From the Tee Box They Were Never Meant To Use: A History of Women in Golf

Mary Queen of Scots played golf. Start there. Not in 1893. Not in 1950. 1567.

Start Earlier Than You Think

In 1567, her enemies used it against her, arguing that she had been spotted on the links of Seton mere days after the murder of her husband, which suggested either extraordinary callousness or extraordinary devotion to the game. The historical record does not permit a final verdict on Mary's character, but it does establish, with reasonable certainty, that women were playing golf in Scotland in the sixteenth century.

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