John George Pulford (born 1873) 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 ...

. His skill on the links enabled him to place high on the leaderboard in several Open Championships. He finished tied for third in both the

1897 Open Championship The 1897 Open Championship was the 37th Open Championship, held 19–20 May at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Harold Hilton, an amateur, won the Championship for the second time, a stroke ahead of James Braid. This was the s ...

and the

1907 Open Championship The 1907 Open Championship was the 47th Open Championship, held 20–21 June at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England. Arnaud Massy won his only major title, two strokes ahead of runner-up J.H. Taylor. From France France, o ...

. He was fourth in the 1895 Open Championship and was tied for tenth place in the

1909 Open Championship The 1909 Open Championship was the 49th Open Championship, held 10–11 June at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club in Deal, Kent, England. J.H. Taylor won the Championship for the fourth time, six strokes ahead of runners-up Tom Ball and James Br ...

Early life

Pulford was born in

Hoylake Hoylake () is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. At the 2021 United K ...

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 ...

, England in 1873, the eldest child of George and Ann (nee Meadows).

Golf career

1895 Open Championship

The 1895 Open Championship was the held 12–13 June at the

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Defending champion J.H. Taylor won the Championship for the second time, by four strokes from runner-up

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 ...

. Pulford played steady golf throughout the event and finished alone in fourth place.

1897 Open Championship

The 1897 Open Championship was held 19–20 May at

Royal Liverpool Golf Club The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is a golf club in Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1869 on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club. It received the "Royal" designation in 1871 due to the patronage of Prince Arth ...

in Hoylake, England.

Harold Hilton Harold Horsfall Hilton (12 January 1869 – 5 May 1942) was an English amateur golfer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He won The Open Championship twice, The Amateur Championship four times, and the U.S. Amateur Championship once. Bi ...

, an amateur, won the Championship for the second time, a stroke ahead of James Braid. As an amateur Hilton received "£30 in plate" in addition to the "

Championship Cup The Championship Cup (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's Rugby League Championships. Although the Frenc ...

" and "Gold Medal". The prize money for the professionals was reduced accordingly to £60. This arrangement had been introduced after the 1892 Open Championship which was also won by Hilton.

Details of play

This was the second Open to be played in England after the 1894 event staged at

Royal St George's 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 ...

. It was also the last Open Championship with no qualifying and no cut. 88 players entered including 20 amateurs. Royal Liverpool was the home club of many of the leading amateurs of the day including John Ball, Jr. and Hilton, both of whom had already won the Championship. The great masters of the game—

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 ...

and J.H. Taylor—both played poorly in the tournament shooting scores of 84-80-80-76=320 and 82-80-82-86=330, respectively. Taylor's performance was especially dismal, as his final round 86 was 3 shots or more worse than all other players in the top 10. Pulford played impressively, and consistently, carding rounds of 80-79-79-79=317 and was rewarded for his excellent play with the handy sum of £10.

1907 Open Championship

The 1907 Open Championship was held 20–21 June at

in Hoylake, England.

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 ...

, from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, won the Championship, two strokes ahead of runner-up J.H. Taylor. Massy was the first non-Briton to win the Open Championship. Returning to the good form that he had exhibited in previous Open Championships in 1895 and 1897, Pulford once again claimed a lofty perch on the leaderboard finishing in a tie for third place.

Results in major championships

''Note: Pulford only played in The Open Championship.'' DNP = Did not play
CUT = Missed the half-way cut
WD = Withdrew
Yellow background for top-10

Team appearances

England–Scotland Professional Match The England–Scotland Professional Match was an annual men's professional golf competition between teams representing England and Scotland. It was played from 1903 to the start of World War I and was then revived in 1932 and played until the star ...

(representing England): 1904 (tie), 1907 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pulford, George English male golfers Sportspeople from Hoylake 1873 births Year of death missing