Harry Llewellyn Carlington Williams (12 July 1915 – 22 December 1961) was an Australian amateur golfer. He won the

Australian Amateur The Australian Amateur is the national amateur golf championship of Australia. It has been played annually since 1894, except for the war years, and is organised by Golf Australia. Having traditionally been a match play event, from 2021 it has ...

in 1931 and 1937.

Early life

Williams was born on 12 July 1915 in

Elsternwick Elsternwick is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 9 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government areas of Victoria ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, the son of Eric Llewellyn Williams and his wife Emma Madge Dagmar, née Halfey. He started playing golf at Elsternwick Golf Club, later moving to Commonwealth Golf Club and to Victoria Golf Club in 1931. His father died of pneumonia in 1933 at the age of 39, and money inherited from his father together with his mother's independent income, meant that Williams could play golf full time.

Golf career

In August 1931, at the age of 16, Williams won the

Victorian Amateur Championship The Victorian Amateur Championship is the state amateur golf championship of Victoria, Australia. It has been played annually since 1899, except for the war years. Two players have won the championship six times, Michael Scott between 1904 and ...

, beating Mick Ryan in the final. The following month he won the

The Australian Golf Club The Australian Golf Club is a golf club located in Rosebery, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. Although it survived numerous course location changes, it is arguably the oldest golf club in Australia. To date the course has held 22 Australian Ope ...

, beating George Thompson 3&2 in the final. He won again in 1937, on the same course, beating Tom Tanner by one hole in the final. Williams was also runner-up twice, losing to Reg Bettington in 1932 and to

Jim Ferrier James Bennett Elliott Ferrier (24 February 1915 – 13 June 1986) was an Australian professional golfer. After compiling a fine record as an amateur golfer in Australia during the 1930s, he moved to the United States in 1940, turned professiona ...

in 1939. Williams was runner-up at

Metropolitan Golf Club The Metropolitan Golf Club is one of the renowned sandbelt courses of Melbourne and is widely recognised as one of the finest championship courses in Australia. It is located in Oakleigh South, in the city's south-eastern suburbs, approximately ...

in the 1936

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

behind

Gene Sarazen Gene Sarazen (; born Eugenio Saraceni, February 27, 1902 – May 13, 1999) was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s, and the winner of seven major championships. He is one of six players (alon ...

. He was two strokes behind Sarazen after three rounds and had a bad first-nine of 39 in the final round. However he came home in 34 to finish second, four behind Sarazen. Williams eventually won the

five times, in 1931, 1934, 1935, 1936 and 1939. He also won the

Riversdale Cup The Riversdale Cup is the second oldest amateur golf tournament in Australia. It is a Golf Australia national ranking event. The event has been played since 1896 and is organised by and played at the Riversdale Golf Club in Mount Waverley, Victoria. ...

three times, in 1930, 1932 and 1934, with Mick Ryan runner-up each time.

Later life

Williams played little top-level golf after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He died, with his mother, in their flat in East Kew,

on 13 December 1961. Their bodies were found after the landlady smelled gas coming from the flat. The gas on the kitchen stove was on and his mother had left a suicide note. In 2002, he was named as one of the twelve members of the Victorian golfing team of the 20th century.

Team appearances

Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches The Australian Men's Interstate Teams Matches were an amateur team golf competition for men between the states and territories of Australia. The event started in 1904 when New South Wales played Victoria. Until World War II the event was played a ...

(representing Victoria): 1931 (winners), 1932, 1934, 1936 (winners), 1937, 1938, 1939 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Harry Australian male golfers Amateur golfers Left-handed golfers Golfers from Melbourne Sportsmen from Victoria (state) People educated at Brighton Grammar School People from Elsternwick, Victoria Suicides in Victoria (state) Suicides by gas Joint suicides Australian sportspeople who committed suicide 1915 births 1961 deaths 1961 suicides 20th-century Australian sportsmen