John Erskine Douglas Stewart Rolland (4 January 1861 – August 1914) was a Scottish

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 century. Rolland had a total of three top-10 finishes in the

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 ...

, two of which were second-place finishes in the 1884 Open Championship and again in the

1894 Open Championship The 1894 Open Championship was the 34th Open Championship, held 11–12 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 Champions ...

Early life

Rolland was born in

Kilconquhar Kilconquhar (, locally also ) is a village and parish in Fife in Scotland. It includes the small hamlet of Barnyards. It is bounded by the parishes of Elie, Ceres, Cameron, St Monans, Carnbee, Newburn and Largo.Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotl ...

, Scotland, on 4 January 1861, the son of Andrew Rolland and Isabella Rolland (née Harris).
familysearch.org In his early teens he worked as a Stone masonry, stonemason.

Golf career

1884 Open Championship

The 1884 Open Championship was held 3 October at

Prestwick Golf Club Prestwick Golf Club is a golf course in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is approximately southwest of Scotland's largest city, Glasgow. Prestwick is a classic links course, built on the rolling sandy land between the beach and the hi ...

in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Jack Simpson won the Championship by four strokes, ahead of runners-up Willie Fernie and Douglas Rolland. This was the first Open Championship to be played at Prestwick after it had been extended from 12 to 18 holes in 1882. The contest was still over 36 holes but consisted of two 18-hole rounds rather than three 12-hole rounds.

Details of play

Conditions were difficult with a strong wind. Simpson, one of the early starters, had the best score in both rounds and was the surprise winner. Fernie and Rolland were joint second and shared the second and third prizes.

1894 Open Championship

The

was held 11–12 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, England Sandwich is a town and civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, south-east England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour and has a population of 4,985. Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval build ...

. English professional J.H. Taylor won the Championship by five strokes from runner-up Rolland. This was the first Open Championship held outside Scotland.

Details of play

In a strong wind, many of the players struggled in their first round.

Archie Simpson Archibald Simpson (14 March 1866 – January 1955) was a Scottish-American professional golfer. He was also a golf course designer and a golf club maker. He was runner-up in The Open Championship in 1885 (won by Bob Martin), and 1890 (won by J ...

reached the turn in 39 but struggled coming back in 51, ending with a score of 90. The leader after the morning's play was

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 ...

who was out in 41 and back in 42 for an 83. James Braid was back in 41 in the afternoon play but his score was ruined by a morning 91. Andrew Kirkaldy and Rolland had the afternoon's best scores of 79, but at the end of the day Taylor was the leader on 164 with Kirkaldy and Rolland on 165 and Ben Sayers on 166. After the third round, Taylor had increased his lead to three strokes from Kirkaldy and to four over Rolland. Sayers, Herd and

Alfred Toogood Alfred Henry Toogood, Sr. (1872 – July 1928) 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 ...

were the only others in contention. Kirkaldy had an excellent start in the last round reaching the turn in 36 but he had a seven at the 14th and eventually finished with an 84. Rolland had a steady 82, coming home in 42 strokes to lead Kirkaldy by a stroke. Taylor reached the turn in 37 and thus needed 48 more to beat Rolland. Despite a seven at the 13th he came back in 44 to finish with an 81, five ahead of Rolland. This was the first victory by a non-Scottish professional in the Open Championship.

Death and legacy

Rolland died in August 1914. He is best remembered as a frequent competitor in the Open Championship who twice finished in second place.

Results in major championships

''Note: Rolland played only in The Open Championship.''
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolland, Douglas Scottish male golfers People from Kilconquhar 1861 births 1914 deaths