Henry Cotton (golfer)
Henry Cotton | |
---|---|
— Golfer — | |
Personal information | |
Full name | Sir Thomas Henry Cotton |
Born | Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, England |
28 January 1907
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. London, England |
Nationality | England |
Career | |
Turned professional | 1924 |
Professional wins | 30 |
Best results in major championships (wins: 3) |
|
Masters Tournament | T13: 1957 |
U.S. Open | T17: 1956 |
The Open Championship | Won: 1934, 1937, 1948 |
PGA Championship | DNP |
Achievements and awards | |
World Golf Hall of Fame | 1980 (member page) |
Harry Vardon Trophy | 1938 |
Member of the Order of the British Empire |
1946 |
Knight Bachelor | 1988 |
Sir Thomas Henry Cotton, MBE (26 January 1907 – 22 December 1987), was an English professional golfer known for winning three Open Championships.[1]
Contents
Early life
Cotton was born in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire. A prestigious cricketer, while attending Alleyn's School in Dulwich, South London, he and the other non-prefects were ordered by the six prefects in the school team to transport their cricket clothing back to the school on public transport. After returning to the school, he wrote a letter to the headmaster explaining that he was not amused. The headmaster ordered that he be caned in punishment, but Cotton refused. Resultantly banned from the cricket team, Cotton and his brother took up their second sport golf at the Aquarius Golf Club in Honor Oak from 1920.[2] In 1923 Cotton won the Hutchings Trophy, the club championship. The brothers left in 1924 to become professionals.
Career
Cotton started his career as a professional golfer at the age of 17 when he joined his younger brother Leslie as assistant teaching professional at Fulwell Golf Club under Fulwell's professional, George Oke, who had been at Honor Oak until 1921.[2][3][4]
Cotton was known for working extremely hard at his game, often practising until his hands bled. Cotton placed great emphasis upon accuracy and differed from modern golf teachers in the great emphasis he placed upon the role of the hands in the golf swing. Although emphasis was given to a correct grip, he also emphasised the need to build up the strength of the hands and forearms. The competition golfer, equipped with such assets could counter an off centre strike off the face of the club and still achieve a powerful, yet accurate shot. He also stated the need to "educate the hands" in that the competitive golfer had to achieve an awareness of the position of the hands during the golf swing itself, something modern teachers have not stressed greatly, preferring a more passive role for the hands.[citation needed]
He achieved fame during the 1930s and 1940s, with three victories in The Open Championship (1934, 1937, and 1948). His record round of 65, made during the 1934 Open Championship, led to the Dunlop golf company issuing the famous 'Dunlop 65' ball. Cotton placed 17 times in the top-10 at the Open. Cotton also succeeded in winning many titles on the European circuit during the 1930s. During this period he was a professional at the Ashridge Golf Club.[citation needed]
During World War II he served with the Royal Air Force, and raised money for the Red Cross by playing exhibition matches and shows. This earned him an MBE. At this time he was stationed at RAF Halton and was closely involved with what is now the Chiltern Forest Golf club. He added three holes to the course (taking it from 6 to 9) and made other improvements.[citation needed]
Cotton was a member of four British Ryder Cup teams, and served as captain of the team in 1947 and 1953. He competed only occasionally in the United States, without notable success.[citation needed]
Retirement
Following his retirement from competitive golf in the early 1950s, Cotton became a successful architect of golf courses, including designing the Penina Golf and Resort on the Algarve, Portugal. Cotton wrote 10 books, and established the Golf Foundation, which helped thousands of young boys and girls get started in golf.[citation needed]
Cotton loved the high life, including champagne, caviar and bespoke tailored clothes. He lived for a while in a suite in a 5-star hotel, and later bought an estate complete with butler and full staff, travelling everywhere in a Rolls-Royce.[citation needed]
He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1980.[citation needed]
Cotton was knighted in the New Year's Day Honours of 1988, named a Knight Bachelor.[5] This was reported in some media as a "posthumous knighthood" because he had died by the time it was publicly announced. However, he had accepted the knighthood before his death, and it was made effective from the date of his death.[citation needed]
Tournament wins (30)
this list may be incomplete
- 1930 Belgian Open, South Open (Argentina)
- 1931 Dunlop-Southport Tournament
- 1932 News of the World Match Play, Dunlop-Southport Tournament
- 1934 The Open Championship, Belgian Open
- 1935 Yorkshire Evening News Tournament
- 1936 Italian Open, Dunlop-Metropolitan Tournament
- 1937 The Open Championship, German Open, Silver King Tournament, Czechoslovak Open
- 1938 Belgian Open, German Open, Czechoslovak Open
- 1939 German Open, Daily Mail Tournament, Penfold Professional Golf League (tie with Charles Whitcombe)
- 1940 News of the World Match Play
- 1945 News Chronicle Tournament
- 1946 The Star Tournament, French Open, News of the World Match Play
- 1947 French Open, Yorkshire Evening News Tournament (tie with Norman Von Nida), Spalding Tournament
- 1948 The Open Championship
- 1954 Penfold Tournament
Major championships are shown in bold.
Major championships
Wins (3)
Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | Margin | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1934 | The Open Championship | 10 shot lead | 67-65-72-79=283 | 5 strokes | Sid Brews |
1937 | The Open Championship (2) | 3 shot deficit | 74-72-73-71=290 | 2 strokes | Reg Whitcombe |
1948 | The Open Championship (3) | 2 shot lead | 71-66-75-72=284 | 5 strokes | Fred Daly |
Results timeline
Tournament | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 |
---|---|---|---|
U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP |
The Open Championship | 9 | T18 | T32 |
Tournament | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | NYF | NYF | NYF | NYF | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
U.S. Open | DNP | CUT | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
The Open Championship | 8 | T10 | T10 | T7 | 1 | T7 | T3 | 1 | 3 | T13 |
Tournament | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | DNP | DNP | DNP | NT | NT | NT | DNP | DNP | T25 | DNP |
U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | NT | NT | NT | NT | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
The Open Championship | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | T4 | T6 | 1 | DNP |
Tournament | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T68 | T13 | DNP | DNP |
U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T17 | DNP | DNP | DNP |
The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | 4 | DNP | CUT | T32 | T6 | T9 | T8 | T41 |
Tournament | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
The Open Championship | DNP | T32 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Masters Tournament | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT |
Note: Cotton never played in the PGA Championship.
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
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
Quotes
- The best is always good enough for me
- To be a champion, you must act like one
References
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- ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 51171. p. 1. 30 December 1987.
External links
- Henry Cotton at About.com
- Sir Henry Cotton Championship Course at Penina.com
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Template:1929 Great Britain Ryder Cup team
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- Use dmy dates from April 2012
- Articles with unsourced statements from July 2015
- English golfers
- Winners of men's major golf championships
- World Golf Hall of Fame inductees
- Ryder Cup competitors for Europe
- Golf writers and broadcasters
- Golf course architects
- Sports players and officials awarded knighthoods
- Knights Bachelor
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Royal Air Force officers
- Royal Air Force personnel of World War II
- People educated at Dulwich College
- People educated at Alleyn's School
- People from Holmes Chapel
- 1907 births
- 1987 deaths