Alexander Smith (28 January 1874 – 21 April 1930) was a Scottish-American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who played in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was a member of a famous

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

ing family. His brother

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...

won the U.S. Open in 1899, and Alex won it in both

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

and

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

. Like many British professionals of his era he spent much of his adult life working as a club professional in the United States.

Early life

Smith was born in Carnoustie, Scotland, on 28 January 1874, the son of John D. Smith and Joann Smith née Robinson. On 18 January 1895 he was married to Jessie Maiden—sister of James Maiden—and they had two daughters, Fannie and Margaret, born in 1896 and 1899, respectively. Smith was sometimes referred to as "Alec" Smith, especially early in his career.

Golf career

He was the head professional at Nassau Country Club in

Glen Cove, New York Glen Cove is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, New York (state), New York, United States. The city's population was 28,3 ...

, from 1901 through 1909. James Maiden, who would forge a successful golf career of his own, served as assistant professional under Smith at Nassau. In 1901, Smith lost to Willie Anderson in a playoff for the U.S. Open title. Smith's 1906 U.S. Open victory came at the

Onwentsia Club Onwentsia Club is an 18-hole golf course in the central United States, located in Lake Forest, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicago. Course history In Lake County, the par-71 course is from the back tees; it has a course rating of 72.8 with a sl ...

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and t ...

. His 72-hole score of 295 was the lowest at either the U.S. Open or the

British Open 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 ...

up to that time, and he won $300. The 1910 U.S. Open was played over the St. Martin's course at the

Philadelphia Cricket Club The Philadelphia Cricket Club, founded in 1854 in southeastern Pennsylvania, is the oldest country club in the United States. Its two locations are in Chestnut Hill and Flourtown, north-northwest of downtown Philadelphia. History Founde ...

. Smith won a three-man playoff against American John McDermott and another of his own brothers,

Macdonald Smith Macdonald "Mac" Smith (March 18, 1890 – August 31, 1949) was one of the top professional golfers in the world from about 1910 into the mid-1930s. He was a member of a famous Scottish golfing family. Smith is regarded, based on his results, as o ...

. Alex Smith played in eighteen U.S. Opens in total and accumulated eleven top ten placings. Smith, who partnered with C. A. Dunning in the 1905

Metropolitan Open The Metropolitan Open is a golf tournament organized by the Metropolitan Golf Association. In the early 20th century it was one of the top events in the country and was retroactively given PGA Tour-level status. History The tournament has been ...

four-ball tournament held on 16 September 1905 at Fox Hills Golf Club on

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, tied for first place with

George Low George Michael Low (born Georg Michael Löw; June 10, 1926 – July 17, 1984) was an administrator at NASA and the 14th president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Low was one of the senior NASA officials who made decisions as manager ...

and Fred Herreshoff with a score of 71. A playoff wasn't held due to the fact that Smith was also competing in the medal competition which he won from Willie Anderson. Smith also won the

Western Open The Western Open was a professional golf tournament in the United States, for most of its history an event on the PGA Tour. The tournament's founding in 1899 actually pre-dated the start of the Tour, which is generally dated from 1916, the ye ...

twice and the

four times.

Later life

In 1910, Smith was a widower and lived with his two young daughters and sister-in-law, Allison Barry, in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

. He was the head professional at the

Westchester Country Club Westchester Country Club is a private country club located in Harrison, New York. Founded in 1922 as a destination for sportsmen, it was known to professional golfers and spectators for more than four decades as the home of the Westchester Cla ...

in Rye, New York. After the death of his brother, Willie Smith, he took over responsibility for the design of Club de Golf Chapultepec, which has hosted the Mexican Open multiple times, and the

WGC-Mexico Championship The WGC Championship was a professional golf tournament that was held between 1999 and 2021. It was one of the three or four annual World Golf Championships until the number of WGC events was reduced to two following the 2021 season. Under sp ...

since 2017.

Death and legacy

Smith died on 21 April 1930 at a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

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Tournament wins

:Note: ''This list may be incomplete'' *1903

*1905

*1906 U.S. Open,

*1909

*1910 U.S. Open,

*1913

Major championships

Wins (2)

¹Defeated John McDermott and MacDonald Smith in an 18-hole playoff – A. Smith 71 (−2), McDermott 75 (+2) & M. Smith 77 (+4).

Results timeline

Smith died before the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

was founded. NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
WD = Withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

* France–United States Professional Match (representing the United States): 1913

References

External links

Wawashkamo Golf Club
Scottish Links Course designed by Alex Smith on Mackinac Island, Michigan
Article on early Scottish golfers in the U.S.
(including the Smith brothers) {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Alex Scottish male golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Golf course architects Golfers from Carnoustie Scottish emigrants to the United States 1874 births 1930 deaths