’s Organisational Legacy (1890s → 1950s)

🌿 Legacy

Mabel Stringer’s influence reaches far beyond her own era. Many of the organisations she founded still thrive today — still meeting, competing and upholding the values she cherished. She also helped preserve the game’s history, chairing the committee that created the Women Golfers’ Museum in 1938, ensuring that the achievements of women in golf would never fade from memory.

Her book Golfing Reminiscences (1924) remains a treasure of early golf literature — filled with wit, observation and affection for the game and its people. Together, her words and her institutions form a living legacy: a reminder that sport can unite generations and give women lifelong community and joy.

🗺️ Part 2 – “Map” of Associations and Their Modern Equivalents

💖 Enduring Regard

Across the United Kingdom — and among women golfers worldwide — Mabel Stringer is remembered with deep affection and gratitude.

The associations she founded speak of her as a mentor and guiding light: a woman decades ahead of her time who understood the power of connection through sport.

Her “maverick” spirit continues to inspire new generations of players, volunteers and leaders.

Today, whenever women and girls’ championships tee off, senior women golfers gather, or members of the societies and associations she founded, meet on the course, they walk in the footsteps of Mabel Stringer.

Her influence endures not in monuments, but in the friendships, laughter and shared purpose that define women’s golf — the living legacy of a woman who believed that the game belonged to everyone.

Mabel Stringer’s life reminds us that true pioneers don’t just play the game — they change it for everyone who follows.

Her courage, kindness and vision continue to echo through every fairway where women gather to play.