Frank Bernard "Ben" Nicholls (19 April 1877 – 3 November 1924) was an American professional golfer and golf course designer of English birth. He compiled an outstanding record in a golf career that included five top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open and one T10 finish in the Open Championship. In 1900, during Harry Vardon's exhibition tour, Nicholls did what no other golfer in North America could accomplish—beat Harry Vardon. Nicholls defeated the legendary British golfer in two separate matches in resounding fashion.

Early life

Nicholls was born in

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

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 ...

. He was the son of Frank Nicholls (1851–1930) and Lois Elizabeth Cordrey (1855–1935). Nicholls married Minnie Sharp on 16 May 1898 at St. George's Church in Deal, Kent, England. Prior to leaving England he worked at an athletic goods store in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and was almost a daily visitor to the Royal Liverpool Golf Club links at Hoylake, county of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. In his days at Hoylake he became good friends with fellow English golfers John Ball, Jr. – the great amateur player – and Herbert Tweedie who would later become a golf course architect.

Golf career

Early golf career

At the age of 17, Nicholls – who was called "Ben" by those who knew him – was hired to design a golf course in France and by 1899 was the head professional at the Philadelphia Country Club. On 13 July 1905 he played in the first professional golf tournament ever played on a public links golf course in the United States when he competed in an Open Tournament at the

Van Cortlandt Park Van Cortlandt Park is a urban park, park located in the borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx in New York City. Owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, it is managed with assistance from the Van Cortlandt Park Al ...

course. Nicholls and Willie Anderson finished joint second five shots behind Isaac Mackie. He worked at Whitemarsh Valley Country Club in 1912–13 and was at Wilmington Country Club with his younger brother

Gilbert Nicholls Gilbert Ernest Nicholls (July 23, 1878 – January 17, 1950) was an English-American professional golfer, prominent in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He had eight top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open (golf), U.S. Open. Early life Nicholls w ...

in 1914. In 1915 he took a position at LuLu Country Club in Glenside, Pennsylvania, and worked there until late 1916. When he registered for the draft during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

on 9 September 1918 he was working at the Charlotte Country Club in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

Golf course architecture

Nicholls stated on 20 February 1916, "In the year 1894, at the age of 17, I was called to France to lay out the first golf course in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, which was but a miniature affair on an island situated in the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

. In connection with this work I became acquainted with the Viscomte eonde Janze, one of the oldest leaders of golf in the district of Paris and the man who is responsible for the excellent course at La Boulie ... as well as several others." Viscomte Leon de Janze was the founder of the Societe de Sport de Puteaux in 1896. Nicholls would go on to build another course at

Aix-les-Bains Aix-les-Bains (, ; ; ), known locally and simply as Aix, is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern French Departments of France, department of Savoie. There, Nicholls said he met Monsieur le Docteur Brachet, a leading physician and "multimillionaire of the place". Brachet said, "I want a golf course in Aix-les-Bains. Far up on the mountain side I have a piece of land. After breakfast we will take the mules and look over this property with a view to building a course there" Corsuet forest. Nicholls mentioned that difficulties were encountered in viewing the land due to the fact that it was heavily wooded. "I saw some beautiful olive and fig trees, but more important, I also saw 60 husky Italian laborers equipped and ready to work. After threading our way through this mountainous woodland and taking another look at the 60 huskies, I promised to give Monsieur Le Docteur a golf course in six weeks", said Nicholls. Brachet retorted, "Nicholls, if you can do that the Bank of France is open to you. Moreover, I will have King Leopold of the Belgians and King George of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

present for the grand opening".

Building Spain's second golf course

In Nicholls' memoirs, written in 1916, he stated that he built Spain's second golf course on the Island of Toxa, belonging to Spain and situated in the Bay of Arousa, some 35 miles from

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

, which Nicholls added, "boasts the second finest harbor in the world. It is said that it is capable of accommodating the combined navies of the world. It was by royal command of his majesty King Alphonso that I undertook the work".

Matches against Harry Vardon

Nicholls compiled results in the U.S. Open that were superb. He was very consistent in his play from 1897 through 1907, finishing in the top 10 on six occasions. Nicholls had a respectable T10 finish in the 1909 Open Championship held 10–11 June at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club in Deal, Kent, England. One major feather in the cap of Nicholls is that he was the only player to beat Harry Vardon, the famous British master golfer, on Vardon's 1900 exhibition tour to points across the U.S. and Canada. In fact, Nicholls beat Vardon twice. On 17 February 1900, at Ormond, Florida, Nicholls soundly defeated Vardon 5 and 4. His second victory over Vardon was on 13 October 1900 at Brae Burn Country Club, West Newton, Massachusetts, when he won 2 up in a 36-hole match.

Family

His wife, Minnie Sharp Nicholls (born 1876), died in 1939. Nicholls had eight siblings: brothers Gilbert, William and Alfred, and sisters Florence, Anne, Clara, Ethel and Blanche. He had two children of his own, son Norman Bernard Nicholls (1909–1985) and daughter Doris Lillian Nicholls (1899–1990). His younger brother,

, was also a very fine player.

Death

Bernard Nicholls died at Jefferson Hospital in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, on 3 November 1924 due to septic meningitis. Interment was at Northwood Cemetery.

Results in major championships

''Note: Nicholls never played in 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 ...

, founded in 1934, nor the PGA Championship.'' CUT = Missed the half-way cut
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
"T" = Tied for a place
Yellow background for top-10 Sources:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholls, Bernard English male golfers American male golfers Golf course architects Sportspeople from Dover, Kent Deaths from sepsis in the United States Deaths from meningitis Burials at Northwood Cemetery, Philadelphia Infectious disease deaths in Pennsylvania Neurological disease deaths in Pennsylvania 1877 births 1924 deaths