To Lady Margaret Hamilton Russell, who won the first three championships - a feat only surpassed by young Tommy, and equalled by the professionals Jamie Anderson and Bob Ferguson - English golfers owe more than has ever been acknowledged. A beautiful style, when combined with very fine play, leaves a mental photograph behind; and though it cannot be copied and reproduced as many think, being the result of physical and mental personality, it necessarily compels by attraction to a higher standard. Lady Margaret Hamilton Russell's appearances at the meetings of '93, '94, '95 were open object lessons to those who could use their eyes. The intrinsic beauty of her style will never be forgotten by those who have seen it.

Miss Lena Thomson has golfed since childhood. A very quiet style, and a deliberate swing, do not signal her form to a new "gallery." Though mistress of every club, her cleek shots and putting are the most telling points of the very good game she has always played.

A long experience of championships - for St. Anne's, Littlestone, Portrush, Hoylake, Gullane, Great Yarmouth, all admired her very pretty game - a thorough knowledge of golf, and continuous practice have not yet enabled Miss Issette Pearson to bring the coveted cup to the Wimbledon "Ladies'." Tempus fugit! Take the honour, most noble secretary! The "younger generation" are driving on the green.

The youngest of this younger generation, Miss Lilian Smith, drives a fine ball too; she is a very possible future champion.

The feature of Miss Kennedy's game is her play with wooden clubs - no one gets away a better tee shot, or drives further through the green. There is an absence of effort and an ease in her style which pleases. More experience and confidence would strengthen her very fine game. The only English medallist among such players as the Misses Orr and Miss Titterton, she can be proud of her place in the semi-finals, and reasonably expect to add a gold medal to the bronze.

Miss M. Aitken, who began her golfing career with a half-swing, recently exchanged for a full one, has done a great deal in a short time. A constant player at North Berwick, and other centres which afford the best practice and example, with a natural turn for golf, she has every facility for reaching perfection. Only it requires time to make a champion.

Twice in the last three championships has Miss M. E. Phillips met and succumbed, after a good fight, to the eventual champion. Falling to the winner before the penultimate round be reached, is a piece of legitimate bad luck in the draw.

With fortune for her friend, the most consistent scorer and one of the best players in Kent and Surrey, must pass to a medal. Miss Phillips plays a particularly strong approach.

Miss A. Maxwell attracts attention. As match or score player she is equally good. Though put out by Miss Orr, there are few who can beat her in determination and consistency of game.

Miss Moeller, Elkley, is another young golfer; there is a dash and quickness of style here which appear ambitious of a win.

At the first Irish ladies' championship, Miss N. Graham was made a warm favourite, and justified public opinion by running into the finals; the following year, 1895, she reached the semi-finals, and 1896 saw her winner. A steady, cool player, she has come well to the front, and will have to be reckoned with at future meetings.

The ladies' championship originated in the wish expressed by a few members of Wimbledon to establish an annual open competition. Notices were sent out to other clubs, and on April 19, 1893, the Ladies' Golf Union was formed. The arrangement of the championship was amongst its primary objects. On June 13th, a field of 38 met at the short links of Lytham and St. Anne's. Lady Margaret Hamilton Russell - at that time Lady Margaret Scott - being in a class by herself, won her four matches by 9 and 7, 8 and 7, 6 and 4, 7 and 5, and was declared champion. The long links at Littlestone were the scene of the 1894 meeting, and the specially arranged course a more severe test of the game. St. Anne's is a nine-hole green about 1 mile 350 odd yards in length, and its cops and bunkers are not to be compared with the more serious hazards at Littlestone; but here, again, the champion scored a second victory, though the competitors numbered 64, and a very marked improvement was visible in both play and style. At Portrush, May, 1895, Lady Margaret Hamilton Russell won for the third time in succession. The shortened course was rougher and more difficult than those of the preceding years : more luck was attached to the lies, and the half a dozen scratch competitors now amounted to ten. Comparing the large number of entries with the small number of first-class players, it is regrettable that so many ladies play who have not a 100 to 1 chance of reaching the finals. There must always be an element of luck in the draw, which is increased by these competitors, who could never come through their first heats were it not for the inferiority of many belonging to their own golfing status. Players who enter to gain the necessary nerve and experience to become winners may be below par in form, but they do not scratch to a formidable opponent, and they will make a fight; while those persons who enter for "the fun of it," as if golf were a picnic, or garden-party, swell the large total of "walk-overs" and "soft things," and disturb the chances of those who play for sport. The Gullane meeting exhibited the finest golf played publicly by women. It vindicated to the most sceptic and captious critic their right to the name of golfers. Three out of the four honours fell to Scotland. Fifty-seven English were present, and only one reached the semi-finals; as the Scotch entry was thirty-five, and Ireland had ten representatives, the north appears more favourable for the production of winners than is England. The special good points of Scotch players are their full, easy swing, with an absence of pressing, their accurate iron play and sound putting. In the freedom of their strokes from sandy lies, and cleverness in bunkers, they far surpass the south, which is handicapped on its inland links by the want of suitable hazards.