James Allan (28 August 1861 – 8 August 1900) 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. Allan was a runner-up in the 1879 Open Championship.

Early life

Allan was born in

Prestwick Prestwick () is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small vi ...

, Scotland on 28 August 1861, the son of Hugh and Mary Allan. Two of his older brothers,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

(c. 1847–1897) and Matthew (1858–1890) were also professional golfers.

Golf career

Allan served as a professional at

Royal North Devon Golf Club Royal North Devon Golf Club, commonly abbreviated as RND, was founded in 1864, and is the oldest golf course in England. The course was designed by Scottish golfer Old Tom Morris. Geography RND is located on Northam Burrows between Northam a ...

Westward Ho! Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides access from the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford, and Bude. It lies at the south end of Northam Burrows and faces westward into Bideford Bay, opposite Sau ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. He possessed a knack for lofting his golf ball, a skill that he demonstrated on occasion to the Royal North Devon members. It is unclear what the trick entailed. It is surmised that he was able to hit a shot much higher than was thought possible with the pitching clubs in use at the time. By the time Allan played in his first

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 ...

at Prestwick in 1878, he had already joined his brother John in Devon. Allan had a poor first round of 62, leaving him 12 behind the leader. Further rounds of 53 and 52 left him in eighth place, 10 strokes behind Jamie Anderson. In August 1879, Allan played a series of four matches against

Bob Kirk Robert Kirk (9 March 1845 – 1 December 1886) was a Scottish professional golfer. He was born at St Andrews, Scotland, and died there. His golf career was highlighted by second-place finishes in The Open Championship in 1869 and again in 1878. ...

for stakes totalling £200. The matches were played 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 ...

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 ...

and on 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 ...

. £25 was at stake for each match with a further £100 for the overall winner. The first match was played on 13 August at North Devon. Allan was four holes up after the morning round and won by seven holes after the second round. At Royal Liverpool, the match started even with the pair level after nine holes. However Allan led by four holes at the end of the round and eventually won by 14 holes. At Prestwick, Allan won by six holes, increasing his overall lead to 27. The final match was played at St Andrews on 28 August. Allan won five of the first six holes to win the overall match 32 & 30. Allan led by nine holes after the first round and Kirk conceded the match. In the afternoon, Allan played a match against James Morris, winning 6 & 5. The 1879 Open Championship was the 19th

, held 27 September at the

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 ...

. Allan shot rounds of 88 and 84 for a total of 172. Jamie Anderson won the Championship for the third successive time, by three strokes from Allan and Andrew Kirkaldy. Allan and Kirkaldy had an 18-hole play-off two days later to decide who took the second and third place prize money. Kirkaldy scored 91 to Allan's 92 and took the second prize of £6, Allan taking the third prize of £5. After the championship, Allan played another series of four matches, similar to those he had played against Bob Kirk in August, but this time against the new champion, Jamie Anderson. As in the previous match, stakes totalled £200. The matches were played on the

and finally at

. Anderson won three of the matches with Allan winning at Royal Liverpool. Allan was defeated in the overall match by 8 & 7. The first match was played on 30 September at St Andrews the day after the championship playoff. Anderson was five up after the morning round and eventually won by two holes. In the second match at Prestwick Allan was one up after the first 12-hole round. He increased his lead to four holes after 8 holes of the second round but lost the last 4 holes to leave the match level. Anderson won the first round by three holes to win the match. In the third match at Hoylake Anderson led by three after the first round but Allen came back and won the match by a single hole. At Westward Ho! on 24 October, Anderson led by three holes after the first round. He won the overall matches 8 & 7 after 11 holes of the second round and, later, the individual match by 5 & 3. Allan left Royal North Devon in the mid-1880s returning to Scotland.

Death

Allan died on 8 August 1900 in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

after a long illness.

Results in major championships

''Note: Allan only played in The Open Championship.'' ? = played, finish unknown
"T" indicates a tie for a place

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allan, Jamie Scottish male golfers Golfers from Prestwick 1861 births 1900 deaths