Charles Ross "Sandy" Somerville (May 4, 1903 – May 17, 1991) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

er and all-around athlete. Somerville was born in

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

. He won six

Canadian Amateur Championship The Canadian Amateur Championship, begun in 1895, is the men's amateur golf championship of Canada. It is staged annually by Golf Canada. It was played at match play until 1968, went to stroke play beginning in 1969, and reverted to match play i ...

golf titles between 1926 and 1937, and in 1932 became the first Canadian to win the

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 ...

. He was selected by the

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as Canada's

athlete of the year Athlete of the Year is an award given by various sports organizations for the athlete whom they have determined to be deserving of such recognition. Definition of "athlete" *In many nations, an "athlete" primarily refers to someone who participa ...

for 1932, and in 1950 was picked as Canada's top golfer of the first half of the 20th century. While at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, Somerville played for three years for the Varsity Blues football team and

Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team The Toronto Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team is an ice hockey team operated by the Toronto Varsity Blues, Varsity Blues athletics program of the University of Toronto. They are members of the Ontario University Athletics conference and compe ...

(1921–24). He was also one of Canada's leading

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ers earning selection as a member of the Canadian side that toured England in 1922, his score of 92 against the

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an England, English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the ...

being Canada's highest individual innings of the tour. Later, Somerville won three Canadian senior golf titles. and served as president of the

Royal Canadian Golf Association The Royal Canadian Golf Association (RCGA), branded as Golf Canada, is the governing body of golf in Canada. Beginnings It was founded as the Canadian Golf Association on June 6, 1895, at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. The 'Royal' prefix was grant ...

in 1957. Somerville was inducted into

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canada, it serves as a hall of fame and mu ...

(1955), the

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(1985), the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame (1971), the U of T Sports Hall of Fame (1987) and the London (Ontario) Sports Hall of Fame (2002). He died at age 88 in 1991. The London Hunt Club, Somerville's home course for most of his life, has a room in its clubhouse honouring Somerville's golf achievements.

Tournament wins

* 1926 Canadian Amateur * 1926 Manitoba Amateur * 1928 Canadian Amateur * 1930 Canadian Amateur * 1931 Canadian Amateur * 1932

* 1935 Canadian Amateur * 1937 Canadian Amateur * 1960 Canadian Senior Championship * 1961 Canadian Senior Championship * 1965 Canadian Senior Championship * 1966 Canadian Senior Championship Professional and amateur majors shown in bold.

Major championships

Amateur wins (1)

Results timeline

''Note: As an amateur, Somerville did play in the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

.''
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place Source for U.S. Amateur
USGA Championship Database
Source for 1933 British Open
www.opengolf.com
Source for 1933 British Amateur
The Glasgow Herald, June 23, 1933, pg. 20.
Source for 1934 & 1938 Masters

Source for 1935 British Amateur
The Glasgow Herald, May 21, 1935, pg. 3.
Source for 1938 British Amateur
The Glasgow Herald, May 28, 1938, pg. 11.

References

External links

Silent Sandy, from Ontario Golf MagazineProfile at Canadian Golf Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerville, Sandy Canadian male golfers Amateur golfers Golfing people from Ontario Ridley College alumni Toronto Varsity Blues football players Toronto Varsity Blues ice hockey players Canadian football people from London, Ontario Ice hockey people from London, Ontario 1903 births 1991 deaths 20th-century Canadian sportsmen