Perth’s most famous golfing daughter Jessie Valentine has been honoured with a new exhibit at Perth Museum and Art Gallery.
Known as Perth’s Fairway Maid, Jessie was once the number one ranked women’s golfer in the world and won the British Ladies Amateurs in 1937, 1955 and 1958.
The new exhibition will tell Jessie’s story, from entering all her competitions from her home club of Craigie Hill to becoming an MBE and being inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.
A large turnout greeted the opening of the show on Tuesday, attended by her son Iain and her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It also saw the launch of a book by Jessie’s friend Dr Eve Soulsby – Jessie Valentine: Whose Golf Swing Lasted a Lifetime.
Iain, who travelled from Hong Kong to open the exhibit for his mother, said: “I think it’s obviously fantastic for the family.
“A lot of people put a lot of work in putting this together. For Perth to honour her once again is very very nice.
“She was Perth through and through and she entered all her competitions from Craigie Hill and she spent much of her time golfing at Gleneagles and Blairgowrie and her summers in Braemar.”
Dr Soulsby was lady captain at Braemar when Jessie was made an honorary member in the mid-eighties.
She said: “I just thought she was wonderful. She was such a lovely person.
“I knew her for 20 years, she was just so funny and unassuming and she was a brilliant golfer.
“They say she had the best swing of her time.”
The launch of the new exhibition coincides with the Solheim Cup coming to Gleneagles and Pamela Malton, of Perth Ladies Golf Club, believes they will both help encourage young girls to take up the game.
Pamela said: “She’s Perth’s most famous golfer and she’s a lady and it’s so important at this time to recognise what she done to encourage more lady golfers and girls to take up the game which is very much the current appetite in golf.”
Jess Valentine died in 2006 at the age of 91.
The exhibit in her honour will run until October 12.
