Wray, Leonora (1886 - 1979)

Leonora Wray became an associate member of the Australian Golf Club, and a council member of the New South Wales Ladies’ Golf Union (NSW L.G.U.), in 1904. She won the State ladies’ amateur championship every year from 1906 to 1908, and the Australian title in both 1907 and 1908, before a diagnosis of typhoid fever in 1909 took her away from the game for a decade. She made an impressive come-back in 1929, winning the national title and the mixed foursomes championship (with F.G. Murdoch). The following year she won the New South Wales championship, before winning the western open in 1931, and the northern open in 1931-32. Between 1907 and 1938, Wray was champion woman player of the Australian Golf Club ten times; and between 1924 and 1933, she was champion of the Royal Sydney Golf Club five times. She attended the inaugural meeting of the Australian Ladies’ Golf Union (A.L.G.U.) in 1921, serving as its secretary until 1923, and later, in 1954-59, as its president.

Wray’s administrative skills were drawn upon frequently. She was captain-manager of the Tasman Cup touring team in 1937, and manager of the women’s team touring Great Britain in 1950. As well as president of the A.L.G.U., she was president of the NSW L.G.U. in 1957-65, and associates’ president of the Australian Golf Club.

See also

• Australian National University, Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au. [ Details... ]
• Perry, Phyllis, From Green to Gold: The First Fifty Years of the Australian Ladies' Golf Union, Australian Ladies' Golf Union, 1976. [ Details... ]