English professional golfer (1871?1963)
John Henry "J.H." Taylor
(19 March 1871 ? 10 February 1963) 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.
Biography
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Taylor was born in
Northam, Devon
. He was a member of the fabled
Great Triumvirate
of the sport in his day, along with
Harry Vardon
and
James Braid
, and he won
The Open Championship
five times.
[1]
Born into a
working-class
family, and orphaned as a boy, he began work as a
caddie
and labourer at the
Royal North Devon Golf Club
, near
Westward Ho!
, at the age of eleven. He was employed as a caddie and houseboy by the Hutchinson family and was tasked to carry the bag of
Horace Hutchinson
.
[2]
He became a
professional golfer
at 19, and was employed by
Burnham & Berrow Golf Club
, the Winchester (later Royal Winchester) Golf Club ? while there winning in successive years the first two of his Open Championships ? then the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club, before eventually moving to the
Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club
from 1899 until his retirement in 1946.
In 1901, Taylor was a co-founder and the first chairman of the British
Professional Golfers' Association
. This was the first association for professional golfers in the world.
Bernard Darwin
wrote that Taylor "had turned a feckless company into a self-respecting and respected body of men".
Taylor was a factor in the
Open Championship
from age 22 in 1893, until age 55, when he tied for 11th place in 1926. His five Open victories all took place before the
First World War
.
Open Championship wins:
Taylor captained the 1933 Great Britain
Ryder Cup
team to a win over the United States, and remains the only captain on either side never to have played in any of the matches.
Taylor was also involved in designing courses across England including York Golf Club in 1903, Hindhead Golf Club in 1904, Andover Golf Club in 1907,
Frilford Heath's
Red Course in 1908, Hainault Golf Club's Upper Course in 1909,
[3]
Heaton Park Golf Club (Manchester) in 1912, Hainault Golf Club's Lower Course in 1923,
[3]
Bigbury Golf Club in South Devon in 1926, Pinner Hill Golf Club (Middlesex) 1927,
[4]
Axe Cliff Golf Club (Seaton, Devon) in 1920s
[5]
and
Batchwood Hall
Golf Club (St Albans) in 1935. He is attributed with being the inventor of the
'dogleg'
,
[5]
although holes of that form had existed on many courses before Taylor began golf course design (for example No. 7 at
Old Course at St Andrews
and No. 4 at
Prestwick Golf Club
). He was made an honorary member of
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews
in 1949, and was president of
Royal Birkdale
, whose course he had designed, in 1957.
A housing development in his hometown of Northam was named in his honour (JH Taylor Drive).
Tournament wins
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Note: This list may be incomplete
Major championships
are shown in
bold
.
Major championships
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Wins (5)
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Results timeline
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Note: Taylor 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
Team appearances
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Writings
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- Taylor on Golf: Impressions, Comments and Hints
, by J.H. Taylor, London, Hutchinson & Co., 1902.
- Golf: My Life's Work
, by J.H. Taylor, London, 1953.
See also
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References
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External links
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† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire in 72-holes; # indicates the event was won by an amateur
1871
No championship
; 1915?1919
cancelled due to
World War I
; 1940?1945
cancelled due to
World War II
; 2020
cancelled due to
COVID-19 pandemic
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Great Britain
Great Britain & Ireland
Europe
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