My parents have a framed print in their home of the magnificent par-3 16th at Cypress Point Golf Club that features a quote from Arnold Palmer. It was decades before I discovered that a woman, Marion Hollins, is actually credited with designing that hole.
Marion who?
Hollins’ induction into the 2021 World Golf Hall of Fame class, alongside Tiger Woods, gives many the chance to become acquainted with perhaps the most influential woman in golf you’ve never heard of. In fact, I’d put Hollins among the top five most influential women in golf history.
Maybe one day there will be mass prints of the 16th at Cypress Point sold with quotes about Hollins, a one-of-a-kind, dynamite developer who earned the respect of some of the most prominent men in golf.
She was a race car driver and played polo against men. She marched with the suffragettes in New York. Won the 1921 U.S. Women’s Amateur and became the first woman to captain the American Curtis Cup team in 1932.
Born in 1892, Hollins developed the Women’s National Golf and Tennis Club at age 30, traveling to Great Britain to do architectural research.
It was Hollins who smashed a ball 200 yards over the Pacific Ocean, landing it safely into what would become the middle of the green at the 16th at Cypress, thus proving it to be a par 3 for all.
“I was in no way responsible for the hole,” wrote architect Alister MacKenzie. “It was largely due to the vision of Marion Hollins.”
One of the greatest athletes of her time, it was Hollins’ friendship with Bobby Jones that greatly influenced the decision to bring MacKenzie in as co-designer of Augusta National.
Pebble Beach founder Samuel Morse hired Hollins in 1922 as athletic director, giving her a key role in developing the Monterey Peninsula into a golf mecca. She orchestrated the Pebble Beach Championship for women, winning the first edition and later dominating what became the biggest event on the West Coast. She presented Morse with the idea of developing a private club in Pebble Beach, ultimately leading to Cypress Point.
From there she went on to own and develop Pasatiempo Golf Club near Santa Cruz, also designed by MacKenzie.
As reported in David Owen’s book “Making of the Masters,” MacKenzie sent Hollins to Augusta National in his place after co-founder Clifford Roberts felt that MacKenzie wasn’t spending enough time at the development.
“I want her views and personal impressions in regard to the way that the work is being carried out,” wrote MacKenzie, later adding, “I do not know of any man who has sounder ideas.”
While few golf fans know the name Hollins, one would be hard-pressed to find a golfer who isn’t familiar with her work. Which is why Hollins should be on any well-rounded short list of influential women in the game.
Who should join her on that list?
- Annika Sorenstam: The winningest player in the modern era not only dominated the LPGA but elevated everyone around her, particularly when it came to fitness. The only player in LPGA history to shoot 59, Sorenstam’s appearance on the PGA Tour at Colonial catapulted her into a new level of acclaim among sports stars.
- Mickey Wright: That swing. Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson called Wright’s swing the greatest they’d ever seen – man or woman. Such respect helped to elevate the women’s tour in those early days. There was time when tournaments threatened to cancel if Wright, a 13-time major winner, didn’t play.
- Babe Zarahias:The early LPGA was built to showcase Zaharias, one of the greatest athletes in American history. She wasn’t just a sports star, but a bona fide celebrity.
- Se Ri Pak: The South Korean single-handedly changed the face of the LPGA, inspiring countless others to pick up the game throughout Asia. When the LPGA faced an uncertain future a decade ago, it was the Asian market that largely propped up the tour financially.