Y E S T E RY E A R S
Marion Hollins An accomplished sportswoman was national champion By Peter Rizzo
Marion Hollins
60 POLO P L A Y E R S E D I T I O N
Historians could make a solid case for Marion Hollins to have been one of the best female polo players of her time, though she is better known in annuals of sporting history as a championship golfer and a savvy golf course designer, developer, promotor and real estate investor. A promotion for a 1998 biography “Champion in a Man’s World: The Biography of Marion Hollins” announced, “David Outerbridge tells the tale of an extraordinary woman who is perhaps the sportswoman of the century. Yet, although she filled the newspapers and magazines of her day, her record of amazing accomplishments is not well known today.” Was Hollins the best sportswoman, or perhaps even the best horsewoman of the 20th century? From a young age, Marion excelled in a number of sporting endeavors including marksmanship, swimming, race car driving and tennis and tennis court development. As an equestrian, aside from polo, Hollins was instrumental in introducing steeplechase racing to northern California and helping found the Pacific Coast Steeplechase and Racing Association. She also was heavily involved in racehorses. Born in 1892, to a wealthy and socially prominent family in East Islip, New York, she grew up on her parent’s 600-acre country estate where she learned to manage four-in-hand horse carriages and ride horses. She also learned to play golf at nearby Westbrook Golf Club. Her father was Harry Bowly “H. B.” Hollins, an American financier, banker, railroad magnate, and partner and best friend of the immortal J.P. Morgan. Unfortunately, her father’s business went bankrupt in 1913 and most of the family estate had to be sold to address longstanding debts. Outerbridge describes Hollins as being born into a man’s world at a time that women “knew their place.” However, she rejected the notion throughout her tradition-shattering life and was not stopped by obstacles or convention about what she thought needed to be done. She marched in New York City for women’s right to vote in public elections and actively promoted sports for women and children. At 19, she sailed the Lusitania to spend two months in Europe, an annual sojourn for many years prior to World War I. She was reportedly also the first
