George S. Lyon, Mabel Thomson, and Florence Harvey, all Canadian golf champions, from a 1909 publication.
Born
(1878-11-10)November 10, 1878
Died
1968
Nationality
Canadian
Occupation
golfer
Florence Lyle Harvey (November 10, 1878 – 1968) was a Canadian golfer, and an ambulance driver in Serbia during World War I. She was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1972.
Harvey applied for a patent on a process of manufacturing golf balls in 1912.[7] She was a founder of the Canadian Ladies' Golf Union (CLGU) in 1913,[8] and served as secretary of the organization.[9] She organized Canadian women's golf into three regional divisions, subdivided into districts.[10] In 1963, she attended the CLGU's 50th anniversary event at Rivermead Golf Club.[11][12]
During World War I, Harvey worked on fundraising efforts among women golfers to buy an ambulance.[9][13] Harvey was a Red Cross volunteer ambulance driver in Vranje and Belgrade in 1918 and 1919, working with a Scottish Women's Hospital unit.[14][15] Writing about her experiences, she commented, "The screams of a woman at any time are awful, but the screams of a man you never forget to your dying day."[16] She wrote a monthly column called "Golfing Hints" for Golfers Magazine in 1919.[17]
Harvey moved to South Africa and raised poultry on a farm with her friend from the war, Marjorie Pope-Ellis.[16][19] She returned to Canada in 1954, and died in Ancaster, Ontario in 1968, aged 89 years.[15] In 1972, she was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.[9] She was also inducted into the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame in 2000,[14] and the Hamilton Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.[20]