James Braid (golfer)

James Braid
— Golfer —

Braid playing at the Open de France
at Chantilly in 1913
Personal information
Full name James Braid
Born (1870-02-06)6 February 1870
Earlsferry, Fife, Scotland
Died 27 November 1950(1950-11-27) (aged 80)
London, England
Nationality  Scotland
Career
Status Professional
Professional wins 17
Best results in major championships
(wins: 5)
Masters Tournament DNP
U.S. Open DNP
The Open Championship Won: 1901, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1910
PGA Championship DNP
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 1976 (member page)
Braid caricatured by Spy for Vanity Fair, 1907

James Braid (6 February 1870[1] – 27 November 1950) 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.[2] He also was a renowned golf course architect.

Braid was born in Earlsferry, Fife, Scotland, the son of James and Mary (née Harris). He played golf from an early age, working as a clubmaker before turning professional in 1896. Initially his game was hindered by problems with his putting, but he overcame this after switching to an aluminum putter in 1900. He won The Open Championship in 1901, 1905, 1906, 1908 and 1910. In addition, Braid won four British PGA Matchplay Championships (1903, 1905, 1907 and 1911), as well as the 1910 French Open title. He was also runner-up in The Open Championship in 1897 and 1909. His 1906 victory in The Open Championship was the last successful defence of the title by a European until Pádraig Harrington replicated the feat in 2008.[3]

In 1912, Braid scaled back his tournament golf, and became a club professional at Walton Heath. He developed a very successful career in golf course design,[4] and is sometimes regarded as the "inventor" of the dogleg, although holes of similar design had been known for centuries (for example, the Road Hole at the Old Course at St Andrews). Among his designs are the "King's Course" and the "Queen's Course" at Gleneagles, and the 1926 remodelling of The Open Championship venue Carnoustie Golf Links.

Stranraer Golf Club's course was the final one that was designed by Braid in the year that he died, 1950. He was called out of retirement to plan Creachmore, which was to be his last commission. Braid never lived to see the course completed. He died in London on 27 November 1950.[5]

Tournament wins (17)

Note: This list may be incomplete.

Major championships are shown in bold.

Major championships

Wins (5)

YearChampionship54 HolesWinning ScoreMarginRunner(s)-up
1901 The Open Championship 5 shot lead 79-76-74-80=309 3 strokes Jersey Harry Vardon
1905 The Open Championship (2) 6 shot lead 81-78-78-81=318 5 strokes England Rowland Jones, England J.H. Taylor
1906 The Open Championship (3) 3 shot deficit 77-76-74-73=300 4 strokes England J.H. Taylor
1908 The Open Championship (4) 6 shot lead 70-72-77-72=291 8 strokes England Tom Ball
1910 The Open Championship (5) 2 shot deficit 76-73-74-76=299 4 strokes Scotland Sandy Herd

Results timeline

Braid played in only The Open Championship.

Tournament 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
The Open Championship T10 DNP 6 2 T10 T5
Tournament 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
The Open Championship 3 1 T2 5 T2 1 1 T5 1 T2
Tournament 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
The Open Championship 1 T5 3 T18 T10 NT NT NT NT NT
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
The Open Championship T21 T16 DNP T49 T18 DNP T28 T30 T41 DNP
Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT

NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Team appearances

Golf courses designed by Braid

Braid designed over 200 courses including the following:

  • Alloa Golf Club, Alloa[6]
  • Belleisle Golf Club, Alloway, Ayr[7]
  • Bentra G.C, Whitehead, Northern Ireland[8]
  • Budock Vean Golf Club, Falmouth, Cornwall[9]
  • Colchester Golf Club, Colchester, Essex[10]
  • Copthorne Golf Club, Copthorne, West Sussex[11]
  • East Brighton Golf Club, Brighton, East Sussex[12]
  • Finchley Golf Club[13]
  • Herefordshire Golf Club, Raven's Causeway, Herefordshire (1896)[14]
  • Hull Golf Club, Kirk Ella, East Riding of Yorkshire.[15]
  • Kirkistown Castle Links, Cloughey, Co. Down, Northern Ireland[16]
  • Kirriemuir Golf Club, Kirriemuir, Angus[17]
  • Porthmadog Golf Club, Morfa Bychan, North Wales
  • Northcliffe Golf Club, Shipley, West Yorkshire
  • Ludlow Golf Club, Shropshire
  • The Musselburgh Golf Club, Musselburgh, East Lothian[18]
  • Newton Green Golf Club, Sudbury, Suffolk[19]
  • North Shore Golf Club, Skegness, Lincolnshire[20]
  • Perranporth Golf Club, Perranporth, Cornwall[21]
  • Royal Blackheath Golf Club
  • Worsley Golf Club, Greater Manchester
  • Saint Enodoc Golf Club, Wadebridge, Cornwall[22]
  • St Austell Golf Club, St Austell, Cornwall[23]
  • Stranraer Golf Club, Stranraer[5]
  • Tiverton Golf Club, Tiverton, Devon, England[24]
  • Theydon Bois Golf Club Epping Essex 1897
  • Verulam Golf Club, St. Albans, Hertfordshire
  • Charnwood Forest Golf Club, Leicestershire
  • Boat of Garten Golf Club, Inverness-Shire, Scotland[25]
  • King's and Queen's Course, Gleneagles Golf Club. Perthshire, Scotland.
  • Erskine Golf Club, Erskine, Renfrewshire, Scotland
  • Fraserburgh Golf Club, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
  • Renfrew Golf Club, Renfrew, Renfrewshire, Scotland
  • Howth Golf Club, Howth, Dublin, Co. Dublin, Ireland
  • Charnwood Forest Golf Club, Woodhouse, Leicestershire the oldest golf club in Leicestershire
  • Wrexham Golf Club, Wrexham, Wales
  • Eaglescliffe Golf Club, Stockton-on-Tees, England
  • Ryston Park Golf Club
  • Middlesbrough Golf Club, Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough
  • Peterborough Milton Golf Club, Cambridgeshire

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Births in the Parish of Kilconquar in the County of Fife". Statutory Births 436/00 0009. ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 18 February 2015. (subscription required (help)).
  2. ↑ "James Braid". The Open. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "Harrington sets 'exclusive' goals". BBC News. 21 July 2008. Retrieved 14 August 2008.
  4. ↑ "The James Braid Golf Trail". Visit Scotland. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  5. 1 2 "History of Stranraer Golf Club". Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "Alloa Golf Club". Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  7. ↑ "Belleisle Golf Club". Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  8. ↑ "Bentra Golf Club". Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  9. ↑ "Budock Vean Golf Club". Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "Colchester Golf Club". Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  11. ↑ Copthorne Golf Club
  12. ↑ "East Brighton Golf Club". Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Finchley Golf Club website".
  14. ↑ "Herefordshire Golf Club website".
  15. ↑ "About Hull Golf Club". Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "Kirkistown Castle Links". Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  17. ↑ "Kirriemuir Golf Club". Retrieved 17 July 2013.
  18. ↑ "The Musselburgh Golf Club". Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  19. ↑ "Newton Green Golf Club". Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  20. ↑ "North Shore Golf Club". Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  21. ↑ "Perranporth Golf Club". Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  22. ↑ "Saint Enodoc Golf Club". Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  23. ↑ "St Austell Golf Club". Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  24. ↑ "Tiverton Golf Club". Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  25. ↑ "Boat of Garten Golf Club". Retrieved 23 October 2015.

Further reading

Darwin, Bernard (1952). James Braid. London: Hodder & Stoughton. 

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