Edward Rivers John Ray (6 April 1877 – 26 August 1943) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

professional

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, one of the leading players of the first quarter of the 20th century. He won two

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championships, the Open Championship in

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and the U.S. Open in

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, and contended in many others. He was captain of the British team in the inaugural

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

, in

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Early life

Ray was born at Marais, Grouville,

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

on 6 April 1877, the son of Stephen Ray, the captain of an oyster trawler, and his wife, Mary Ann Arm. He learnt his golf on the Grouville Links, one of a large number of local boys who later became professional golfers which included Harry Vardon, his brother Tom, the Gaudin brothers, the Boomer brothers and the Renouf brothers. Ray was a tall, well-built man who was known for his prodigious power, although his shots often landed in awful positions. In addition to his prowess on the golf course, he was also useful at

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

and lawn bowls.

Golf career

Ray turned professional in 1894 at the age of 17, initially working as a club-maker before becoming a professional near St Malo. He played in the 1899 Open Championship finished in a tie for 16th place. Later in 1899 he took a position as a club professional at Churston Golf Club, Churston,

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. During his time at Churston, he was encouraged by the club's committee to enter

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 ...

s from 1900 to 1902, and was granted a week's leave of absence and five pounds for expenses each year. After leaving Churston, in early 1903, he became the head professional at Ganton Golf Club, replacing Harry Vardon who had left to join the South Herts Golf Club. In 1912 he took the position of golf professional at Oxhey Golf Club near

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

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. Ray favoured an attacking style, and had to develop phenomenal recovery skills. Cartoonists usually depicted him with a niblick in hand, festooned with clumps of heather and saplings, with an inseparable pipe clamped between his teeth. Ray was admired by fans for his daring play, friendly, genial manner and optimistic spirit. Ray was also a fine clubmaker and advertised his business while the professional at Oxhey. He specialised in the production of drivers, mashies, and niblicks. Before

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 ...

Ray was often overshadowed by the

Great Triumvirate In U.S. politics, the Great Triumvirate (known also as the Immortal Trio) was a triumvirate of three statesmen who dominated American politics for much of the first half of the 19th century, namely Henry Clay of Kentucky, Daniel Webster of M ...

of James Braid, J.H. Taylor and Harry Vardon and then after the war by George Duncan and

Abe Mitchell Henry Abraham Mitchell (18 January 1887 – 11 June 1947) was an English professional golfer. Mitchell had eight top-10 finishes out of 17 appearances in the Open Championship, his best performance being fourth in 1920. He was runner-up in the 1 ...

. Despite this he was one of the leading British golfers of the first quarter of the 20th century.

Major championships

Ray had an excellent record in the Open Championship. He won the Open at Muirfield in

, leading after every round and finishing four strokes ahead of Harry Vardon and eight clear of James Braid in third place. He was runner-up twice, in 1913 and 1925, and had 9 other finishes in the top-10. His last top-10 finish was in

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when, at the age of 48, he finished joint runner-up, a stroke behind Jim Barnes. Ray had the best final round of 73, despite four-putting the ninth green. Ray played in 29 successive Open Championships from 1899 and 1932, his run ending when he failed to qualify in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

. Ray's last appearance was in

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, just after his 60th birthday. He had rounds of 76 and 81 to just make the qualifying score. In the championship itself he had rounds of 87 and 88 and missed the cut by 22 strokes. In addition to his appearances in the Open Championship, Ray also played three times in the U.S. Open, in 1913 and 1920, when he was touring America with Harry Vardon, and in 1927, when he was in America as part of the British Ryder Cup team. OuimetWithVardonAndRay1913

Ray is best known for being in a playoff for the U.S. Open in

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

with Harry Vardon and

Francis Ouimet Francis DeSales Ouimet () (May 8, 1893 – September 2, 1967) was an American amateur golfer who is frequently referred to as the "father of amateur golf" in the United States. He won the U.S. Open (golf), U.S. Open in 1913 U.S. Open (golf), 1 ...

, the winner. Ray had an opening round of 79 but he rebounded with a course record of 70 in round two which electrified the gallery and got him back into contention. He narrowly missed a 5-foot putt at the last that would have given him a 69. His four cards for the tournament were 79-70-76-79=304. Ray, Vardon and Ouimet played an 18-hole playoff the following day. All three took 38 for the first 9 holes but Ouimet came home in 34 to Vardon's 39 and Ray's 40 to win the title. Already two strokes behind Ouimet, Ray effectively dropped out of contention when he took 6 at the 15th. Vardon was only one behind Ouimet after 16 holes but finished 5–6 while Ouimet finished 3–4 to win by five shots. The 1913 U.S. Open was the subject of a

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movie entitled, '' The Greatest Game Ever Played'', based on author Mark Frost's 2002 book of the same name. Ray had joined Vardon on an extensive tour of

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, promoted and financed by English media baron Lord Northcliffe. The two stars travelled the continent for two months, partnering in exhibition matches against the top players in each area they visited. The tour was very successful, attracting large crowds who came out to watch the top British players challenge emerging local golf talent at a time when golf was entering a boom period of popularity, which was further stimulated by the tour. Vardon and Ray ended their tour at the 1913 U.S. Open. Ray won the U.S. Open at

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

, his second appearances in the championship. That victory, at , made Ray the oldest U.S. Open champion, a record he held until Raymond Floyd, a few months older, won in 1986.

Tournament career

In addition to his wins in the 1912 Open Championship and the 1920 U.S. Open, Ray won a large number of other tournaments, although he had few wins in multi-day events. Most of his victories were in one-day 36-hole stroke-play events at which Ray excelled. Ray was also known for performing well in qualifying for the big tournaments; qualifying also generally being the one-day 36-hole stroke-play format. Apart from his Open Championship success, Ray only won one important stroke-play tournament, the 1923

Daily Mail Tournament The Daily Mail Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the United Kingdom. The ''Daily Mail'' sponsored the St Andrews Tournament in 1919 and in 1920 continued their sponsorship with the start of the Daily Mail Tournament. The even ...

. Ray scored 288 to win by a stroke from Len Holland and

and two from George Duncan, taking the first prize of £300. Ray had been runner-up the previous year, finishing four shots behind Duncan. During Ray's playing career the most important British professional tournament was the

News of the World Match Play The British PGA Matchplay Championship was a match play golf tournament that began in 1903 and ran until 1979. Between 1903 and 1969, the event was sponsored by the now defunct British newspaper the '' News of the World'', and was commonly known ...

, which had started in 1903. Ray reached the final in the first season, meeting James Braid in the 36-hole final. Braid led by 1 hole after the first round. In the afternoon Braid won 3 of the first 5 holes to go 4 up and, although Ray won the next two, Braid eventually won 4&3. Ray had another good run in 1907 until he met Braid in the semi-final and lost again by the same score. In 1911 Ray beat Harry Vardon in the semi-final to reach his second final, meeting Braid again. Braid was 1 up after the morning round and, winning five holes in a row from the 3rd, was 6 up with 9 holes to play. Ray then won five of the next eight holes to take the match to the final hole. They halved this in 4 to give Braid the win by 1 hole. Ray reached the final again the following year, 1912, meeting Harry Vardon. This was Vardon's only appearance in the News of the World final. Vardon was 3 up after the morning round but Ray had levelled the match with five holes to play. Vardon won the next two holes and, although Ray won the 17th, a half in 4 at the last left Vardon the winner by 1 hole. Ray reached his fifth semi-final in 1921, played at his home club, Oxhey, where he met his Jersey contemporary Jack Gaudin. Ray got off to a bad start and was 6 down after 10 hole and, although he made something of a recovery, he eventually lost 3&2. From 1920 to 1927 there was a second big match-play event, the

Glasgow Herald Tournament The Glasgow Herald Tournament (also known as the Gleneagles Tournament) was a British golf tournament played at Gleneagles from 1920 to 1927. The 1920 event had prize money of £650, then the largest ever in a British tournament. From 1921 the p ...

. Ray reached two finals, 1922 and 1927. In 1922 he met

in the final. Ray led by three after 11 holes of the morning round, but Mitchell finished well to level the match at lunch. Mitchell took a three-hole lead after the first nine holes of the afternoon round and eventually won 2&1, his second successive win in the tournament. In 1927 Ray met Charles Whitcombe in the final. The match was very one-sided with Whitcombe 5-up at lunch. After 8 holes of the afternoon round Whitcombe was dormie-10. Ray won the 9th but Whitcombe won the 10th to win 10&8. Although Ray failed to win either the

or the

, he did win two match-play tournaments, the Cruden Bay Professional Tournament in 1911 and the Roehampton Invitation Tournament in 1924. These both had the same format, with a 36-hole stroke-play qualification day after which the leading 16 played four rounds of match-play on the next two days. 1911 Cruden Bay Tournament attracted an exceptionally strong field of 44 which, as well as James Braid, J.H. Taylor and Harry Vardon, included ex-Open champions

Arnaud Massy Arnaud George Watson Massy (; 6 July 1877 – 16 April 1950) was one of France's most successful professional golfers, most notable for winning the 1907 Open Championship. He was the first player from outside Scotland and England to win a major ...

, Sandy Herd and

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975) is an American musician who achieved international fame as the guitarist and lead singer of the rock duo the White Stripes. As the White Stripes disbanded, he sought success with his solo career, subse ...

, future Open champions George Duncan and Ray and most of the leading England-based professionals. Red led the qualifying by four strokes with rounds of 74 and 73, the 73 being a new course record. Ray met Braid in the final, Braid having beaten both Taylor and Vardon in the previous two rounds. Braid holed a 12-yard putt at the last to halve the match and they were still level after a further 9-hole playoff. The match then became sudden-death and, with Braid going out-of-bounds, Ray won the match at the 28th hole. The 1924 Roehampton Invitation Tournament was played in early April. Ray qualified comfortably in a tie for third place. The first day of the knock-out stage was abandoned because of snow and, although conditions were little better on the following day, the two rounds were completed. The final day was again cold and wet with the players drinking cups of hot coffee at the turn. Ray beat George Duncan 4&3 in the semi-final and then 53-year-old Rowland Jones by 1 hole in the final. Before

Ray, like many of the other leading British professionals, was a regular competitor in the main continental open championships of which the most important was the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

. Ray's best finish in the French Open was in 1911 when he was runner-up, 7 strokes behind

. In 1912 Ray twice came close to winning on the continent. In July, soon after his Open Championship success, he played in the Belgian Open, then a one-day 36-hole event. Ray tied with Tom Ball and George Duncan on 144. Despite having already played 36 holes, the three then played an 18-hole playoff in the evening. Duncan won with a 70 with Ray runner-up after a 71 and Ball taking 78. The following month he played in the self-styled Open Championship of Germany at

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

which offered prize money of £500, four times that of the Open Championship. The prize money attracted most of the leading British professionals. Ray lost two balls in his first round of 75, taking 7 on both holes, 10 behind the leader, Charles Mayo. Ray took 66 in the afternoon but trailed J.H. Taylor by 8 strokes at the end of the first day. Scoring was generally higher on the second day but Ray had rounds of 68 and 70 to finish level with Taylor. A nine-hole playoff was arranged in the evening. Taylor started 2–3–2 and won with an incredible score of 28 to Ray's 34, Ray taking the second prize of £80.

International representation

Ray was an automatic choice for all the main internationals during his career. Before

, the England–Scotland Professional Match was the most important professional team competition. Ray was selected for the England team in all these matches, which started in 1903, as well as the 1911 Coronation Match. During this period the players were seeded, so that the best players played each other, while those regarded as the weakest players also played together. In most years from 1903 to 1909 Ray was seeded 4th in the England team, behind Harry Vardon, J. H. Taylor and Tom Vardon, although he played to 5th in 1905 behind Alfred Toogood and 3rd in 1906 ahead of Tom Vardon. Ray played 3rd in 1910 and 1912 and 2nd in 1913 ahead of J. H. Taylor. The England–Scotland Professional Match was not played immediately after the war, and in fact did not resume until 1932. Ted Ray was the non-playing Captain of the England team in 1933. The first important post-war international was a match between British and American teams in 1921 at Gleneagles. Ray played 3rd in the singles, behind George Duncan and

. Ray was chosen as the British playing-captain for the 1926 international match on the East Course at the

Wentworth Club Wentworth Club is a privately owned Golf course, golf club and country club in Virginia Water, Surrey, on the south western fringes of London, not far from Windsor Castle. The club was founded in 1922. Beijing-based Reignwood Group bought the c ...

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. The following year, despite having passed his 50th birthday, Ray was selected for the inaugural

match at Worcester Country Club in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

was originally chosen as captain but was unable to travel because of illness, and was replaced by Ray.

Death and legacy

Ray died on 26 August 1943 in the Peace Memorial Hospital, Watford, England. He had retired from his post as professional at Oxhey Golf Club on 1 May 1940 because of ill-health. He is remembered as one of the United Kingdoms's all-time greatest golfers.

Media depiction

*Ray was portrayed by English actor Stephen Marcus in director Bill Paxton's 2005 film '' The Greatest Game Ever Played''. *In March 2018 Bill Williams authored a book entitled ''Ted Ray – The Forgotten Man of Golf'' and is about Ted Ray's life, career, and his three trips to North America in 1913, 1920 as well as 1927 when he captained Great Britain's first Ryder Cup team.

Tournament wins (46)

Major championships are shown in bold.

Singles professional wins (16)

*1903 Leeds Cup *1907 Leeds Cup *1910 Leeds Cup, Bramshot Cup *1911 Leeds Cup, Cruden Bay Professional Tournament *1912 Cramond Brig Tournament,

*1913

Tooting Bec Cup The Tooting Bec Cup is a trophy currently awarded by the Professional Golfers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland to the association member born in, or with a parent or parents born in, the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland who returns ...

*1919 Leeds Cup *1920

, U.S. Open *1923

*1924 Roehampton Invitation Tournament *1925 West Kent Invitation Tournament *1927 Frinton Invitation Tournament

Other singles professional wins (25)

*1899 Hampshire, Isle of Weight & Channel Islands Championship *1903 News of the World Northern Section qualifying at Huddersfield *1906 News of the World Northern Section qualifying at Ganton *1907 Hyeres Professional Tournament (France) *1909 Open Championship Qualifying, News of the World Northern Section qualifying at Blackpool *1910 News of the World Northern Section qualifying at Bradford *1911 Le Touquet Tournament (France) *1912 News of the World Southern Section qualifying at Sundridge Park *1914 Open Championship Qualifying *1919 News of the World Southern Section qualifying at Sonning-on-Thames *1921 Hertfordshire Open Championship, News of the World Southern Section qualifying at Porters Park *1922 Hertfordshire Open Championship, Daily Mail Southern Section qualifying at Sudbury *1923 Hertfordshire Open Championship *1924 Hertfordshire Open Championship *1926 PGA Southern Section (18 holes) *1928 Hertfordshire Open Championship *1930 Short Course Championship (Torquay), Daily Dispatch Qualifying, Hertfordshire Open Championship *1931 Hertfordshire Open Championship *1933 Hertfordshire Open Championship *1935 Hertfordshire Open Championship

Foursomes (5)

*1908 Yorkshire Professional Foursomes Cup (with A. Hayles) *1909 Yorkshire Professional Foursomes Cup (with H. Mann) *1910 Yorkshire Professional Foursomes Cup (with T. Tate) *1911 Yorkshire Professional Foursomes Cup (with T. Tate) *1925 Bystander Cup £500 Tournament (with Miss Stocker)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Results timeline

''Note: Ray only played in The Open Championship and the U.S. Open.''
NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

* England–Scotland Professional Match (representing England): 1903, 1904 (tie), 1905 (tie), 1906 (winners), 1907 (winners), 1909 (winners), 1910 (winners), 1912 (tie), 1913 (winners) *Coronation Match (representing the Professionals):

1911 Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 m ...

(winners) * Great Britain vs USA (representing Great Britain): 1921 (winners), 1926 (winners, captain) *

(representing Great Britain):

(captain) * Seniors vs Juniors (representing the Seniors): 1928 (winners)

Bibliography

*Inland Golf (1913) (as Edward Ray) *Golf Clubs and How to Use Them (1922) (as Edward Ray)

Gallery

Ted Ray Oxhey Golf Club Advertisement.JPG, Ted Ray, clubmaker TedRayComedy.PNG, Ted Ray (right) in Vaudeville News, 1920 File:England Team v's Scotland 1913.jpg, England Team 1913 - Ted Ray back left File:Ted Ray 1920 US Open 1912 British Open winner Edward Ray .jpg, Ted Ray with familiar pipe File:Ray & Vardon.jpg, Ted Ray & Harry Vardon File:Ted Ray & Harry Vardon 1920.jpg, Ted Ray & Harry Vardon 1920 File:TED RAY PHOTOS070 - 2.jpg, Ted Ray at Oxhey File:Ted Ray 2.jpg, Ted in full swing File:1920 US winner Inverness Edward Ray receives trophy.jpg, Ted Ray receives the US Open trophy 1920 File:1927 Rydr Cup Worcester CC Walter Hagen Trophy Presentation Receives the Ryder Cup from Ted Ray .jpg, Ted presents Walter Hagen with Ryder Cup 1927 File:Open Golf Champion 1912.jpg, Open Champion 1912 File:Ray & Hayles - Yorks Pro Foursome - Jan 1909.jpg, Yorkshire Professional Foursome File:Ganton3 edited.jpg, Yorkshire Professional Foursomes Cup File:Ganton11.jpg, Ted Ray at Ganton G.C. File:Ted Ray 1913 - Courtesy of Brooklawn country Club.jpg, Ted Ray 1913

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Ted Jersey male golfers Ryder Cup competitors for Europe Winners of men's major golf championships 1877 births 1943 deaths