Matchless: Joyce Wethered, Glenna Collett and the Rise of Women’s Golf
Matchless has officially been selected as the 2025 USGA Herbert Warren Wind Award book of the year for outstanding contributions to golf literature!
Finally – a book that truly captures the inspiring and uniquely gifted women from a largely forgotten golfing age. A wonderful read from start to finish' – Iona Stephen, Sky Sports presenter, commentator and host
From the moment women began hosting championships of their own in 1893, one of golf's burning questions became whether any woman would ever approach the mythical ideal of playing perfect golf. It took three decades of striving – at a time when Suffragettes were stubbornly fighting for women’s rights – before Joyce Wethered and Glenna Collett delivered an unequivocal answer to that question.
From their first meeting at Troon in 1925, through a decade highlighted by their breathtaking match at St Andrews, the Englishwoman and the American brought out in one another golf so sublime that rare was the player, man or woman, who could perform as brilliantly.
The rivalry between Wethered and Collett generated such widespread interest and respect that it paved the way for the birth of a women’s professional tour. Matchless tells the story of these two incomparable golfers – women who personified the ambitions of their age.
About the Author
Stephen Proctor has served as a senior editor at The Baltimore Sun, The San Francisco Chronicle and The Houston Chronicle. A native of Maryland, he graduated from The American University in Washington and was later awarded a John S. Knight Fellowship in journalism at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He is an avid golfer and has spent the past decade studying the history of the royal and ancient game. Monarch of the Green is his first book. He lives in Malabar, Florida.
USGA Herbert Warren Wind Award Press Release can be read here: Lemieux, Latshaw Sr., Proctor Earn USGA Honors
