The 1911 Open Championship was the 51st

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

, held 26–30 June at

Royal St George's Golf Club The Royal St George's Golf Club is a golf club located in Sandwich, Kent, England. It is one of the courses on The Open Championship rota, and the only one in South East England. It has hosted 15 Open championships, the first in 1894 when it b ...

Sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Harry Vardon Henry William Vardon (9 May 1870 – 20 March 1937) 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 ...

won the Championship for the fifth time in a playoff over

Arnaud Massy Arnaud George Watson Massy (; 6 July 1877 – 16 April 1950) was one of France's most successful professional golfers, most notable for winning the 1907 Open Championship. He was the first player from outside Scotland and England to win a major ...

, the

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 9 – The "Mud March (suffragists), Mud March", the ...

champion. There was no qualifying event and with 226 entries it was not possible for all the players to play 18 holes on the same day. The players were therefore divided into three "sections," with the first 36 holes played over three days. Sections A and B played their first rounds on Monday, while section C played on Tuesday morning. Section A played their second rounds that afternoon, while sections B and C played their second rounds on Wednesday. By the start of the first round, the number of participants had been reduced to 222, with four withdrawals. On Monday, Michael Moran of Section B had the best round at 72. On Tuesday morning, the players in Section C discovered that a number of the holes had been moved since the first day. Later in the day a letter of protest was drawn up by a group of professionals and presented to the authorities: "To the Committee of the Championship, 1911 - Gentlemen, we the undersigned competitors at this Championship meeting respectfully protest against the alteration of the course during the qualifying (sic) rounds." Play was somewhat easier on the second morning and amateur Edward Blackwell led at 71, with joining Moran with 72. At the end of Tuesday, only Section A had completed 36 holes, and Ted Ray led at 148. The Committee replied to the professionals, "The Green Committee consider that in deciding to cut fresh holes each day they had adopted the best course possible under the terms of the competition, which were exceptional owing to the large entry, and though they regret that there was any dissatisfaction amongst the players, they decided that the protest could not be upheld." New holes were again cut on the third morning, so that Sections B and C played their second round to different holes to Section A. The second round was completed on Wednesday evening, and George Duncan led the field at 144, four ahead of Ray, Taylor, and Vardon. The leading sixty players and ties advanced for the final 36 holes on Thursday; the cut was at 162 and 73 players advanced, with fifteen players on the number. Duncan had a poor third round of 83 in the morning, which left Vardon with a three-shot lead over

Sandy Herd Alexander Herd (24 April 1868 – 18 February 1944) was a Scottish professional golfer from St Andrews. He won The Open Championship in 1902 at Hoylake. Early life Born in St Andrews, Scotland, on 24 April 1868, to a golfing family, Herd had br ...

, Taylor, and Massy. Vardon was among the early starters in the afternoon and scored 80 for 303. Amateur Harold Hilton reached the turn in 33, but took 43 for the last nine and finished a shot behind. Massy needed a four at the difficult final hole to tie; he reached the green with two woods and two-putted to force a 36-hole playoff with Vardon on Friday. Massy led the playoff after ten holes, but a six at the 14th and a disastrous seven at 17 put Vardon ahead by five after the first round. The lead extended to seven after 27 holes and ten after 34 holes. After Vardon reached the green in two at the 35th and Massy was in thick rough after two shots, Massy picked up his ball and conceded.

Coronation Match

The Championship was preceded by a " Coronation Match" between teams of amateurs and professionals at Royal St George's on Saturday 24 June 1911. The match was in celebration of the coronation of

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

on 22 June 1911. The match consisted of 9 foursomes matches, each over 36 holes. The result was an for the professionals. Only one match went beyond the 33rd hole and resulted in a win for the amateurs at the

Course

Round summaries

First round

''Monday, 26 June 1911 (morning, section A; afternoon, section B)''
''Tuesday, 27 June 1911 (morning, section C)''
Source:

Second round

''Tuesday, 27 June 1911 (afternoon, section A)''
''Wednesday, 28 June 1911 (morning, section B; afternoon, section C)'' Source:

Third round

''Thursday, 29 June 1911 (morning)'' Source:

Final round

''Thursday, 29 June 1911 (afternoon)'' Source:

Playoff

''Friday, 30 June 1911'' Ten shots behind after 34 holes, Massy was in trouble on the 35th hole and conceded the match. Scores in the table below are after 34 holes.

Scorecards

''Morning round'' ''Afternoon round'' Source:

References

External links

Royal St Georges 1911 (Official site)
{{coord, 51.274, 1.367, type:event, display=title The Open Championship Golf tournaments in England