Sandy Herd

Last updated

Sandy Herd
Sandy Herd c1920.jpg
Herd c. 1920
Personal information
Full nameAlexander Herd
NicknameSandy
Born(1868-04-24)24 April 1868
St Andrews, Scotland
Died18 February 1944(1944-02-18) (aged 75)
London, England
NationalityFlag of Scotland.svg  Scotland
Children2 sons, 4 daughters [1]
Career
StatusProfessional
Professional wins11
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters Tournament DNP
PGA Championship DNP
U.S. Open DNP
The Open Championship Won: 1902

Alexander "Sandy" Herd (24 April 1868 – 18 February 1944) was a Scottish professional golfer from St Andrews. He won The Open Championship in 1902 at Hoylake. [1]

Contents

Early life

Born in St Andrews, Scotland, on 24 April 1868, [2] to a golfing family, Herd had brothers who were also golf professionals.

Golf career

Herd was the club professional at Huddersfield Golf Club from 1892 to 1911. He won The Open Championship in 1902 at Hoylake. [1] [3] Herd had a three-shot lead after 54 holes, but nearly let the title slip out of his hands by scoring an 81 in the final round. Harry Vardon and James Braid both had medium length putts at the final hole to force a playoff, but they missed and Herd took the Championship.

Herd was the first Open Champion to use the Haskell rubber-cored ball. In 1920, he became the oldest runner-up in The Open at age 52, which stood for 89 years, until Tom Watson (age 59) in 2009. Herd's appearances in the championship spanned fifty years, the last at age 71 at St Andrews in 1939, but failed to advance from qualifying. He last played in The Open six years earlier in 1933, but twisted an ankle during the first round and had to withdraw; [4] he last made the cut in 1927 and tied for tenth.

Herd's brother Fred won the U.S. Open in 1898.

Herd also got involved in golf course architect and worked with Alister MacKenzie to create Wakefield Golf Clubs 18-hole course.[ citation needed ]

Death

Following an operation, Herd died of pneumonia at age 75 in London in 1944. [1]

Tournament wins

Note: This list may be incomplete

Major championships are shown in bold.

Major championships

Sandy Herd c. 1900 Sandy Herd.jpg
Sandy Herd c. 1900

Wins (1)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunners-up
1902 The Open Championship 3 shot lead77-76-73-81=3071 stroke Flag of Scotland.svg James Braid, Flag of Jersey.svg Harry Vardon

Results timeline

Tournament18851886188718881889
The Open Championship WD8T15
Tournament1890189118921893189418951896189718981899
The Open Championship 13T238255T17T16
Tournament1900190119021903190419051906190719081909
The Open Championship T10514915T19124T8
Tournament1910191119121913191419151916191719181919
The Open Championship 2T36T11T29NTNTNTNTNT
Tournament1920192119221923192419251926192719281929
The Open Championship 2T6T32T22T13T14T21T10CUTCUT
Tournament1930193119321933
The Open Championship WD

Note: Herd only played in The Open Championship

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

Related Research Articles

Harry Vardon

Henry William Vardon 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, and also won the 1900 U.S. Open.

John Ball (golfer)

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

The Amateur Championship Amateur golf tournament

The Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 1949 and 2019 when Ireland hosted the championship. It is one of the two leading individual tournaments for amateur golfers, alongside the U.S. Amateur. It normally has the widest international representation of any individual amateur event, with 38 golf federations from all six continents represented in the 2018 championship.

Fred Daly (golfer)

Frederick J. Daly, MBE was a Northern Irish professional golfer, best known for winning The Open Championship in 1947 at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake. Born in Portrush, County Antrim, he was the first Irishman from either side of the border to win the Open and the first to play in the Ryder Cup. He remained the only Irish winner of the Open until Pádraig Harrington won it in 2007 and the only Northern Irish major winner until Graeme McDowell won the U.S. Open in 2010.

Laurie Auchterlonie Scottish golfer

Lawrence "Laurie" Auchterlonie was a Scottish professional golfer, a native of St Andrews. In 1902, representing the Glen View Club, he won the eighth U.S. Open at Garden City Golf Club in Garden City, New York.

Ted Ray (golfer)

Edward Rivers John "Ted" 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.

George Duncan (golfer)

George Duncan was a Scottish professional golfer. He was also a golf course designer. His much sought-after professional teaching and swing analysis skills lead to him being referred to as "the pro's pro." He won the 1920 Open Championship.

Clive Anthony Clark is an English professional golfer and more recently a broadcaster and golf course architect.

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.

Abe Mitchell

Henry Abraham Mitchell was an English professional golfer. Mitchell had eight top-10 finishes out of 17 appearances in the Open Championship, his best performance being fourth in 1920. He was runner-up in the 1912 Amateur Championship and won the 1924 Miami Open.

John Jones was an English professional golfer who played in the late 19th and early 20th century. He had two top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open.

Alfred Toogood English golfer

Alfred Henry Toogood, Sr. was an English professional golfer who played during the late 19th and early 20th century. Toogood finished fourth in the 1894 Open Championship and won £7. He also tied for ninth place in the 1895 Open Championship.

Bertie Snowball English professional golfer

Bertie Snowball was an English professional golfer who played in the early 20th century. He was at his peak as a player from 1904 to 1908 but was still competitive as late as 1914. He was killed in 1915 during World War I.

Robert Maxwell (golfer) Scottish golfer

Robert Maxwell was a Scottish amateur golfer who played during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Maxwell had four top-10 finishes in The Open Championship. His best performance came in the 1902 Open Championship when he placed fourth. Maxwell won The Amateur Championship twice, in 1903 and 1909, both events having been played at Muirfield.

Ernest William Henry "Bob" Kenyon was an English professional golfer. He won the Irish Open in 1931 and 1933 and finished tied for ninth place in the 1939 Open Championship. He won the World Senior Championship in 1956.

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.

The England–Scotland Professional Match was an annual men's professional golf competition between teams representing England and Scotland. It was played from 1903 to the start of World War I and was then revived in 1932 and played until the start of World War II. The match was played on a single day, generally a few days before the Open Championship. Except on one occasion, there were 12 players in each team who played 12 singles matches and 6 foursomes. Scotland won the inaugural match in 1903 but didn't win another match, although three matches were tied. The event was organised by the PGA and only members of the PGA were eligible to play.

Norman Sutton was an English professional golfer. He tied for 6th place in the 1951 Open Championship and won the World Senior Championship in 1958.

The England–Scotland Amateur Match was an annual men's amateur golf competition between teams representing England and Scotland. It was played from 1902 to 1931, although the match lapsed between 1913 and 1921. The match continued after 1931 but as part of the Men's Home Internationals in which Ireland and Wales also competed. Until 1931 it was played in connection with the Amateur Championship, on the Saturday either before or after the championship.

Michael Moran was an Irish professional golfer, the leading Irish golfer of his generation. He won the Irish Professional Championship five years in succession from 1909 to 1913 before moving to England and being ineligible to compete in 1914. He played in the Open Championship from 1909 to 1914 with a series of high finishes. He finished joint third in 1913 despite a disastrous 89 in the third round which included a 10 at the first hole. He died in France in 1918 at the age of 31.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Obituary – Sandy Herd – Noted Scottish Golfer". Glasgow Herald. 19 February 1944. p. 5.
  2. "Births in the United District of St Andrews and St Leonards in the City of Fife" . Statutory Births 453/00 0068. ScotlandsPeople . Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  3. "1902 Sandy Herd". The Open. Archived from the original on 26 November 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  4. "Hagen sets the pace". Glasgow Herald. 6 July 1933. p. 11.