{{Infobox golfer , name = Samuel Mure Fergusson , image = Samuel Mure Fergusson c1895.jpg , image_size = 250px , caption = Fergusson c. 1895 , fullname = , nickname = , birth_date = 1855 , birth_place =

Perth, Scotland Perth (; ) is a centrally located Cities of Scotland, Scottish city, on the banks of the River Tay. It is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and is the historic county town of Perthshire. It had a population of about ...

, death_date = 9 December 1928 (aged 73) , death_place =

Byfleet Byfleet is a village in Surrey, England. It is located in the far east of the borough of Woking, around east of West Byfleet, from which it is separated by the M25 motorway and the Wey Navigation. The village is of medieval origin. Its win ...

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 ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, height = , weight = , nationality = {{SCO , residence = , spouse = , partner = , children = , college = , status = Amateur , yearpro = , retired = , tour = , extour = , prowins = , majorwins = , masters = DNP , usopen = DNP , open = 4th:

1891 Events January * January 1 ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. **Germany takes formal possession of its new African territories. * January 4 – The Earl of Zetland issues a ...

, pga = DNP , britamateur = 2nd: 1894, 1898 , wghofid = , wghofyear = , award1 = , year1 = , awardssection = Samuel Mure Fergusson (1855 – 9 December 1928) was a Scottish amateur golfer who played in the late 19th and early 20th century. Fergusson placed fourth in the 1891 Open Championship.{{cite book , title=The Majors of Golf: Complete Results of the Open, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and the Masters, 1860–2008 , volume=1 , first=Morgan G. , last=Brenner , year=2009 , publisher=McFarland , isbn=978-0-7864-3360-5 Fergusson twice came close to winning The Amateur Championship. His best effort came in the 1894 Amateur Championship where he battled the legendary John Ball 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 ...

, eventually losing by the score of 1 up.

Early life

Fergusson was born in 1855 in

. He learned the game as a young lad, first beginning to play when he was 14. At age 24 he became a member of

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 ...

and won the Autumn Medal in his first competition. He became a

stock broker A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee. In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and m ...

and worked in London. In the 1880s he played golf at

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, containe ...

but later moved to

Royal St George's The Royal St George's Golf Club is a golf club located in Sandwich, Kent, England. It is one of the courses on The Open Championship rota, and the only one in South East England. It has hosted 15 Open championships, the first in 1894 when it b ...

Sandwich A sandwich is a Dish (food), dish typically consisting variously of meat, cheese, sauces, and vegetables used as a filling between slices of bread, or placed atop a slice of bread; or, more generally, any dish in which bread serves as a ''co ...

.{{cite web, last1=MacWood, first1=Thomas, title=The Early Architects: Beyond Old Tom, url=http://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/in-my-opinion-the-early-architects-beyond-old-tom-by-tom-macwood/, website=golfclubatlas.com, accessdate=22 June 2015

Golf career

1894 Amateur Championship

In the 1894 Amateur Championship, held at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Fergusson lost 1 up to John Ball.{{cite web, title=The Golfing Annual (1899), url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5M5LAAAAYAAJ&q=1894+amateur+championship+liverpool&pg=PA39, website=books.google.com, year = 1900, accessdate=16 April 2015

1898 Amateur Championship

In the 1898 Amateur Championship, once again held at

, Fergusson lost to

Freddie Tait Frederick Guthrie Tait (11 January 1870 – 7 February 1900) was an amateur golfer and Scotland, Scottish soldier. He won the Amateur Championship twice, in 1896 and again in 1898, by convincing margins. Over his short golf career, Tait recor ...

7 and 5.{{cite web, title=The World Almanac and Book of Facts (1908), url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Cl43AAAAMAAJ&q=1898+amateur+championship+liverpool&pg=PA465, website=books.google.com, year = 1907, accessdate=16 April 2015 On 7 February 1900, Tait would lose his life in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

fighting in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

1891 Open Championship

The 1891 Open Championship was the 31st

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 ...

, held 6 October at 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 ...

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 ...

. Hugh Kirkaldy won by two strokes from his brother Andrew Kirkaldy and Willie Fernie. This was the last Open Championship contested in a single day over 36 holes. The 1892 Open was contested over 72 holes played on two successive days.

Details of play

Entries closed on the Saturday before the event but a number of players entered on the Monday and "the committee declined to accept them".{{cite news , newspaper = The Glasgow Herald , date=6 October 1891 , page=9 , title=The Golf Championship – Details of the Draw These late entries were later allowed to compete "under protest" but received no prize money.{{cite news , newspaper = The Glasgow Herald , date=7 October 1891 , page=10 , title=The Golf Championship – Victory of Hugh Kirkaldy Hugh Kirkaldy had the best round of the morning. He three-putted the first two holes but still reached the turn in 39. Playing into a strong wind, he came back in 44 for a round of 83. He was closely followed by four players on 84. Willie More reached the turn in 40, coming back in 44. Andrew Kirkaldy had one of the better back nines of 43 to also score 84. The others on 84 were Fernie and Davie Grant, "one of the late entrants". Heavy rain fell for most of the afternoon but the wind was slightly lighter. Hugh Kirkaldy had seven fours in an outward 38 but took five on every hole on the back nine to come home in 45, a round of 83 and a total of 166. More disappointed with an 87 was Andrew Kirkaldy, the brother of Hugh, who had reached the turn in 39 and stood on the 17th tee in a strong position. However, he took six at the 17th and then missed a "longish putt" at the last which would have tied his brother. He eventually three-putted for another six. Fernie reached the turn in 42 but had an excellent 42 coming home to tie with Andrew Kirkaldy. None of the other players challenged Hugh Kirkaldy although the amateur Fergusson had a three at the last to take fourth place. The 1891 Open was the last time there was a play-off for prize money. Andrew Kirkaldy and Fernie played an 18-hole playoff on the following day. Kirkaldy won and took the second prize, Fernie taking third prize. "The day was beautifully fine, and the players had a large following".{{cite news , newspaper = The Glasgow Herald , date=8 October 1891 , page=10 , title=Golf – The Championship Competition

Later life

In 1895 Fergusson laid out the New Zealand Golf Club course on the estate of Hugh F. Locke King, the aviation pioneer and motoring enthusiast. It was an unusual design for the day, not being a seaside links course but instead it was carved out of a heavy forest. By 1910 Fergusson had been named as captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. Later in his career Fergusson designed a 9-hole golf course for

King Edward King Edward may refer to: Monarchs of England and the United Kingdom * Edward the Elder (–924) * Edward the Martyr (–978) * Edward the Confessor (–1066) * Edward I of England (1239–1307) * Edward II of England (1284–1327) * Edward III o ...

at Windsor and Duff House Royal in Scotland with Archie Simpson.

Death and legacy

Fergusson died on 9 December 1928 in

. He is best remembered for his long golf career of over 40 years and for twice finishing second in the Amateur Championship in 1894 and 1898.

Results in major championships

{, class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;" !Tournament !1873 !1874 !1875 !1876 !1877 !1878 !1879 , - , align=left,

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 ...

, 14 , DNP , DNP , DNP , DNP , DNP , DNP {, class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;" !Tournament !1880 !1881 !1882 !1883 !1884 !1885 !1886 !1887 !1888 !1889 , - , align=left,

, DNP , DNP , DNP , DNP , DNP , DNP , T24 , DNP , DNP , DNP , - , align=left,

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 ...

, NYF , NYF , NYF , NYF , NYF , style="background:yellow;", R16 , style="background:yellow;", QF , DNP , DNP , DNP {, class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;" !Tournament !1890 !1891 !1892 !1893 !1894 !1895 !1896 !1897 !1898 !1899 , - , align=left,

, DNP , style="background:yellow;", 4 LA , 15 , T15 , 18 , T40 , 32 , T12 , CUT , WD , - , align=left,

, DNP , R64 , style="background:yellow;", R16 , style="background:yellow;", SF , style="background:yellow;", 2 , R32 , R64 , R32 , style="background:yellow;", 2 , R64 {, class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;" !Tournament !1900 !1901 !1902 !1903 !1904 !1905 !1906 !1907 !1908 !1909 , - , align=left,

, 34 , T15 , DNP , DNP , WD , DNP , DNP , DNP , DNP , DNP , - , align=left,

, R32 , R64 , style="background:yellow;", QF , R128 , R64 , DNP , DNP , DNP , DNP , R128 {, class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;" !Tournament !1910 !1911 !1912 !1913 !1914 , - , align=left,

, DNP , DNP , DNP , DNP , DNP , - , align=left,

, DNP , DNP , DNP , DNP , R64 ''Note: Fergusson played only in

and

.'' LA = Low amateur
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10 Sources: Open Championship, 1885 Amateur, 1886 Amateur, 1891 Amateur, 1892 Amateur, 1893 Amateur, 1895 Amateur, 1896 Amateur, 1899 Amateur, 1901 Amateur, 1902 Amateur, 1903 Amateur, 1909 Amateur, 1914 Amateur{{cite news , url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19140521&printsec=frontpage , newspaper=The Glasgow Herald , title=Golf Championship , date=21 May 1914 , page=15

Team appearances

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 Scotland): 1902 (winners), 1903, 1904 (winners)

References

{{Reflist {{Commons category, Samuel Mure Fergusson {{DEFAULTSORT:Fergusson, Samuel Mure Scottish male golfers Amateur golfers British golf administrators 1855 births 1928 deaths