The Founders

The formation of the Ladies Professional Golf Association after the Second World War is the focus of this revealing sports documentary. The force behind its creation were 13 talented and determined women but the stars here are the four living founders - Marilynn Smith, Shirley Spork, Louise Suggs and Marlene Bauer. Their straight-shooting comments add emotional colour to the scratchy newsreel footage of a seemingly bygone age when confident, athletic sportswomen were not readily accepted, particularly in the class-ridden country-club world of American golf. The now elderly quartet are fascinating if different personalities - Smith is the very definition of "nice", the nonagenarian Suggs still exudes no-nonsense competitiveness, Spork is a down-to-earth presence and Bauer remains as glamorous as she was in her youth. Their trials and tribulations also touch on race (black golfers Renee Powell and former Wimbledon champion Althea Gibson encountered their own particular problems) and the fierce rivalry between the indomitable Suggs and fellow founder Babe Didrikson Zaharias, the Olympic gold medallist and all-round sporting superstar whose participation drew much-needed publicity to the nascent women's tour. If sporting excellence in the face of establishment resistance deserves admiration, then these doughty, pioneering ladies had it in clubs.