Marguerite Gaut
Marguerite Gaut | |
|---|---|
 Marguerite Gaut, from a 1919 publication | |
| Born | Bessie Marguerite Thrasher November 12, 1888 Alabama,United States |
| Died | December 11, 1967 |
| Other names | Mrs. Dave Gaut |
| Occupation | Golfer |
| Known for | First woman inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame |
Bessie Marguerite Thrasher Gaut(November 12, 1888 – December 11, 1967) was an American amateur golfer. In 1968, she became the first woman inducted into theTennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
Early life and education
[edit]Marguerite Thrasher was born in Alabama and raised in Virginia and Tennessee, the daughter of Henry Hammond Thrasher and Lula Clark Price Thrasher.[1]She attended Belcourt Seminary, a girls' finishing school in Washington, D.C.[2]
Career
[edit]Gaut was a champion amateur golfer based in Memphis.[3]She won the Tennessee Women's Amateur Championship six times,[4][5]starting at the inaugural event in 1916[6]and ending in 1938.[7][8][9]She won the Southern Women's Championship four times, beginning in 1920, when she defeatedAlexa Stirlingin Atlanta.[10][11]She won the Memphis City women's title eleven times.[12]She once played golf againstBabe Didrikson Zaharias;they were tied after eighteen holes, but Gaut won on the nineteenth-hole tiebreaker.[4][13]
Gaut was president of theWomen's Southern Golf Associationfrom 1931 to 1939.[14]She sponsored an annual golf tournament at the Memphis Country Club.[15]She attended the Women's Texas Open Golf Tournament in 1945, in Fort Worth.[16]She was president of theUnited States Senior Women's Golf Associationfrom 1949 to 1952. In 1953,Clifford Davisread remarks into theCongressional Record,marking Gaut's long career in golf. He quoted her as saying, "I hope to play as long as I'm able to walk and every time I play I'll enjoy it."[17]
Gaut also held a patent, granted in 1925, for a clamp to attach a tray to a card table.[18]
Personal life and legacy
[edit]Thrasher married insurance agent and golfer David Cleage Gaut in 1910.[1]The couple fostered a daughter, Blanche, from childhood.[19]Marguerite Gaut died in 1967, at the age of 79;[13]her husband died nine days later.[19]The following year, she became the first woman inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.[7][20]She was also inducted into theTennessee Golf Hall of Fame,in 2003.[12]From 1953 to 2015, the Women's Southern Golf Association awarded an annual Marguerite Gaut Senior Trophy, named in her honor.[14][17]
References
[edit]- ^ab"Miss Marguerite Thrasher Weds Mr. David Gaut".Knoxville Sentinel.December 12, 1910. p. 6.RetrievedJuly 3,2023– via Newspapers.com.
- ^"Patriotic Affair at Thrasher Home; Miss Marguerite Thrasher Entertained for her Younger Friends".Knoxville Sentinel.July 3, 1908. p. 6.RetrievedJuly 3,2023– via Newspapers.com.
- ^"Mrs. Gaut Sets Third Links Record in Week".The Commercial Appeal.October 26, 1917. p. 13.RetrievedJuly 3,2023– via Newspapers.com.
- ^ab"Gaut, Marguerite « Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame".RetrievedJuly 3,2023.
- ^"Marguerite Gaut in Quest Sixth Title".Bristol Herald Courier.June 8, 1938. p. 2.
- ^"Mrs. Dave Gaut"The American Golfer22(December 1919): 128.
- ^ab"Centennial Anniversary Timeline".Golf Central Magazine.15(6): 72. November 26, 2014 – via Issuu.
- ^"Women's Amateur Results".Tennessee Women's Amateur Championship.RetrievedJuly 3,2023.
- ^"Trio from City in Title Fight; Mesdames Probasco, Early Kennedy Make Grade-- Mrs. Gaut Medalist".Chattanooga Daily Times.June 7, 1938. p. 9.RetrievedJuly 3,2023– via Newspapers.com.
- ^"Mrs. Gaut Wins Golf Title".The New York Times.October 31, 1920.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJuly 2,2023.
- ^"Mrs. Gaut Golf Survivor; Defending Champion Qualifles In Women's Southern Tourney".The New York Times.May 21, 1924.ISSN0362-4331.RetrievedJuly 2,2023.
- ^ab"Hall Members 4".Tennessee Golf Hall of Fame.RetrievedJuly 3,2023.
- ^abBloom, David (December 12, 1967)."Superlatives Mark Marguerite Gaut's Golf Career".The Commercial Appeal.p. 25.RetrievedJuly 3,2023– via Newspapers.com.
- ^ab"About Us".WSGA.February 21, 2019.RetrievedJuly 3,2023.
- ^"Meet Ranks With Fastest in Dixie for Women Stars".Nashville Banner.April 30, 1936. p. 15.RetrievedJuly 3,2023– via Newspapers.com.
- ^"Women's Texas Open Golf Tournament".UTA Libraries Digital Gallery.August 13, 2018.RetrievedJuly 2,2023.
- ^abUnited States Congress, Clifford Davis (July 31, 1953).Congressional Record.U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. A4917.
- ^United States Patent Office (February 17, 1925).Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office.The Office. p. 693.
- ^ab"Gaut Estate is Probated".The Memphis Press-Scimitar.January 3, 1968. p. 4.RetrievedJuly 3,2023– via Newspapers.com.
- ^"Ridgeway Dinner to Fete Golfers".The Memphis Press-Scimitar.June 19, 1968. p. 27.RetrievedJuly 3,2023– via Newspapers.com.