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Harry Vardon

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Harry Vardon
HarryVardon.jpg
Vardon, circa 1908–1914
Personal information
Full nameHenry William Vardon
NicknameHarry, The Stylist
Born(1870-05-09)9 May 1870
Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands
Died20 March 1937(1937-03-20) (aged 66)
Whetstone, London
Height5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight11 st 7 lb (161 lb; 73 kg)
Sporting nationality Jersey
SpouseJessie Bryant (d. 1946)
Career
Turned professional1890
Professional wins49
Best results in major championships
(wins: 7)
U.S. OpenWon: 1900
The Open ChampionshipWon: 1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914
Achievements and awards
Fred McLeod and Vardon at the 1913 U.S. Open
Fred McLeod and Vardon at the 1913 U.S. Open

Henry William Vardon (9 May 1870 – 20 March 1937) was a professional golfer from Jersey. He was a member of the Great Triumvirate with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. Vardon won The Open Championship a record six times,[1] and also won the 1900 U.S. Open.[2][3]

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Professional golfer

Professional golfer

A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pro," most of whom are teachers/coaches. The professional golfer status is reserved for people who play, rather than teach, golf for a career.

Jersey

Jersey

Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an island country and self-governing British Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the largest of the Channel Islands and is 14 miles (23 km) from the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy. The Bailiwick consists of the main island of Jersey and some surrounding uninhabited islands and rocks including Les Dirouilles, Les Écréhous, Les Minquiers, and Les Pierres de Lecq.

Great Triumvirate (golf)

Great Triumvirate (golf)

The Great Triumvirate, in a golfing context, refers to the three leading British golfers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Harry Vardon, John Henry Taylor, and James Braid. The trio combined to win The Open Championship 16 times in the 21 tournaments held between 1894 and 1914; Vardon won six times with Braid and Taylor winning five apiece. In the five tournaments in this span the triumvirate did not win, one or more of them finished runner-up.

John Henry Taylor

John Henry Taylor

John Henry "J.H." Taylor was an English professional golfer and one of the pioneers of the modern game of golf. Taylor is considered to be one of the best golfers of all time. He was a significant golf course architect. Taylor helped to found the British PGA, the world's first, and became respected for his administrative work. He also wrote two notable golf books.

James Braid (golfer)

James Braid (golfer)

James Braid was a Scottish professional golfer and a member of the Great Triumvirate of the sport alongside Harry Vardon and John Henry Taylor. He won The Open Championship five times. He also was a renowned golf course architect. Braid is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

The Open Championship

The Open Championship

The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later the venue rotated between a select group of coastal links golf courses in the United Kingdom. It is organised by the R&A.

1900 U.S. Open (golf)

1900 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1900 U.S. Open was the sixth U.S. Open, held October 4–5 at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago. On a tour of the United States from Britain, Harry Vardon won his only U.S. Open title, two strokes ahead of his great rival, J.H. Taylor.

Early years

Born in Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands, Vardon, whose mother was French and father English, did not play much golf as a youngster, but showed natural talent for the sport as a young caddie in his teens. Harry and his brother Tom Vardon, younger by two years and also interested in golf, were very close. Their golf development was held back by poor family circumstances and their father was not supportive of his sons' golf interest. Tom moved from Jersey to England first, to pursue a golf career. Harry went to England in the spring of 1890, taking a job as greenkeeper at age 20, at Studley Royal Golf Club, Ripon, Yorks. A year later he became club professional at Bury Golf Club, and in 1896 the club professional at Ganton Golf Club, in Yorkshire. By his early 20s, Harry developed a demanding practice program, the most ambitious seen to that time. He was the first professional golfer to play in knickerbockers – discarding the "proper" dress of an Englishman in an uncomfortable shirt and tie with a buttoned jacket.[4]

In 1896, Vardon won the first of his six Open Championships (a record that still stands today). Vardon had rivalries with James Braid and J.H. Taylor, who each won five Open Championships; together the three formed the 'Great Triumvirate', and dominated worldwide golf from the mid-1890s to the mid-1910s. These rivalries increased the public's interest in golf.

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Grouville

Grouville

Grouville is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands. The parish is around 3.9 kilometres (2.4 mi) east of St Helier. The parish covers a surface area of 4,354 vergées (7.8 km²). The parish includes the south-east portion of the main island of the Bailiwick of Jersey, as well as the Minquiers islets several miles to the south, and is dominated by the broad sweep of the Royal Bay of Grouville. It borders St. Clement, St. Saviour and St. Martin.

Jersey

Jersey

Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an island country and self-governing British Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the largest of the Channel Islands and is 14 miles (23 km) from the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy. The Bailiwick consists of the main island of Jersey and some surrounding uninhabited islands and rocks including Les Dirouilles, Les Écréhous, Les Minquiers, and Les Pierres de Lecq.

Channel Islands

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, consisting of Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm and some smaller islands. They are considered the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy and, although they are not part of the United Kingdom, the UK is responsible for the defence and international relations of the islands. The Crown dependencies are not members of the Commonwealth of Nations, nor have they ever been in the European Union. They have a total population of about 171,916, and the bailiwicks' capitals, Saint Helier and Saint Peter Port, have populations of 33,500 and 18,207, respectively.

Caddie

Caddie

In golf, a caddie is the person who carries a player's bag and clubs, and gives the player advice and moral support.

Tom Vardon

Tom Vardon

Thomas Alfred Vardon was a professional golfer from Jersey, Channel Islands, and the brother of golfer Harry Vardon, whom he sometimes played against professionally. From 1892 to 1909 he played in 18 Open Championships, finishing in the top-10 nine times. His best was a second-place finish to his brother Harry in 1903 at Prestwick, and other placings were 1897 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake – 8th, 1902 at Hoylake – 5th, 1904 at Royal St George's Golf Club, Sandwich, Kent – 4th, 1907 at Hoylake – T3.

Ripon

Ripon

Ripon is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city is noted for its main feature, Ripon Cathedral, which is architecturally significant, as well as the Ripon Racecourse and other features such as its market.

Bury Golf Club

Bury Golf Club

Bury Golf Club, is a private golf course and club in Unsworth, Bury, designed by Alister MacKenzie, Charles Hugh Alison, and Harry Shapland Colt. The club was originally located at a course in Redvales, Bury, before moving to its current Unsworth location in 1922. The current course is eighteen-holes in length, and sits east of the clubhouse at Unsworth Hall. Notable players include Harry Vardon, Henry James, Sandy Herd, and Alister MacKenzie.

Ganton Golf Club

Ganton Golf Club

Ganton Golf Club is an 18-hole golf course in Ganton, North Yorkshire, England.

Knickerbockers (clothing)

Knickerbockers (clothing)

Knickerbockers are a form of baggy-kneed breeches, particularly popular in the early 20th-century United States. Golfers' plus twos and plus fours are similar.

1896 Open Championship

1896 Open Championship

The 1896 Open Championship was the 36th Open Championship, held 10–11 and 13 June at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Harry Vardon won the Championship after a playoff against J.H. Taylor.

The Open Championship

The Open Championship

The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later the venue rotated between a select group of coastal links golf courses in the United Kingdom. It is organised by the R&A.

James Braid (golfer)

James Braid (golfer)

James Braid was a Scottish professional golfer and a member of the Great Triumvirate of the sport alongside Harry Vardon and John Henry Taylor. He won The Open Championship five times. He also was a renowned golf course architect. Braid is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Scottish challenge

In 1898 Harry Vardon won his second Open Championship at Prestwick Golf Club, beating Willie Park, Jnr by a single stroke. Park missed a makeable putt on the 18th green to take the match to a play off. So aggrieved was Park that he immediately offered a challenge to Vardon to play him over 72 holes, 36 holes at his home course of Musselburgh and 36 holes at a golf course of Vardon's choosing, for a wager of £100 per side. Park had offered similar challenges before; some years earlier he had met and defeated Ben Sayers at Musselburgh and North Berwick, and in 1897 Park defeated J.H. Taylor over two venues, also for £100 per side. Vardon refused Park's challenge; besides the £100 per side, Vardon had nothing to gain from such a match, and he most certainly was not going to play Park at Musselburgh, where fan partisanship was less than courteous to rival players.

Eventually Park conceded to play his home leg at North Berwick Golf Club instead of Musselburgh, and Vardon chose his home course of Ganton, Yorkshire. Golf Week magazine acted as both promoter and stakeholder, and the match took place in July 1899, by which time Vardon had won his third Open Championship. The British press billed the encounter as the greatest golf competition of all time. Such was the interest that 10,000 Scottish fans attended the match at North Berwick, and that on a day when the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) was making a State visit to nearby Edinburgh. Special trains were laid on to ferry fans from Edinburgh and other nearby towns.

The format of the competition was match play. The first 36 holes at North Berwick ended with Vardon holding a two-hole lead. The second leg took place two weeks later at Ganton, and Vardon completed the rout, winning 11 up with ten holes to play, collecting the £200 prize and the glory.

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Prestwick Golf Club

Prestwick Golf Club

Prestwick Golf Club is a golf course in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is approximately 30 miles (50 km) southwest of Scotland's largest city, Glasgow. Prestwick is a classic links course, built on the rolling sandy land between the beach and the hinterland. The course is near the Prestwick airport, and some holes run along railway tracks on the eastern side of the course.

North Berwick Golf Club

North Berwick Golf Club

The North Berwick Golf Club (NBGC), at North Berwick, East Lothian, was founded in 1832. It is the 13th oldest golf club in the world and only St Andrews hosts a club which has played continuously over the same course for longer. Although the NBGC was the first club in the world to allow female members, full membership rights were only granted to ladies in 2005. The club is based at the North Berwick West Links golf course.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. The city was historically part of the county of Midlothian, but was administered separately from the surrounding county from 1482. It is located in Lothian on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. Edinburgh is Scotland's second-most populous city, after Glasgow, and the seventh-most populous city in the United Kingdom.

Match play

Match play

Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In match play the winner is the player, or team, with the most points at the end of play.

Tours United States and Canada

During his career, Harry Vardon made three visits to North America, in 1900, 1913 and 1920. During all three trips he competed in the U.S. Open finishing 1st, 2nd and tied 2nd.

He became golf's first international celebrity in 1900 when he toured the United States and Canada. John Henry Taylor, the 1900 Open Champion and member of the Great Triumvirate, also traveled to the USA on a mini tour in 1900. Vardon played in more than 90 matches and capped it off with a victory in the U.S. Open, where Taylor was second. Vardon wrote that while on this tour, he lost only two matches[5] while playing head-to-head against a single opponent, and both were against the Boston professional Bernard (Ben) Nicholls,[6] older brother of Gilbert Nicholls; the Nicholls brothers had recently emigrated from the British Isles.

In 1913, accompanied by Ted Ray, Vardon played in 45 exhibition matches winning 36 of them, and in 1920 at age 50, again accompanied by Ray, he played from July to the beginning of November in nearly 100 exhibition/challenge matches against the likes of Walter Hagen, Jim Barnes, Francis Ouimet and Bobby Jones.[7]

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U.S. Open (golf)

U.S. Open (golf)

The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open national championship of golf in the United States. It is the third of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. Since 1898 the competition has been 72 holes of stroke play, with the winner being the player with the lowest total number of strokes. It is staged by the United States Golf Association (USGA) in mid-June, scheduled so that, if there are no weather delays, the final round is played on the third Sunday. The U.S. Open is staged at a variety of courses, set up in such a way that scoring is very difficult, with a premium placed on accurate driving. As of 2022, the U.S. Open awards a $17.5 million purse, the largest of all four major championships.

Canada

Canada

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area with the world's longest coastline. Its southern and western border with the United States is the world's longest binational land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

John Henry Taylor

John Henry Taylor

John Henry "J.H." Taylor was an English professional golfer and one of the pioneers of the modern game of golf. Taylor is considered to be one of the best golfers of all time. He was a significant golf course architect. Taylor helped to found the British PGA, the world's first, and became respected for his administrative work. He also wrote two notable golf books.

1900 U.S. Open (golf)

1900 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1900 U.S. Open was the sixth U.S. Open, held October 4–5 at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago. On a tour of the United States from Britain, Harry Vardon won his only U.S. Open title, two strokes ahead of his great rival, J.H. Taylor.

Boston

Boston

Boston, officially the City of Boston, is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the Northeastern United States. The city boundaries encompass an area of about 48.4 sq mi (125 km2) and a population of 675,647 as of 2020. The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Boston, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 4.8 million people in 2016 and ranking as the tenth-largest MSA in the country. A broader combined statistical area (CSA), generally corresponding to the commuting area and including Worcester, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island, is home to approximately 8.2 million people, making it the sixth most populous in the United States.

Bernard Nicholls

Bernard Nicholls

Frank Bernard "Ben" Nicholls was an American professional golfer and golf course designer of English birth. He compiled an outstanding record in a golf career that included five top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open and one T10 finish in the Open Championship.

Gilbert Nicholls

Gilbert Nicholls

Gilbert Ernest Nicholls was an English-American professional golfer, prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He had eight top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open.

Ted Ray (golfer)

Ted Ray (golfer)

Edward Rivers John Ray was a British professional golfer, one of the leading players of the first quarter of the 20th century. He won two major championships, the Open Championship in 1912 and the U.S. Open in 1920, and contended in many others. He was captain of the British team in the inaugural Ryder Cup, in 1927.

Walter Hagen

Walter Hagen

Walter Charles Hagen was an American professional golfer and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of 11 professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (15). Known as the "father of professional golf," he brought publicity, prestige, big prize money, and lucrative endorsements to the sport. Hagen is rated one of the greatest golfers ever.

Jim Barnes

Jim Barnes

James Martin Barnes was an English golfer and a leading figure in the early years of professional golf in the United States. He is one of three native Britons to win three different modern major professional championships.

Francis Ouimet

Francis Ouimet

Francis DeSales Ouimet was an American amateur golfer who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States. He won the U.S. Open in 1913 and was the first non-Briton elected Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.

Bobby Jones (golfer)

Bobby Jones (golfer)

Robert Tyre Jones Jr. was an American amateur golfer who was one of the most influential figures in the history of the sport; he was also a lawyer by profession. Jones founded and helped design the Augusta National Golf Club, and co-founded the Masters Tournament. The innovations that he introduced at the Masters have been copied by virtually every professional golf tournament in the world.

Twice runner-up in U.S. Opens

Vardon was the runner-up, after a playoff loss to the 20-year-old Ouimet, at his next U.S. Open in 1913, an event portrayed in the film The Greatest Game Ever Played. He toured North America with Ted Ray that year, as he did once more in 1920. At the age of 50, Vardon was again tied runner-up in his third and final U.S. Open appearance, in 1920; he was leading with a few holes to play.

Career accomplishments

During his career, Vardon won 48 tournaments and 21 team events; that was the most titles won by a single player to that juncture in golf history. He won the German Open in 1911 and the British PGA Matchplay Championship in 1912. Between 1898 and 1899 Vardon played in 17 tournaments, winning 14 and coming 2nd in the other three. Vardon popularised the overlapping grip that bears his name, one still used by over 90 percent of golfers; this grip had been originated by Johnny Laidlay a few years before Vardon adopted it. In his later years, he became a golf course architect, designing several courses in Britain, Llandrindod Wells Golf Club, Woodhall Spa and Radcliffe-on-Trent being notable examples.

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German Open (golf)

German Open (golf)

The German Open was a men's golf tournament. It was first staged in 1911 when the winner was Harry Vardon. The following year the champion was another of the Great Triumvirate of late 19th and early 20th century British golfers, John Henry Taylor. The tournament was then not played again for over a decade. It was played each year from 1926 to 1939; Percy Alliss won five times in this era, Auguste Boyer four times and Henry Cotton three.

British PGA Matchplay Championship

British PGA Matchplay Championship

The British PGA Matchplay Championship was a match play golf tournament that began in 1903 and ran until 1979. Between 1903 and 1969, the event was sponsored by the now defunct British newspaper the News of the World, and was commonly known by the paper's name. Initially organised as the championship of British professionals, the event came to include invited players from other countries – in particular from around the Commonwealth. On occasion, American professionals also took part, notably in 1949 when eight members of the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup side accepted invites to the event, Lloyd Mangrum reaching the semi-finals.

Johnny Laidlay

Johnny Laidlay

John Ernest Laidlay was a Scottish amateur golfer. He invented the most popular golf grip used today, although the grip is credited to Harry Vardon, who took it up after Laidlay.

Woodhall Spa Golf Club

Woodhall Spa Golf Club

Woodhall Spa Golf Club is a private golf club in England, that is located to the north of Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire. The club was founded in 1891. In 1995 the club was purchased by the English Golf Union, who have since relocated their headquarters onto the site, which is now known as The National Golf Centre.

Radcliffe-on-Trent Golf Club

Radcliffe-on-Trent Golf Club

Radcliffe-on-Trent Golf Club is a golf course in Radcliffe-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England.

Tuberculosis

Following a bout with tuberculosis in 1903,[8] Vardon struggled with health problems for years, but turned to coaching and writing golf instruction and inspirational books.

Death and legacy

After his comeback to the game following a prolonged absence while recovering from tuberculosis, he experienced serious problems with his short-range putting as a result of nerve damage to his right hand, and several commentators claim that he could have added to his list of majors had this disability not afflicted him.[4]

Vardon and James Braid collaborated on several editions of Spalding Athletic Library "How to Play Golf".[9]

Vardon died in 1937 at the age 66, of pleurisy or possibly lung cancer,[10] at his home at 14 (now number 35) Totteridge Lane, Whetstone, London,[11][12] and is buried in St. Andrew's Church cemetery in Totteridge after a funeral service on 24 March.[13] That year, the PGA of America created the Vardon Trophy, now awarded annually to the player on the PGA Tour with the year's lowest adjusted scoring average. The British PGA also created the Harry Vardon Trophy which now serves as the award for the winner of the European Tour's Race to Dubai.

In 1974, Vardon was chosen as one of the initial group of inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame. His most prestigious medals, including those from his six British Open Championships, are on display in a tribute to him at the Jersey Museum. In the annals of golf, he is considered one of the greats of the game. In 2000, Vardon was ranked as the 13th best golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine.[14]

Vardon is often called "The Stylist", "Mr. Golf" and "The Icon of Golfing"; another nickname attached to him was "Greyhound".

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James Braid (golfer)

James Braid (golfer)

James Braid was a Scottish professional golfer and a member of the Great Triumvirate of the sport alongside Harry Vardon and John Henry Taylor. He won The Open Championship five times. He also was a renowned golf course architect. Braid is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Spalding Athletic Library

Spalding Athletic Library

Spalding Athletic Library sold sports and exercise books through American Sports Publishing Company from 1892 to 1941. Both companies were owned and founded by Spalding. Books cover over 30 different sports and exercises, and over 20 different organizations.

Pleurisy

Pleurisy

Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other symptoms may include shortness of breath, cough, fever, or weight loss, depending on the underlying cause. Pleurisy can be caused by a variety of conditions, including viral or bacterial infections, autoimmune disorders, and pulmonary embolism.

Lung cancer

Lung cancer

Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancers are caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often exacerbated by cigarette smoking, or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged airway cells sometimes gain the ability to proliferate unchecked, causing the growth of a tumor. Without treatment, lung tumors can spread throughout the lung, damaging lung function. Eventually lung tumors metastasize, spreading to distant parts of the body, and causing varying disease. Lung cancers are classified based on the cells they originate from. Around 15% are small-cell lung cancers, while the remaining 85% are adenocarcinomas, squamous-cell carcinomas, and large-cell carcinomas.

Whetstone, London

Whetstone, London

Whetstone is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, bearing the postcode N20. It is to the east of Totteridge, and these areas are known together as Totteridge and Whetstone. Whetstone is around 8 miles North of Charing Cross, is in the county of Greater London and historically was in Middlesex. The combined areas of Totteridge and Whetstone was, at the outset of the 21st century, found to be the 63rd-richest of the more than 9,000 wards of the United Kingdom.

Totteridge

Totteridge

Totteridge is a residential area and former village in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a mixture of suburban development and open land situated 8 miles (13 km) north north-west of Charing Cross. It is part of the Whetstone postal district (N20).

Vardon Trophy

Vardon Trophy

The Vardon Trophy is awarded by the PGA of America to the PGA Tour's leader in scoring average. When the award was first given in 1937, it was awarded on the basis of a points system. No award was given from 1942–1946 due to World War II. In 1947, the PGA began awarding it for low scoring average. In 1988, the trophy began going to the golfer with the lowest adjusted scoring average over a minimum of 60 rounds, with no mid-round withdrawals. The trophy is named for the Jersey golfing great Harry Vardon, who died in 1937.

PGA Tour

PGA Tour

The PGA Tour is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, as well as PGA Tour Champions and the Korn Ferry Tour, as well as PGA Tour Canada, PGA Tour Latinoamérica, and PGA Tour China. The PGA Tour is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, a suburb southeast of Jacksonville. Originally established by the Professional Golfers' Association of America, it was spun off in December 1968 into a separate organization for tour players, as opposed to club professionals, the focal members of today's PGA of America. Originally the "Tournament Players Division", it adopted the name "PGA Tour" in 1975 and runs most of the week-to-week professional golf events on the tournament known as the PGA Tour, including The Players Championship, hosted at TPC Sawgrass; the FedEx Cup, with its finale at The Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club; and the biennial Presidents Cup. The remaining events on the PGA Tour are run by different organizations, as are the U.S.-based LPGA Tour for women and other men's and women's professional tours around the world.

Professional Golfers' Association (Great Britain and Ireland)

Professional Golfers' Association (Great Britain and Ireland)

The Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) is the professional body which represents the interests of teaching and club golf professionals in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It was established in 1901 and is based at The Belfry near Birmingham, England. It has a membership of over 7,500 professionals with 1,500 working overseas in more than 70 countries worldwide. Since 2017 the chairman of the board has been Alan White, club professional at Lanark Golf Club.

Harry Vardon Trophy

Harry Vardon Trophy

The Harry Vardon Trophy is awarded by the European Tour. Since 2009 it has been awarded to the winner of the Race to Dubai. Before then it was awarded to the winner of the "Order of Merit". From 1975 to 2008 the Order of Merit was based on prize money but before that date a points system was used. From 1937 until the European Tour became an independent organisation, the award was presented by the British PGA. The trophy is named for the Jersey golfing great Harry Vardon, who died in 1937.

World Golf Hall of Fame

World Golf Hall of Fame

The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 golf organizations from all over the world.

Golf Digest

Golf Digest

Golf Digest is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competitive golf. The magazine started by John F. Barnett in 1950 in Chicago, moved to Connecticut in 1964 and was sold to The New York Times Company in 1969. The Times company sold their magazine division to Condé Nast in 2001. The headquarters of Golf Digest is in New York City relocated from Connecticut. On May 13, 2019, Discovery, Inc. acquired Golf Digest from Condé Nast, in order to integrate with GolfTV.

Vardon grip

Statue of Vardon at the Royal Jersey Golf Clubon the Island of Jersey
Statue of Vardon at the Royal Jersey Golf Club
on the Island of Jersey

Vardon was also well known for the Vardon grip, or overlapping grip, the grip most popular among professional golfers. In the Vardon grip, one places the little finger of the trailing hand (the one placed lower on the club – right hand for a right-handed player) in between the index and middle finger on the leading hand (the hand that is higher on the club). The leading-hand thumb should fit in the lifeline of the trailing hand. Vardon actually took up this grip some time after Johnny Laidlay, a champion Scottish amateur player, invented it.

A visual depiction of the Vardon Grip is the logo of South Herts Golf Club where Vardon was the club professional from 1902 until his death in 1937

Media depictions

  • A biography of Vardon, published in 1991 and authored by his daughter-in-law, Audrey Howell, provides much intimate detail about the life of this champion.
  • English actor Stephen Dillane portrayed Vardon in director Bill Paxton's 2005 film The Greatest Game Ever Played. A book of the same name (upon which the movie was based), written by Mark Frost, goes into great detail depicting Vardon's life.
  • Irish-American actor Aidan Quinn portrayed Vardon in the 2004 film Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius.
  • Harry Vardon authored a golf instruction book, The Gist of Golf.
  • A career record of Vardon, published in 2015 and authored by Bill Williams, provides a definitive list of the tournaments he played in and where he finished in the field.
  • Bill Williams authored in 2016 a second book about Vardon, and his three trips to North America in 1900, 1913 and 1920. The book traces the beginnings of golf in America, the influence Vardon had in popularizing the game and his role in bringing about the Ryder Cup.

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Stephen Dillane

Stephen Dillane

Stephen John Dillane is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Leonard Woolf in the 2002 film The Hours, Stannis Baratheon in Game of Thrones, and Thomas Jefferson in the 2008 HBO miniseries John Adams, a part which earned him a Primetime Emmy nomination. An experienced stage actor who has been called an "actor's actor", Dillane won a Tony Award for his lead performance in Tom Stoppard's play The Real Thing (2000) and gave critically acclaimed performances in Angels in America (1993), Hamlet (1990), and a one-man Macbeth (2005). His television work has additionally garnered him BAFTA and International Emmy Awards for best actor.

Bill Paxton

Bill Paxton

William Paxton was an American actor and filmmaker. He appeared in films such as Weird Science (1985), Aliens (1986), Near Dark (1987), Tombstone (1993), True Lies (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Twister (1996), Titanic (1997), A Simple Plan (1998), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), and Nightcrawler (2014).

The Greatest Game Ever Played

The Greatest Game Ever Played

The Greatest Game Ever Played is a 2005 American biographical sports film based on the early life of amateur golf champion Francis Ouimet and his surprise winning of the 1913 U.S. Open. The film was directed by Bill Paxton, and was his last film as a director. Shia LaBeouf plays the role of Ouimet. The film's screenplay was adapted by Mark Frost from his 2002 book, The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf. It was shot in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with the Kanawaki Golf Club, in Kahnawake, Quebec, the site of the golf sequences.

Mark Frost

Mark Frost

Mark Frost is an American novelist, screenwriter, film and television producer and director. He is the co-creator of the mystery television series Twin Peaks and was a writer and executive story editor of Hill Street Blues (1982–1985).

Aidan Quinn

Aidan Quinn

Aidan Quinn is an American actor who made his film debut in Reckless (1984). He has starred in over 80 feature films, including Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), The Mission (1986), Stakeout (1987), Avalon (1990), Benny & Joon (1993), Legends of the Fall (1994), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), Michael Collins (1996), Practical Magic (1998), Song for a Raggy Boy (2003), "Wild Child (film)" (2008) and Unknown (2011).

Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius

Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius

Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius is a 2004 biographical drama film based on the life of golfer Bobby Jones, the only player in the sport to win all four of the men's major golf championships in a single season. The film was the first motion picture concerning The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews that was given permission to film on location..

Tournament wins (49)

Major championships are shown in bold.[10]

Singles (48)

Foursomes (1)

Discover more about Tournament wins (49) related topics

1896 Open Championship

1896 Open Championship

The 1896 Open Championship was the 36th Open Championship, held 10–11 and 13 June at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Harry Vardon won the Championship after a playoff against J.H. Taylor.

1898 Open Championship

1898 Open Championship

The 1898 Open Championship was the 38th Open Championship, held 8–9 June at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Harry Vardon won the Championship for the second time, a stroke ahead of Willie Park Jr., the 1887 and 1889 winner.

County Down Professional Tournament

County Down Professional Tournament

The County Down Professional Tournament was a golf tournament played in Newcastle, County Down, Ireland. The event was held just once, in 1898, and had total prize money of £105.

1899 Open Championship

1899 Open Championship

The 1899 Open Championship was the 39th Open Championship, held 7–8 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Defending champion Harry Vardon won the Championship for the 3rd time, by five strokes from runner-up Jack White.

Cruden Bay Professional Tournament

Cruden Bay Professional Tournament

The Cruden Bay Professional Tournament was a professional golf tournament played irregularly at Cruden Bay from 1899 to 1914.

Irish Championship Meeting Professional Tournament

Irish Championship Meeting Professional Tournament

The Irish Championship Meeting Professional Tournament was a series of golf tournaments played in Ireland. The Irish Championship Meeting had been instituted in 1892 by the Golfing Union of Ireland. The main event was the Irish Amateur Open Championship but in a number of years a professional tournament was also held at the meeting. A total of 6 tournaments were held between 1894 and 1901.

1900 U.S. Open (golf)

1900 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1900 U.S. Open was the sixth U.S. Open, held October 4–5 at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago. On a tour of the United States from Britain, Harry Vardon won his only U.S. Open title, two strokes ahead of his great rival, J.H. Taylor.

1903 Open Championship

1903 Open Championship

The 1903 Open Championship was the 43rd Open Championship, held 10–11 June at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Harry Vardon won the Championship for the fourth time, six strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Vardon, his younger brother.

1911 Open Championship

1911 Open Championship

The 1911 Open Championship was the 51st Open Championship, held 26–30 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Harry Vardon won the Championship for the fifth time in a playoff over Arnaud Massy, the 1907 champion.

Bramshot Cup

Bramshot Cup

The Bramshot Cup was an annual professional golf tournament played at Bramshot Golf Club, Hampshire in 1910 and 1911. For financial reasons the tournament folded in 1912.

German Open (golf)

German Open (golf)

The German Open was a men's golf tournament. It was first staged in 1911 when the winner was Harry Vardon. The following year the champion was another of the Great Triumvirate of late 19th and early 20th century British golfers, John Henry Taylor. The tournament was then not played again for over a decade. It was played each year from 1926 to 1939; Percy Alliss won five times in this era, Auguste Boyer four times and Henry Cotton three.

James Batley

James Batley

James Benjamin Batley (1876–1964) was an English professional golfer. His main successes came in foursomes events, winning the 1909 London Professional Foursomes Tournament and the 1914 Sphere and Tatler Foursomes Tournament. He played for England in the 1912 England–Scotland Professional Match.

Team event wins

He won team events from 1899 to 1928.[10]

  • 1899 England vs Scotland International Foursome (36 holes match play) Vardon & John Ball vs Freddie Tait & Willie Park, Jr.
  • 1905 England vs Scotland International Foursome (144 holes match play) Vardon & J.H. Taylor vs James Braid & Sandy Herd
  • 1906 England vs Scotland at Muirfield (Sco) – England won 12 – 6
  • 1907 England vs Scotland at Hoylake (Eng) – England won 8 – 5 (3 halved)
  • 1908 Great Britain vs France at Cagnes (Fra) – Great Britain won 3 – 0
  • 1909 England vs Scotland at Royal Cinque Ports (Eng) – England won 11 – 4 (3 halved)
  • 1910 England vs Scotland at St Andrews (Sco) – England won 11 – 5 (2 halved)
  • 1911 Coronation Match (Eng) – Professionals beat Amateurs 8 – 1
  • 1913 England vs Scotland at Hoylake (Eng) – England won 13 – 4 (1 halved)
  • 1914 International Charity Match (England vs Scotland) at Fulwell Golf Course (Eng) – England won 8 – 6 (4 halved)
  • 1920 England vs Scotland at Moray Golf Club (Sco) – England won 7 – 5 (1 halved)
  • 1921 Great Britain vs USA at Gleneagles (Sco) – GB won 9 – 3 (3 halved)
  • 1928 Seniors vs Juniors at Verulam (Eng) – Seniors won 7 – 1 (2 halved)

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John Ball (golfer)

John Ball (golfer)

John Ball Jr. was an English amateur golfer of the late 19th and early 20th century.

James Braid (golfer)

James Braid (golfer)

James Braid was a Scottish professional golfer and a member of the Great Triumvirate of the sport alongside Harry Vardon and John Henry Taylor. He won The Open Championship five times. He also was a renowned golf course architect. Braid is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Sandy Herd

Sandy Herd

Alexander "Sandy" Herd was a Scottish professional golfer from St Andrews. He won The Open Championship in 1902 at Hoylake.

Nice International Tournament

Nice International Tournament

The Nice International Tournament was a professional invitational golf tournament played at Nice Golf Club in Cagnes-sur-Mer, 10 km west of Nice, France. The event was held just once, on 17 March 1908. The tournament was contested by 8 invited players. The main event was a stroke-play contest over 36 holes, won by Harry Vardon, four strokes ahead of Arnaud Massy.

1911 Coronation Match

1911 Coronation Match

The 1911 Coronation Match was a men's team golf competition between teams of amateur and professional golfers. It was played at Royal St George's Golf Club on 24 June 1911, the Saturday before the 1911 Open Championship, to celebrate the coronation of George V two days earlier. The match replaced the annual England–Scotland Professional Match which had been played just before the Open Championship since 1903.

Fulwell Golf Course

Fulwell Golf Course

Fulwell Golf Course, operated by Fulwell Golf Club, is a 241 acres (98 ha) golf course and centre comprising an 18-hole course located in Fulwell in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, west London. It is adjacent to the 9 hole Twickenham Golf Course, currently operated by a David Lloyd Club., which was separated from the original Fulwell Golf Course in the 1950s. Both courses are located on Metropolitan Open Land owned by, and leased from, the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames.

Moray Golf Club

Moray Golf Club

Moray Golf Club is situated in Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland. The club has two eighteen-hole courses appropriately called the Old Course and the New Course. The club has played host to many championships, both amateur and professional. The old and new courses were designed by Old Tom Morris and Henry Cotton respectively.

Major championships

Wins (7)

Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner-up
1896 The Open Championship 4 shot deficit 83-78-78-77=316 Playoff 1 England J.H. Taylor
1898 The Open Championship (2) 2 shot deficit 79-75-77-76=307 1 stroke Scotland Willie Park, Jr.
1899 The Open Championship (3) 3 shot lead 76-76-81-77=310 5 strokes Scotland Jack White
1900 U.S. Open 4 shot lead 79-78-76-80=313 2 strokes England J.H. Taylor
1903 The Open Championship (4) 7 shot lead 73-77-72-78=300 6 strokes Jersey Tom Vardon
1911 The Open Championship (5) 3 shot lead 74-74-75-80=303 Playoff 2 France Arnaud Massy
1914 The Open Championship (6) 2 shot deficit 73-77-78-78=306 3 strokes England J.H. Taylor

1 Defeated J.H. Taylor in 36-hole playoff by 4 strokes
2 Defeated Arnaud Massy in 36-hole playoff: Massy conceded on the 35th hole

Results timeline

Tournament 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
U.S. Open NYF NYF
The Open Championship T23 T5 T9 1 6 1 1
Tournament 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
U.S. Open 1
The Open Championship 2 2 T2 1 5 T9 3 T7 T5 T26
Tournament 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
U.S. Open 2 NT NT
The Open Championship T16 1 2 T3 1 NT NT NT NT NT
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
U.S. Open T2
The Open Championship T14 T23 T8 T17 CUT CUT T47 CUT

Note: Vardon only played in The Open Championship and the U.S. Open.

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Discover more about Major championships related topics

1896 Open Championship

1896 Open Championship

The 1896 Open Championship was the 36th Open Championship, held 10–11 and 13 June at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Harry Vardon won the Championship after a playoff against J.H. Taylor.

England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea area of the Atlantic Ocean to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

1898 Open Championship

1898 Open Championship

The 1898 Open Championship was the 38th Open Championship, held 8–9 June at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Harry Vardon won the Championship for the second time, a stroke ahead of Willie Park Jr., the 1887 and 1889 winner.

1899 Open Championship

1899 Open Championship

The 1899 Open Championship was the 39th Open Championship, held 7–8 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Defending champion Harry Vardon won the Championship for the 3rd time, by five strokes from runner-up Jack White.

Jack White (golfer)

Jack White (golfer)

John White was a Scottish professional golfer. He posted six top-10 finishes in the Open Championship, including a victory in 1904.

1900 U.S. Open (golf)

1900 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1900 U.S. Open was the sixth U.S. Open, held October 4–5 at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago. On a tour of the United States from Britain, Harry Vardon won his only U.S. Open title, two strokes ahead of his great rival, J.H. Taylor.

1903 Open Championship

1903 Open Championship

The 1903 Open Championship was the 43rd Open Championship, held 10–11 June at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Harry Vardon won the Championship for the fourth time, six strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Vardon, his younger brother.

Jersey

Jersey

Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an island country and self-governing British Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the largest of the Channel Islands and is 14 miles (23 km) from the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy. The Bailiwick consists of the main island of Jersey and some surrounding uninhabited islands and rocks including Les Dirouilles, Les Écréhous, Les Minquiers, and Les Pierres de Lecq.

1911 Open Championship

1911 Open Championship

The 1911 Open Championship was the 51st Open Championship, held 26–30 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Harry Vardon won the Championship for the fifth time in a playoff over Arnaud Massy, the 1907 champion.

France

France

France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. It also includes overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Its eighteen integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi) and had a total population of over 68 million as of January 2023. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other major urban areas include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, and Nice.

Arnaud Massy

Arnaud Massy

Arnaud George Watson Massy was one of France's most successful professional golfers, most notable for winning the 1907 Open Championship.

1914 Open Championship

1914 Open Championship

The 1914 Open Championship was the 54th Open Championship, held 18–19 June at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Harry Vardon won a record sixth Open Championship title, three strokes ahead of runner-up J.H. Taylor, the defending champion. Entering the championship, Vardon, Taylor, and James Braid had five Open wins each. This was the sixteenth and final Open title for these three, the Great Triumvirate. Due to World War I, it was the last Open for six years; the next was in 1920.

Photo library

Source: "Harry Vardon", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, December 23rd), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Vardon.

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Bibliography
  • The Complete Golfer (1905)
  • How to Play Golf (1907)
  • Success at Golf (1914)
  • Golf Club Selection (1916)
  • Progressive Golf (1920)
  • The Gist of Golf (1922)
  • My Golfing Life (1933)
References
  1. ^ "1896 Harry Vardon". The Open. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  2. ^ Woelfel, Rick (19 January 2011). "Harry Vardon – the one who taught us how to hold a club". Exegolf. Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Scores of First Day's Golf Play". The Chicago Tribune. 5 October 1900.
  4. ^ a b Frost, Mark (6 November 2002). The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf. Hyperion. ISBN 0-7868-6920-8.
  5. ^ "Vardon's Chief Matches and Records". The Tribune Almanac (1901). 1901. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  6. ^ My Golfing Life, by Harry Vardon, 1933
  7. ^ Williams, Bill (15 March 2016). Vardon In America. Xlibris. ISBN 978-1-5144-5372-8.
  8. ^ "Harry Vardon (1870 - 1937)". GolfEurope.com. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  9. ^ "How to Play Golf". Hathitrust. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  10. ^ a b c Williams, Bill (February 2015). Harry Vardon – A Career Record of a Champion Golfer (First ed.). USA: Xlibris Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5035-3568-8.
  11. ^ "Find a will – GOV.UK". Probatesearch.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  12. ^ "The London Gazette, 4852 – Re: the Estate of Henry William Vardon, Deceased" (PDF). 7 July 1937. Retrieved 17 February 2014. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ "Funeral of Harry Vardon". The Times. 25 March 1937. p. 6.
  14. ^ Yocom, Guy (July 2000). "50 Greatest Golfers of All Time: And What They Taught Us". Golf Digest. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
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