'Trailblazer' honoured with Blue Plaque

Long before Rory McIlroy became a teen golfing sensation in Northern Ireland, there was "trailblazer" May Hezlet.

The County Londonderry woman will be recognised with an Ulster History Circle Blue Plaque at the Royal Portrush Ladies' Clubhouse on Monday.

May, from Aghadowey, won the (British) Ladies Championship three times and the Irish Ladies' Championship five times between 1899 and 1908.

She first won the Irish Championship in 1899 at the age of 17 and just a week later won the British Championship on the same links at Newcastle, County Down.

Kath Stewart-Moore, a former president of the Ladies' Branch of the Royal Portrush Golf Club, said May's name is well-known.

"She is really famous amongst golfers, especially at Portrush," she said, adding that she "really deserves" a Blue Plaque.

"She was a legend, and she was a trailblazer. In many ways she led Irish golf, men's and women's," she said.

"From a time when she was 13, in 1895, she came across the English golfers and saw how good they were and started practicing and bringing all the other girls along with her.

This period of time was "close to the beginning of ladies' golf in Ireland".

"Royal Portrush was the third club to join the Ladies Golf Union, two English, and then Portrush. There were golf clubs springing up all over the place," she continued.

"It was the beginning of golf in Ireland to some extent and certainly ladies golf."

There have been many successful golfers to come from Northern Ireland through the years, both men and women.

One of those is Leona Maguire, who in 2024 became the first Irish golfer to win on the Ladies European Tour [LET] with a one-shot victory at the Aramco Team Series in Hemel Hempstead.

Last week, Rory McIlroy completed the Grand Slam in golf, winning the Masters in dramatic fashion in a play-off at Augusta.

"May was a trailblazer, she was a pioneer," Ms Stewart-Moore said.

"She was responsible, in many ways, for all the success of all Irish golfers up to the present day.

"We're all part of her legacy, in my opinion."

May Hezlet was born in Gibraltar on 29 April 1882.

In Northern Ireland, the Hezlets, a golfing family, lived at Bovagh House in rural Aghadowey.

May's mother, her three sisters and her brother were all accomplished players at Royal Portrush.

She published a book, Ladies' Golf, at the age of 22.

When it came to setting up ladies' golf clubs, it is said that May insisted that the women should manage their own finances, instead of men taking charge.

By 1902, she had won her second British title at Deal in Kent.

In 1907, in bad weather at Royal County Down, she beat her sister Florence to win her third British title.

May and Florence Hezlet had played in a British and Irish side which had taken on a visiting American team at Royal Comer.

Her last appearance as a golfer for Ireland was in the Home Internationals in 1912.

In 1909, Ms Hezlet married a Church of Ireland minister, the Rev. A.E. Ross, who later became Bishop of Tuam. He died in 1923.

In later years, she became president of Portrush Ladies' Club and held the post until 1951.

May Hezlet died on 27 December 1978, aged 96.

Shirley Robinson, Ladies' Branch president, said: "I am delighted that we are receiving a Blue Plaque to commemorate May Hezlet.

"May was a wonderful pioneer of ladies' golf and brought worldwide recognition to Portrush.

"If she were looking down from above today, I am very sure she would be gratified to see that the Ladies' Branch of Royal Portrush has continued to produce Curtis Cup, International players and Champions."