Ernest Robert Whitcombe (17 October 1890 – 14 July 1971) was an English

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 ...

. Over the course of his career he had nine wins in professional tournaments and was runner-up in the

1924 Open Championship The 1924 Open Championship was the 59th Open Championship, held 26–27 June at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Walter Hagen won the second of his four Open Championships, one stroke ahead of runner-up Ernest Whitcombe. It was t ...

Early life

Whitcombe was born in Berrow, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset. He was the eldest of the three Whitcombe brothers who were all successful English

s in the 1920s and 1930s.

Golf career

He was runner-up in the

, carding rounds of 77-70-77-78=302, and finished just one shot behind Walter Hagen. The excellent 70 in round two was the best score in a single round by any competitor in the top 10. He won the Irish and

Dutch Open Dutch Open may refer to: *Dutch Open (tennis), an ATP tennis tournament from 1957 to 2008 *Dutch Open (golf), an annual golf tournament on the European Tour *Dutch Open (badminton) *Dutch Open (darts) The Dutch Open is amongst the longest running ...

s in 1928, the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and v ...

in 1930 and the Irish Open again in 1935. He also won the 1924 News of the World Match Play.

Family

His two younger brothers

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

and Reg were also professional golfers. Ernest played with his brother Charles in the

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholi ...

and

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

Ryder Cups and all three played together in the

1935 Ryder Cup The 5th Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey, a suburb northwest of New York City in Bergen County. The United States team won the competition by a score of 9–3 points to regain the cup. The U.S. to ...

. His son, Eddie Whitcombe, was also a professional golfer.

World War I

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he joined the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of ...

as a gunner attached to the 16th Division of

Kitchener's Army The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, as Kitchener's Mob, was an (initially) all-volunteer portion of the British Army formed in the United Kingdom from 1914 onwards following the outbreak of hostilities in the Fi ...

. Whitcombe saw combat at Hulluch, Guillemont, Messines and

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality ...

and suffered slight wounds from a machine-gun burst. He was hit by a small piece of

shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam ...

which became lodged in his left eye—an injury which may have adversely affected his putting in later years. For his war service, he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Death and legacy

Whitcombe died on 14 July 1971 in Bury St Edmunds,

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

, England."Mr E. Whitcombe" ''The Times'', 15 July 1971; pg. 18; Issue 58225. He was one of the top English golfers in the period from 1924 through 1937.

Professional wins

:Note: ''This list may be incomplete'' *1920 West of England Professional Championship *1924 News of the World Match Play *1927 Yorkshire Evening News Tournament *1928 Irish Open,

*1930

*1931 Yorkshire Evening News Tournament *1934 Dunlop-Metropolitan Tournament *1935 Irish Open *1937 News Chronicle Tournament

Results in major championships

''Note: Whitcombe only played in the U.S. Open and The Open Championship.''
NT = No tournament
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

* Great Britain vs USA (representing Great Britain): 1926 (winners) *

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

(representing Great Britain):

(winners),

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart bec ...

*France–Great Britain Professional Match (representing Great Britain): 1929 (winners) * England–Ireland Professional Match (representing England): 1933 (winners)