Michael Louis Kelly (30 July 1913 – 2 April 1971) was an Australian professional golfer. He won the

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 ...

in 1933 and the

Australian Professional Championship The Australian Professional Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament which was open only for Australian or Australian-based players. History From 1963 to 1974 the Australian Professional Championship was held on a challenge bas ...

in 1934.

Early life

Kelly was born in

Wellington, New South Wales Wellington is a town in the Central Western Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, located at the junction of the Wambuul Macquarie River, Wambuul Macquarie and Bell Rivers. It is within the Local government in Australia, local government ...

on 30 July 1913. After being a caddie in the Sydney area, the family moved to Canberra and Kelly became an assistant professional at

Royal Canberra Golf Club The Canberra Golf Club, later known as the Royal Canberra Golf Club, was formed in 1926. Its original grounds were behind the Hotel Canberra on the river flats on both sides of the Molonglo River. History The club's Club House was on a site ...

. In 1931, after five years at Canberra, he left to become the professional at Goulburn Golf Club.

Professional career

Kelly won the inaugural New South Wales Assistants' Championship at Concord in 1931, shortly before leaving Canberra. In 1932 he impressed by reaching the semi-final of the New South Wales Professional Championship. Aged just 20, Kelly was a surprise winner of the 1933

at Royal Melbourne. After the first day he led by 3 strokes after a round of 73, a lead he maintained after a second round of 76. A 73 on the final morning increased his lead to 6 strokes and he finished with a round of 80, to win by 3 strokes from the amateurs

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 ...

and

Gus Jackson Augustus Kenneth George Jackson (25 December 1903 – 12 November 1968) was a New Zealand rower. He won two bronze medals at the 1938 British Empire Games, winning one as part of the men's eight and another bronze medal alongside Bob Smit ...

and professional Reg Jupp. The following week he reached the semi-finals of the

before losing to Sam Richardson. Kelly failed to successfully defend his Australian Open title in 1934, finishing 22 strokes behind the winner, Billy Bolger. He was, however, in the top 16 professionals that qualified for the Australian Professional Championship. He met Bolger in the final, winning a close match 2&1. Later in 1934 he was runner-up in the New South Wales Professional Championship, 6 strokes behind Sam Richardson. Kelly had further success in 1935, winning the New South Wales Dunlop Cup. He had rounds of 70 and 71 on the final day to win by a stroke from Billy Bolger and Tom Howard. In early 1936 Kelly was one of the six-man Australian team in the second

Lakes International Cup The Lakes International Cup was a men's team golf competition between teams of professional golfers from Australia and the United States. It was played four times between 1934 and 1954. The United States won the first three matches with Australia w ...

at Lakewood Country Club, Long Beach, California. He was the only Australian to win a match, beating the reigning

U.S. Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

champion, Sam Parks Jr., in the singles. He had been selected for the 1934 team but had declined, having a previous arrangement.

Later life

Kelly left Goulburn in early 1934, joining

Alan Kippax Alan Falconer Kippax (25 May 1897 – 5 September 1972) was a cricketer for New South Wales cricket team, New South Wales (NSW) and Australian cricket team, Australia. Regarded as one of the great stylists of Australian cricket during the era ...

's sports store in Sydney. In 1938 he was associated with St Michael's Golf Club and from 1939 with Bexley Golf Club, where he stayed until his death in 1971. Kelly's brother Pat was also a professional at Goulburn, from 1937.

Professional wins

*1933

*1934

*1935 Dunlop Cup (New South Wales)

Team appearances

(representing Australia): 1936 *

Vicars Shield The Vicars Shield was a professional team golf competition between the states of Australia. It was first played in 1930 and continued as an interstate event until 1956. It was the professional equivalent of the amateur Australian Men's Interstate ...

(representing New South Wales): 1934 (winners), 1935, 1937 (winners), 1946 (winners), 1948 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Lou Australian male golfers Golfers from Sydney Sportsmen from New South Wales Sportspeople from Wellington, New South Wales 1913 births 1971 deaths 20th-century Australian sportsmen