Individual, Women

The ladies’ event took place the day after the men’s event and was won by Margaret Abbott of the Chicago Golf Club, who played her requisite nine holes in 47 strokes. Behind Margaret Abbott in the women’s tournament came Polly Whittier and a lady listed in the past as Mrs. J. Huger Pratt of Dinard, France. The three women were mysteries until research by Dr. Paula Welch, a sports historian at the University of Florida, unearthed their identities.

Margaret Abbott was born in Calcutta (Kolkata), India in 1876 to wealthy parents. She learned her golf at the Chicago Golf Club but in 1900 was studying art in Paris, accompanied by her mother, who also played in the Olympic golf tournament (she finished seventh). By winning the Olympic golf tournament she became the first American woman to win an Olympic event (and only the second overall).

Polly Whittier, often listed as being from Switzerland, was actually Pauline Whittier of Boston. Also from a wealthy family, Whittier was a descendent of the famous poet, John Greenleaf Whittier, and in 1900 was studying in St. Moritz, hence the mistaken affiliation.

Mrs. J. Huger Pratt of Dinard was the former Daria Pankhurst. Vacationing in France in 1900, she played her golf at the Dinard Club. A short time after the Olympics, Daria Pratt’s second husband, Mr. Thomas Huger Pratt, died an early death. She later married Prince Alexis Karageorgevitch of Serbia, thus becoming the Princess Karageorgevitch of Serbia.