Dunlop-Southport Tournament

Last updated

Southport Tournament
Tournament information
Location Southport, England
Established1930
Month playedMay
Final year1948
Final champion
Fred Daly

The Southport Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the Southport area in North West England. It was founded in 1930 when it was sponsored by a Manchester newspaper, the Daily Dispatch. From 1931 it was sponsored by Dunlop and was known as the Dunlop-Southport Tournament, being jointly funded by Southport Corporation. The last event was played in 1948 when Southport Corporation withdrew their funding. [1] It was replaced by the "Dunlop Tournament", played at various location in the United Kingdom. The tournament was played in May and was played over 72 holes of stroke play. Qualifying, over 36 holes, took place at local courses immediately before the tournament.

Henry Cotton dominated the first six events, winning twice and being runner-up in the other four.

The 1939 event was cancelled because of difficulties finding suitable courses for qualifying and the event itself.

Winners

YearWinnerVenueScoreMargin
of victory
Runner(s)-upWinner's
share (£)
Ref
Daily Dispatch Southport Tournament
1930 Flag of England.svg Archie Compston Royal Birkdale 2854 strokes Flag of England.svg Henry Cotton
Flag of the United States.svg Horton Smith
200 [2] [3]
Dunlop-Southport Tournament
1931 Flag of England.svg Henry Cotton Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club 2872 strokes Flag of England.svg Archie Compston 360 [4]
1932 Flag of England.svg Henry Cotton Hesketh Golf Club 281Playoff
(36 holes)
Flag of England.svg Bill Twine 360 [5] [6]
1933 Flag of England.svg Bill Davies Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club 2931 stroke Flag of England.svg Henry Cotton
Flag of Ireland.svg Willie Nolan
Flag of England.svg Ernest Whitcombe
[7]
1934 Flag of England.svg Alf Padgham Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club 2792 strokes Flag of England.svg Henry Cotton 300 [8]
1935 Flag of England.svg Charles Whitcombe Royal Birkdale 2951 stroke Flag of England.svg Dick Burton
Flag of England.svg Henry Cotton
315 [9]
1936 Flag of England.svg Alf Padgham Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club 2822 strokes Flag of England.svg Dick Burton 315 [10]
1937 Flag of England.svg Dick Burton Hesketh Golf Club 2803 strokes Flag of England.svg Charles Whitcombe [11]
1938 Flag of England.svg Don Curtis Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club 2872 strokes Flag of England.svg Arthur Lees 315 [12]
1939: No tournament
1940–45: No tournament due to World War II
1946 Flag of England.svg Max Faulkner Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club 2961 stroke Flag of Australia (converted).svg Norman Von Nida 350 [13]
1947 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Norman Von Nida Hesketh Golf Club 2855 strokes Flag of England.svg Charlie Ward 350 [14]
1948 Ulster Banner.svg Fred Daly Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club 290Playoff
(36 holes)
Ulster Banner.svg Ted McNeill 350 [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish Open (golf)</span>

The Irish Open is a professional golf tournament on the European Tour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alf Padgham</span>

Alfred Harry Padgham was one of the leading British professional golfers of the 1930s and 1940s. He won the 1936 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, Merseyside, England and played for Great Britain in the Ryder Cup in 1933, 1935 and 1937. He was captain of the Professional Golfers Association in 1936.

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.

The 1934 Open Championship was the 69th Open Championship, held 27–29 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Henry Cotton dominated the championship, leading wire-to-wire on his way to a five-stroke win and his first of three Open titles.

The 1935 Open Championship was the 70th Open Championship, played 26–28 June at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Alf Perry won his only major title, four strokes ahead of runner-up Alf Padgham.

Archibald Edward Wones Compston was an English professional golfer. Through the 1920s he built a reputation as a formidable match play golfer, in an era when many professionals made more money from "challenge" matches against fellow pros, or wealthy amateurs, than from tournament golf.

Arthur Lees was an English professional golfer who played from the 1930s to 1960s. He was a member of four Great Britain Ryder Cup teams in the late 1940s and 1950s, and won several tournaments in Europe during his career. In addition, he spent nearly 30 years as the head professional of Sunningdale Golf Club, holding the position until he was almost 70 years old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorkshire Evening News Tournament</span>

The Yorkshire Evening News Tournament was an international golf tournament in the English Yorkshire area before the European Tour was founded. It was a match play tournament for most of its existence, but switched to stroke play in the 1940s. The tournament was played annually from 1923 to 1963, with no tournaments held during World War II.

The Roehampton Invitation Tournament was a British golf tournament played each April at the Roehampton Club from 1920 to 1935. From 1922 the tournament was played over three days. There was 36 holes of stroke play on the first day with the leading 16 players qualifying for a knock-out contest on the following two days. Except in 1920 the total prize money was £200. A challenge cup was awarded to the winner to remain the absolute property of any player who won the tournament on two occasions, not necessarily consecutive. Three players won the cup outright: Abe Mitchell, Mark Seymour and Archie Compston. The tournament was cancelled in 1936 because of "the crowded state of the fixture list".

The Glasgow Herald Tournament was a British golf tournament played at Gleneagles from 1920 to 1927. The 1920 event had prize money of £650, then the largest ever in a British tournament. From 1921 the prize money was increased further, to 1,000 guineas (£1,050), a new record. The first prize increased from £160 to £200. From 1921 the event was often called the Glasgow Herald 1000 Guineas Tournament.

The Dunlop-Metropolitan Tournament was an invitation professional golf tournament played in South East England. It was founded in 1934. The tournament was played towards the end of the season and was played over 72 holes of stroke play. The event had a small field; entry being mostly based on high finishes in important British and Continental events earlier in the year. Past Open Champions were also invited. The tournament was informally called "The Championship of Champions" and was "equivalent almost to the Masters' tournament of America" which was also founded in 1934.

The Daily Mail Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the United Kingdom. The Daily Mail sponsored the St Andrews Tournament in 1919 and in 1920 continued their sponsorship with the start of the Daily Mail Tournament. The event was dropped after the 1927 tournament and not reinstated until 1936. The event was unusual in that it took place in 1940, after the start of World War II. The prize money for the 1940 event was just £500, money being raised for the Red Cross A tournament was also played in September 1945, soon after the end of the war, and was informally referred to as the "Victory" tournament. The last event was played in 1950.

The Southend Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in Southend, England and sponsored by the local council. The event was held just once, in 1937, and had total prize money of £1,000. The event was unusual in that the first half of the tournament was played in May but, because of heavy rain, the final half was played in September.

The Silver King Tournament was a professional golf tournament played at Moor Park Golf Club near Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. The event was promoted by The Silvertown Company, manufacturer of the Silver King golf ball. It was held from 1936 to 1953.

The News Chronicle Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the Brighton area. It was held from 1936 to 1951.

Donald Allen Curtis was an English professional golfer.

William Thomas Twine was an English professional golfer. He was a regular competitor in the Open Championship and had a best finish of 11th in 1934. He never won an important individual tournament, his best finish being in the 1932 Dunlop-Southport Tournament where he tied with Henry Cotton but lost the 36-hole playoff by a single shot.

The Dunlop Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the United Kingdom from 1949 to 1961. It replaced by the "Dunlop-Southport Tournament". It was sponsored by Dunlop. The last event was played in 1961 when Dunlop withdrew their funding, although the continued to support the Dunlop Masters. The tournament was generally played in early May, except in 1951 when it was played in April and 1961 which was played in late June and early July. and was played over 72 holes of stroke play. From 1950 to 1958 the tournament was played over 90 holes. The first two rounds were played on two different courses after which there was cut and the remaining three rounds were played on the main course.

William Nolan was an Irish professional golfer. He was one of the leading Irish professionals of the inter-war period. In 1933 he was a runner-up in the Dunlop-Southport Tournament and led qualifying in the Open Championship. He won the Irish Professional Championship in 1934. He died in 1939 aged 42.

Patrick Joseph Mahon was an Irish professional golfer. He was one of the leading Irish professionals of the 1930s and had one exceptional season, 1937, where he was runner-up in three important British tournaments, third in another, finished second in the Harry Vardon Trophy standings and won the Irish Professional Championship. He won the Western Isles Open Championship in 1935 and won the Irish Professional Championship again in 1938 and 1939.

References

  1. "Golf – New year's professional tournaments". The Times. 18 December 1947. p. 2.
  2. "Great golf at Southport – Compston wins". The Glasgow Herald . 10 May 1930. p. 3.
  3. "Compston wins British golf – Horton Smith deadlocked with Henry Cotton for second money". The Pittsburgh Press . 9 May 1930. p. 58.
  4. "British golf triumph – Cotton wins at Southport". The Glasgow Herald . 16 May 1931. p. 3.
  5. "A thrilling finish – Twine equals Cotton's wins at Southport". The Glasgow Herald . 14 May 1932. p. 18.
  6. "Cotton's £200 shot – One stroke victory at Southport". The Glasgow Herald . 16 May 1932. p. 18.
  7. "Davies wins by a stroke – Thrilling finish to Southport tourny". The Glasgow Herald . 13 May 1933. p. 7.
  8. "Padgham wins at Southport – Remarkable scoring". The Times. 5 May 1934. p. 6.
  9. "Southport £1600 tournament – C Whitcombe's putting victory". The Glasgow Herald . 20 May 1935. p. 7.
  10. "Padgham wins again – Prize-money now totals £1015". The Glasgow Herald . 9 May 1936. p. 3.
  11. "Richard Burton wins £1600 golf tournament – Charles Whitcombe in second place: Jack M'Leans good showing". The Glasgow Herald . 8 May 1937. p. 19.
  12. "Padgham's bid in vain – Don Curtis wins £1600 tournament". The Glasgow Herald . 7 May 1938. p. 3.
  13. "Faulkner wins at Southport – Exciting golf finish". The Glasgow Herald . 11 May 1946. p. 4.
  14. "Another fine win for Von Nida – £850 in three weeks". The Glasgow Herald . 10 May 1947. p. 2.
  15. "Two Irishmen tie for first prize at Southport". The Glasgow Herald . 8 May 1948. p. 4.
  16. "Daly's sound victory at Southport – Opponents poor finish". The Glasgow Herald . 10 May 1948. p. 4.