“Bringing Mark home has been a top priority for President Biden and his national security team,” the official said. Haji Bashir Noorzai, a prominent member of the Taliban, who was in prison
By Vennie Clark.
Who would you opt for to sink a putt and salvage your life? Tiger Woods ? Jack Nicklaus? Ben Crenshaw?
There are numerous contentious options, yet it’s improbable that many would consider a group of women in Fife, Scotland, lacking any professional golf experience, most of whom are significantly older than the average Tour participant.
However, perhaps they should, because anyone placing their life in the hands of the St. Andrews Ladies Putting Club would be relying on an organization with over 150 years of short game expertise.
Best golf courses in Scotland
Founded in 1867, this organization is the oldest women’s golf club globally, a distinction achieved by some determined, golf-enthusiastic women – and a few dissatisfied men.
When the daughters of members from the St. Andrews Royal & Ancient (R&A) Club – widely recognized as the historic home of the game – expressed their desire to play golf, it was not a conventional pursuit for women. Croquet and archery were the customary options among the limited activities available.
When the women stepped onto the caddy’s putting course, utilized by those handling members’ golf bags between rounds, the caddies wanted them gone almost immediately.
“They didn’t appreciate it at all, and I don’t think the members were too fond of it either,” club archivist Eve Soulsby told QT’s The Jazzy Golfer.
However, the caddies faced a dilemma: As staff of the club, they couldn’t voice their complaints to the members. A compromise quickly followed – to allocate the women a small plot next to the iconic Swilcan Bridge to use as a nine-hole putting course.
It was a rough patch, filled with rabbit holes, divots, and sand, but it was a beginning. One month later, 22 women took part in the St. Andrews Ladies Golf Club’s inaugural tournament.
The news spread swiftly. By the late 1880s, the club had expanded to 600 members, including male associate members. Today, there is an ever-increasing waiting list to join the 140-member club, a number kept low to ensure that tournaments proceed seamlessly.
Shortly thereafter, Obsolete Tom Morris, the course’s resident player and greenskeeper, affectionately referred to as the “pioneering father of golf,” believed it might be beneficial for the ladies to visit the nearby Himalaya section of the course, aptly named for its undulating landscape.
Morris introduced the world to the club before stepping down in 1895, when he was honored with honorary membership.
Soulsby asserts that the club’s early members played a crucial part in empowering the women of St. Andrews as the century turned, pointing to the establishment of the ladies’ course, which – alongside the Himalaya’s putting green – continues to be playable today.
Funds generated from visitors to the putting green are contributed to local charities, with a special allowance made last year to support Ukrainian organizations.
Officially called The Jubilee Course and opened in 1897, the reality that the women’s designated 18 holes was dubbed “The Duffers Course” mirrored the commonly held perspectives on women during that era. “We pretend that didn’t occur,” Soulsby commented.
Among those advocating for these early trailblazers today is Sylvia Dunne, the club’s current president.
A member since 2011, Dunne helps organize the group’s weekly tournaments; a highlight two-round event on Wednesday afternoons and a one-round contest on Thursday mornings for the so-called “oldies” who might struggle to handle multiple rounds.
“It’s the companionship and everything else too, because as you get older and can’t play golf, you could easily be stuck at home doing nothing all day, and this truly is a very social club,” she shared.
“The best part is the afterwards because they have coffee and biscuits and a chatter.”
Individuals who triumphed in competitions during the early 1900s might have been fortunate enough to take home a regal reward. The club’s inaugural royal contribution came from Prince Leopold, the youngest offspring of Queen Victoria, followed by additional trophies from Edward VIII and King George VI.
In the past, R&A captains also presented trophies, but presently they compete against the Women Placing Club in an annual 18 vs 18 putting contest.
Dunne is one of the most accomplished putters at the club, securing six trophies in a single season during her peak year. However, she acknowledges that the putting green can often be a harsh taskmaster, even for her.
“Not too long ago, I felt incredibly frustrated,” she stated. “We have an award at the season’s end for the most holes in one – so I proposed, isn’t it about time we had an accolade for the most near misses?
“There’s a significant amount of skill involved, but there’s also a fair bit of luck. Some days the ball rolls in your favor, and other days it just won’t drop into the hole.”
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“Bringing Mark home has been a top priority for President Biden and his national security team,” the official said.
Haji Bashir Noorzai, a prominent member of the Taliban, who was in prison in the US on drug trafficking charges for 17 years, was granted clemency as part of the deal, the official said.
Frerichs, a Navy veteran from Illinois, was kidnapped in late January 2020 while he was doing construction contract work in Afghanistan. He was believed to be held by the Haqqani network, which is a faction of the Taliban. He was missing for less than a month before the US signed a peace deal with the Taliban.
Frerichs was able to walk on his own onto the aircraft, a source familiar with the matter said, and his physical and mental condition appear good. He is currently in Doha, Qatar.
Frerichs’ family praised Biden for securing his release, with his sister, Charlene Cakora, saying in a statement, “there were some folks arguing against the deal that brought Mark home, but President Biden did what was right. He saved the life of an innocent American veteran.”
“I am so happy to hear that my brother is safe and on his way home to us. Our family has prayed for this each day of the more than 31 months he has been a hostage,” Cakora said. “We never gave up hope that he would survive and come home safely to us.”
Earlier this year, The New Yorker published a video of Frerichs pleading for his release — the first time the Illinois native had been seen in years.
“I’ve been patiently waiting my release,” Frerichs says in the brief video, which he says is being recorded on November 28, 2021.
Since her brother’s kidnapping, Cakora has called on the US government to do more to secure his release, escalating those calls in the lead-up to the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration secured the release of Afghan-American Naval reservist Safi Rauf and his brother Anees Khalil, a US green card holder, who had been detained by the Taliban since December.
Months of negotiations
The Biden administration undertook months of negotiations with the Taliban to secure Frerichs’ freedom, a senior administration official said Monday, and the President decided in June to grant clemency to Noorzai if it would lead to the captive American’s release.
Speaking on a call with reporters, the official said it became clear that releasing Noorzai was “the key to securing Mark’s overdue freedom,” but the decision on clemency for the Afghan drug trafficker was a “difficult” one.
The administration does not see an equivalency between Noorzai, who was carrying out a 17-year sentence in the US, and Frerichs. Noorzai was not held at Guantanamo Bay, despite reports saying he was, the official said.
“We consulted with experts across the US government, who assessed that Noorzai’s (release) to Afghanistan would not materially change any risk to Americans emanating from the country or the nature of the drug trade there,” the official said.
Weeks after Biden made the decision on Noorzai, the President authorized the strike that killed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul.
“As we also said publicly at the time, we told the Taliban immediately after the strike, that we would hold them directly responsible if any harm were to come to Mark, and that the best way they might begin to rebuild trust with the United States, with the world, was to immediately release Mark,” the official said.
The official said the window of opportunity for the swap finally presented itself this month, and the administration “acted very quickly.” But they would not say where Frerichs had been held during his more than two years of captivity, nor would they say if the US had given the Taliban anything else for Frerichs’ release.
A second senior administration official said the US would continue to make clear to the Taliban that they must end hostage taking if they are to gain recognition by the international community.
The first official would not say if the Taliban is holding any other Americans home. They said they were aware of the matter of American filmmaker Ivor Shearer and his producer, who the Committee to Protect Journalists said were detained by the Taliban in August, but did not provide further details.
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