Roger Henry Wethered (3 January 1899 – 12 March 1983) was an English amateur golfer, and the brother of female golfer Joyce Wethered.

Early life

Born in

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 ...

, Wethered was the only son of Herbert Newton Wethered and his wife Marion Emmeline Lund. He was frequently ill as a child and this resulted in him being home-tutored. His father had authored numerous books about golf and this proved to be influential on Wethered as he took up golf from an early age. Wethered was called up in 1918 to serve in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. However, he was recalled from France some weeks later as

peacetime Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such a ...

was declared. Upon his return he enrolled at Christ Church at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. He joined the Oxford golf team with Cyril Tolley, a good friend of his, and both were successful young golfers. His game was defined by great power and technique with iron clubs. His driving was less accomplished but his ability to recover more than made up for this shortcoming. He graduated from Oxford with a BA in English in 1921.

Golfer

Wethered narrowly lost

The 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 ...

to Jock Hutchison in the 1921 edition of the tournament. Had he won the competition he would have been the last British amateur to do so. No British amateur had come so close since Harold Hilton won the 1897 Open Championship. He followed this achievement with further successes: his driving began to improve and he won his first Amateur Championship in 1923 at

Deal, Kent Deal is a coastal town in Kent, England, which lies where the North Sea and the English Channel meet, north-east of Dover, England, Dover and south of Ramsgate. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town whose history is closely linked t ...

. This was the peak of his sporting career. He continued to earn the respect of his peers for his modest demeanour. A runner up in the Amateur Championship twice (1928 and 1930), Wethered won the President's Putter five times. Furthermore, he was capped by England numerous times in competition against

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 ...

and in the

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland featuring players from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup ...

against the United States, emerging victorious with regularity. In singles competition he beat all-comers, losing only to American golfer Bobby Jones. He continued to be involved in golf, however, working with the committee at

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is a private members-only club based in St Andrews in Scotland. It was previously known colloquially as "The R&A", but in 2004, a new organisation kn ...

. He was elected captain of the club in 1939 and finally took office in 1946. He was successful as an investor and upon his retirement he returned to the golf courses to play out his remaining days. At the age of 74 he scored a remarkable round of 74 at the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club. He died at his home at Garnet House,

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 ...

. Wethered's golfing abilities had begun to wane by the 1930s and his focus turned to his career as a stockbroker in London.

Personal life

Wethered was married twice, but was childless. His first wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Lord Charles Cavendish-Bentinck (1868–1956), marriage dissolved in 1954. His second wife was Marjorie Stratford, whom he married in 1957.

Results in major championships

Amateur wins (1)

Results timeline

''Note: Wethered only played in

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

, and

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

.''
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
LA = Low amateur
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place Source for British Open:
www.opengolf.com
Source for 1920 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 9 June 1920, pg. 11.
Source for 1921 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 24 May 1921, pg. 3.
Source for 1922 U.S. Amateur
USGA Championship Database
Source for 1922 British Amateur:
The American Golfer, 1 July 1922, pg. 31.
Source for 1924 British Amateur:
The American Golfer, 28 June 1924, pg. 17.
Source for 1925 British Amateur:
Golf Illustrated, July, 1925, pg. 40.
Source for 1926 British Amateur:
Golf Illustrated, July, 1926, pg. 23.
Source for 1927 British Amateur:
The American Golfer, July, 1927, pg. 15.
Source for 1929 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 13 June 1929, pg. 10.
Source for 1931 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 21 May 1931, pg. 16.
Source for 1932 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 25 May 1932, pg. 6.
Source for 1933 British Amateur:
The Glasgow Herald, 23 June 1933, pg. 20.
Source for 1934 British Amateur:
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 24 May 1934, pg. 19.
Source for 1936 British Amateur:
The Age, 29 May 1936, pg. 12.

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

, 1926,

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

(playing captain),

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

* Great Britain vs USA (representing Great Britain): 1921 *

England–Scotland Amateur Match The England–Scotland Amateur Match was an annual men's amateur golf competition organised by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, contested by teams representing England and Scotland, with the winners being presented with the Walker Cup. It was pl ...

(representing England): 1922, 1923, 1924 (winners), 1925 (winners), 1926 (winners), 1927 (tie), 1928 (winners), 1929 (tie), 1930 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wethered, Roger English male golfers Amateur golfers English stockbrokers British Army personnel of World War I Royal Artillery personnel Military personnel from Surrey 1899 births 1983 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century English sportsmen