It's no surprise the qualifying sites for the Mass. Amateur filled up so quickly. The chance to play Essex County Club in competition doesn't come around all that often.
The club goes back to the late 19th century. In its infancy, a pair of sisters, Harriot and Margaret Curtis, learned to play golf at Essex in 1893, and their success and love of the game sent ripples throughout women's golf and into the present day. The Curtis sisters won four national golf titles between them, and dominated the local and regional scene, too.
In 2010, the Curtis Cup — the most prestigious women's amateur team event, named after Margaret and Harriot — came to Essex CC 117 years after the sisters first learned the game.
It seems incredibly fitting that Molly Smith will become the first woman to compete in the Mass. Amateur at a course with such deep ties to the women's game.
The course has come a long way since Margaret and Harriot walked the grounds. Famed golf course architect Donald Ross, who emigrated from Scotland in 1899, lived in a house just behind the 15th tee box and 16th green. From 1909-1913 he designed an 18-hole course for the membership, which opened in 1917.