Pauline Mackay

Pauline Flora Mackay Smith Johnson (September 4, 1878 – November 12, 1958) was an American golfer, winner of the U.S. Women's Amateur in 1905.

Pauline Mackay
White woman standing outside, wearing a small straw hat and a cardigan.
Pauline Mackay Smith, from a 1909 publication.
Born
Pauline Flora Mackay

1878
Died1958
NationalityAmerican
Other namesPauline Mackay Smith (after first marriage), Pauline Mackay Johnson (after second marriage)
OccupationGolfer
Known forAmerican women's golf champion, 1905

Early life

Mackay was born on Nantucket, Massachusetts, the daughter of George H. Mackay and Maria Mitchell Starbuck Mackay.[1] She was descended from Nantucket whale oil merchant Joseph Starbuck.[2][3] Her father was an avid amateur ornithologist,[4] and her mother was a graduate of Vassar College.[5] Pauline Mackay golfed on Nantucket as a young woman.[6]

Golf career

Mackay began golfing at Oakley Country Club in Watertown, Massachusetts when it opened in 1898. "She played with the steadiness and good judgment of a professional," commented one observer in 1901.[7] In 1904, she was a semi-finalist in the U.S. Women's Amateur.[8] She won the national women's title in 1905, defeating fellow Bostonian Margaret Curtis.[9][10][11][12][13] "I think golf must be a sixth sense with me," she told an interviewer after that victory, "I love it so, and it came to me so naturally; but I do thoroughly believe no woman can become a proficient player without taking excellent care of her health... and I think the spirit of competition a woman feels in playing with men is a great aid in strengthening her game."[14]

In the 1906 tournament, she was beaten in the second round, but she won the low-score medal.[15]

Personal life

Pauline Mackay married golfer and businessman Bruce Donald Smith, in Boston, in 1909.[16][17] They lived in Chicago, and had three children together before they divorced in 1920. By 1922, both Smiths had remarried, and Bruce Smith objected to continued alimony payments of $15,000 per year. A judge ruled that their alimony agreement was a perpetual obligation, not eliminated by subsequent events.[18][19] In 1920, she inherited the "Middle Brick", a historic house on Nantucket's main street, built by her great-grandfather, Joseph Starbuck.[5]

Mackay's second husband was Herbert Linsley Johnson of New York. They married in 1921.[20][21] She was widowed when Johnson died in 1927. She died in 1958, aged 80 years, on Nantucket.[2]

References
  1. "Barney Genealogical Record - Person Page 1339". Nantucket Historical Association. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  2. "Mrs. Pauline Johnson". The Boston Globe. November 14, 1958. p. 35. Retrieved July 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Donaldson, Jazmine Hogan (January 28, 2013). "Nantucket's First Whale: Joseph Starbuck". Curbed. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  4. Galluzzo, John J. (April 2017). "The Famous Herring Gull of Brenton Reef". Bird Observer: New England Birding Journal. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  5. "Histories of Persons Interred at Prospect Hill Cemetery". Prospect Hill Cemetery. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  6. White, Barbara Ann. "When Did Golfing Begin on Nantucket?". Nantucket Historical Association. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  7. Archer, Edward (June 15, 1901). "Golf". Boston Home Journal. Vol. 57. p. 7.
  8. "Two Left in Finals". Los Angeles Herald. October 15, 1904. p. 10. Retrieved July 2, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  9. "Short Putts". The Golfers Magazine. June 15, 1908. p. 82. ISBN 9785881672041.
  10. "Past Champions: 1905, Pauline Mackay". USGA. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  11. "Miss Bishop Loses in Golf" (PDF). The New York Times. October 14, 1905. p. 10. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  12. "To Oakley the Glory". Boston Sunday Globe. October 15, 1905. p. 178. Retrieved July 2, 2019 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  13. "Woman's Golf Title Won by Miss Mackay; National Championship Goes to Boston for First Time; Miss Curtis Runner Up". The New York Times. October 15, 1905. p. 12 – via ProQuest.
  14. "Blow to Golf Style Theory". The Pittsburgh Press. October 25, 1905. p. 14. Retrieved July 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Golf". Tribune Almanac and Political Register. 1907. p. 300. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  16. Hill, Bunker (February 1909). "New England Notes". The American Golfer. Vol. I. p. 195.
  17. "Notable Golfers Married". The New York Times. January 15, 1909. p. 7 – via ProQuest.
  18. "Alimony is Alimony". Sacramento Union. October 19, 1922. p. 12. Retrieved July 2, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  19. "Rules Alimony Pact Stands". The Times-Tribune. October 27, 1922. p. 4. Retrieved July 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. "Chicago Divorcee is to Try it Again". The Los Angeles Times. July 11, 1921. p. 3. Retrieved July 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. "Bruce Smith's Former Wife Weds in East". Chicago Tribune. July 10, 1921. p. 1. Retrieved July 2, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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