Findlay S. Douglas
Findlay S. Douglas | |||
---|---|---|---|
Douglas on a 1910 tobacco card. | |||
Personal information | |||
Full name | Findlay Small Douglas | ||
Born | (1874-11-17)17 November 1874 St Andrews, Scotland | ||
Died | 29 March 1959(1959-03-29) (aged 84) | ||
Sporting nationality | Scotland | ||
Career | |||
College | University of St Andrews | ||
Status | Amateur | ||
Best results in major championships (wins: 1) | |||
U.S. Open | 8th: 1903 | ||
The Open Championship | DNP | ||
U.S. Amateur | Won: 1898 | ||
British Amateur | R256: 1913, 1920 | ||
Achievements and awards | |||
|
Findlay Small Douglas (17 November 1874 – 29 March 1959) was a Scottish amateur golfer who won the U.S. Amateur in 1898, and later became President of the United States Golf Association (USGA).
Life and career
Born in St Andrews, Scotland, Douglas learned to play golf as a boy. He attended the University of St Andrews from 1892 to 1896, and played on the golf team. After graduation, he followed his oldest brother Robert and emigrated to the United States in 1897.[1]
Douglas qualified for the U.S. Amateur in 1897, but lost in the semifinal. In 1898 he won the event, defeating Walter B. Smith 5 & 3 in the final match. He was the last Scot to win the tournament until 2006, when Richie Ramsay won. Douglas made it to the final match in 1899 and again in 1900, but lost to H.M. Harriman and Walter Travis respectively. In his only U.S. Open appearance in 1903, Douglas finished 8th, winning low amateur. He won the Metropolitan Amateur in 1901 and 1903.
Douglas joined several golf clubs in the New York area, and helped start others. In 1908, he was one of the 70 founders of the National Golf Links of America.[2] Eventually, Douglas got involved in administrative roles, and served in various capacities at the Metropolitan Golf Association for 17 years, including president from 1922 to 1924.[3]
In 1926, Douglas became vice-president of the United States Golf Association, and then from 1929 to 1930 served as president. He presented Bobby Jones with the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur trophies during Jones' Grand Slam in 1930.
Douglas later got involved with senior golf, winning the championship of the United States Senior's Golf Association (not affiliated with the USGA) in 1932, and later served as the organization's president from 1937 to 1941.[3] This was the forerunner to the USGA's U.S. Senior Amateur, which was started in 1955.
Douglas was the USGA's Bob Jones Award winner in 1959, given in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. He died on Easter Sunday in 1959 with no surviving family, and his ashes were buried in a family plot in St Andrews. In the late 1990s, the Royal and Ancient club restored the headstone, which had deteriorated, and added an inscription with Douglas' name, which had not been there.[4]
Tournament wins (3)
- 1898 U.S. Amateur
- 1901 Metropolitan Amateur
- 1903 Metropolitan Amateur
Results in major championships
Amateur wins (1)
Year | Championship | Winning Score | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|
1898 | U.S. Amateur | 5 & 3 | Walter B. Smith |
Results timeline
Note: Douglas played in only the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, and The Amateur Championship.
Tournament | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 |
---|---|---|---|
U.S. Open | 19 | ||
U.S. Amateur | SF | 1 | 2 |
The Amateur Championship |
Tournament | 1900 | 1901 | 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | 1909 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Open | 8 LA | T23 | ||||||||
U.S. Amateur | 2 | SF | R128 | R32 | ||||||
The Amateur Championship |
Tournament | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918 | 1919 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Open | NT | NT | ||||||||
U.S. Amateur | NT | NT | ||||||||
The Amateur Championship | R256 | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT |
Tournament | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. Open | |||||
U.S. Amateur | DNQ | ||||
The Amateur Championship | R256 |
LA = Low amateur
NT = No tournament
"T" indicates a tie for a place
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
Source for U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur: USGA Championship Database
Source for 1913 British Amateur: The American Golfer, July 1913, pg. 222. Archived 7 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
Source for 1920 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 8 June 1920, pg. 12.
References and notes
- ^ Douglas, Findlay S. (August 1948). "50 Years Ago in the Amateur" (PDF). USGA Journal. USGA. pp. 4–7. Retrieved 23 December 2006.
- ^ The National club did not hold a club championship until 1934, and when they finally did, Douglas won — at age 60.
- ^ a b English, John P. (September 1957). "Findlay S. Douglas – A Record in Service" (PDF). USGA Journal and Turf Management. USGA. pp. 5–8. Retrieved 23 December 2006.
- ^ "Nicer Final Resting Place". USGA Golf Journal. June 1997. Archived from the original on 19 May 2003.
External links
- U.S. Amateur 1898 page
- v
- t
- e
- 1895 Charles B. Macdonald
- 1896 H. J. Whigham
- 1897 H. J. Whigham
- 1898 Findlay S. Douglas
- 1899 Herbert M. Harriman
- 1900 Walter Travis
- 1901 Walter Travis
- 1902 Louis N. James
- 1903 Walter Travis
- 1904 Chandler Egan
- 1905 Chandler Egan
- 1906 Eben Byers
- 1907 Jerome Travers
- 1908 Jerome Travers
- 1909 Robert Gardner
- 1910 William C. Fownes Jr.
- 1911 Harold Hilton†
- 1912 Jerome Travers
- 1913 Jerome Travers
- 1914 Francis Ouimet
- 1915 Robert Gardner
- 1916 Chick Evans
- 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I
- 1919 Davidson Herron
- 1920 Chick Evans
- 1921 Jesse Guilford
- 1922 Jess Sweetser
- 1923 Max Marston†
- 1924 Bobby Jones
- 1925 Bobby Jones
- 1926 George Von Elm
- 1927 Bobby Jones
- 1928 Bobby Jones
- 1929 Jimmy Johnston
- 1930 Bobby Jones
- 1931 Francis Ouimet
- 1932 Ross Somerville
- 1933 George Dunlap
- 1934 Lawson Little
- 1935 Lawson Little
- 1936 Johnny Fischer†
- 1937 Johnny Goodman
- 1938 Willie Turnesa
- 1939 Bud Ward
- 1940 Dick Chapman
- 1941 Bud Ward
- 1942–1945 Cancelled due to World War II
- 1946 Ted Bishop†
- 1947 Skee Riegel
- 1948 Willie Turnesa
- 1949 Charles Coe
- 1950 Sam Urzetta†
- 1951 Billy Maxwell
- 1952 Jack Westland
- 1953 Gene Littler
- 1954 Arnold Palmer
- 1955 Harvie Ward
- 1956 Harvie Ward
- 1957 Hillman Robbins
- 1958 Charles Coe
- 1959 Jack Nicklaus
- 1960 Deane Beman
- 1961 Jack Nicklaus
- 1962 Labron Harris Jr.
- 1963 Deane Beman
- 1964 William C. Campbell
- 1965 Bob Murphy
- 1966 Gary Cowan†
- 1967 Bob Dickson
- 1968 Bruce Fleisher
- 1969 Steve Melnyk
- 1970 Lanny Wadkins
- 1971 Gary Cowan
- 1972 Vinny Giles
- 1973 Craig Stadler
- 1974 Jerry Pate
- 1975 Fred Ridley
- 1976 Bill Sander
- 1977 John Fought
- 1978 John Cook
- 1979 Mark O'Meara
- 1980 Hal Sutton
- 1981 Nathaniel Crosby
- 1982 Jay Sigel
- 1983 Jay Sigel
- 1984 Scott Verplank
- 1985 Sam Randolph
- 1986 Buddy Alexander
- 1987 Billy Mayfair
- 1988 Eric Meeks
- 1989 Chris Patton
- 1990 Phil Mickelson
- 1991 Mitch Voges
- 1992 Justin Leonard
- 1993 John Harris
- 1994 Tiger Woods
- 1995 Tiger Woods
- 1996 Tiger Woods†
- 1997 Matt Kuchar
- 1998 Hank Kuehne
- 1999 David Gossett
- 2000 Jeff Quinney†
- 2001 Bubba Dickerson
- 2002 Ricky Barnes
- 2003 Nick Flanagan†
- 2004 Ryan Moore
- 2005 Edoardo Molinari
- 2006 Richie Ramsay
- 2007 Colt Knost
- 2008 Danny Lee
- 2009 An Byeong-hun
- 2010 Peter Uihlein
- 2011 Kelly Kraft
- 2012 Steven Fox†
- 2013 Matt Fitzpatrick
- 2014 Gunn Yang
- 2015 Bryson DeChambeau
- 2016 Curtis Luck
- 2017 Doc Redman
- 2018 Viktor Hovland
- 2019 Andy Ogletree
- 2020 Tyler Strafaci
- 2021 James Piot
- 2022 Sam Bennett
- 2023 Nick Dunlap
- † indicates the event was won in extra holes.