Charlotte Glutting, American Golf Star of the 1930s
Charlotte Glutting was an American amateur golfer prominent in the 1930s. Although she never won the biggest United States tournament for women at the time, the U.S. Women's Amateur, she had many other top wins. And Glutting was a key player on some early American teams in the Curtis Cup.
Date of birth: January 29, 1910
Place of birth: Newark, New Jersey
Date and place of death: December 16, 1996, in Andover, New Jersey
Her Biggest Wins
- 1931 New Jersey Women's Amateur Championship
- 1932 New Jersey Women's Amateur Championship
- 1933 Eastern Amateur
- 1934 North and South Women's Amateur
- 1934 New Jersey Women's Amateur Championship
- 1935 Women's Mid-South Championship
- 1935 New Jersey Shore Championship
- 1935 New Jersey Women's Amateur Championship
- 1937 Eastern Amateur
- 1939 Narragansett Pier Invitational
Glutting in the Curtis Cup
Glutting was a key member on Team USA in the Curtis Cups of 1934, 1936 and 1938, the second, third and fourth, respectively, times the tournament against Team Great Britain and Ireland was played.In the 1934 Curtis Cup, Glutting defeated Wanda Morgan (who went on to win the British Women's Amateur the following year) in her singles match, which gave the American side its clinching point.
In the 1936 Curtis Cup, Glutting defeated reigning British Women's Am champ Pam Barton, 1-up, one of just two singles wins for the Americans. The final score was a tie, allowing Team USA to retain the Cup.
And in the 1938 Curtis Cup, Glutting was 2-down with three holes to play against Nan Baird. But she then swept those final three holes, producing a 1-up victory and again securing her side the winning point.
Glutting was chosen to be part of Team USA again for the 1940 competition, but that Curtis Cup was cancelled due to World War II.
More About Charlotte Glutting
In her youth, tennis was more Charlotte Glutting's game. She was considered such an up-and-comer in that game that when, at age 19 in 1929, Glutting decided to give up tennis in pursuit of golf, New Jersey and New York newspapers wrote articles about her choice.Two years later, her choice of golf was validated when she won the New Jersey's Women's Amateur. Glutting eventually won that title four times, the first golfer to do so.
She never had the same success across the state line in New York, although Glutting did finish runner-up four times in the Women's Metropolitan Open.
Her biggest victories happened in the Eastern Amateur (twice, 1933 and 1937), and in the North and South Amateur at Pinehurst in 1934. She won that title after first claiming medalist honors in the stroke-play portion.
Glutting first played the U.S. Women's Amateur at age 22 in 1932. And she made headlines that year by dispatching one of the favorites, British Women's Amateur champ Enid Wilson, in the quarterfinals. A newspaper account of the match referred to Glutting as a long-hitter who "matched Wilson's famous long drives." But Glutting lost in the semifinals to the eventual winner, Virginia Van Wie.
Wilson knocked Glutting out in the quarterfinals the following year. But Glutting reached the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur two other times. In 1935 she was beaten by 17-year-old Patty Berg on the third extra hole; and in 1939 Glutting fell to Dorothy Kirby, 1-down.
During the decade of the 1930s, Glutting practiced for most of her big tournaments at Baltusrol. Her competitive career was confined to that decade, however.
In a 1936 newspaper column, Helen Hicks, considered one of the longer hitters among the women of her time, wrote about Glutting, "I have the reputation of being a long hitter, but Charlotte is always yards past me from the tees. I like her swing, and when she is in form she is playing a No. 6 or a No. 7 iron while I am hitting a No. 4 or a No. 5." Hicks also called Glutting "one of the best dressers in the game, her clothes being particularly smart."
Glutting herself wrote about golf, including a column for Golf Illustrated under the header, "Our Woman's Page." Today she is a member of the New Jersey State Golf Association Hall of Fame.
