Caroline Fraser Manice

Manice, a member of the Baltusrol Golf Club, was considered one of the top ten women golfers in the United States in 1901, with a strong long game and an orthodox full swing. She won the driving competition at Ardsley in 1898.^[2] She played several years at the U.S. Women's Amateur; in 1899 she was disqualified for taking advice from a caddie; in 1900 she was described as a "dark horse".^[3] In 1901, she lost in the semi-finals to the eventual champion, Genevieve Hecker.^[4][5] She lost at the Nationals again in 1902.^[6] She won the Women's Metropolitan Golf Association Championship at the Apawamis Club for three straight years, from 1902^[7][8] to 1904.^[9][10][11] In 1902 she also won a championship in Florida.^[12] In 1904 she was president of the Women's Metropolitan Golf Association.^[13]

Manice was also an amateur swimmer, sailor, and tennis player.^[14] "'Sportswoman' is a term that does not appeal to me," she told a newspaper in 1904, "but it seems inevitable in these days, to describe the women to find health and rational enjoyment in open-air games."^[15] In 1905, Manice experienced health problems described as "extreme nervousness," attributed to her golfing. She sailed to Europe for rest and recovery, and announced that she would never play golf again.^[16] However, she played again in 1906^[17] and in inter-city competition in 1909.^[18]

Caroline Fraser married stockbroker Edward Augustus Manice in 1891. Their daughter, Dorothy Jean, was born in 1892.^[19] In December 1905, Caroline Manice was injured in a fatal automobile accident in Flushing, New York.^[20][21]

Caroline Fraser Manice was widowed in 1925^[22] and died at 57 in 1929.^[23] In 1937, her daughter, Dorothy J. Manice,^[24] founded the Titleholders Championship, one of the early tournaments for women professional golfers in the United States.^[25][26]