Michael Scott (golfer)

Michael Scott
Personal information
Born(1878-08-31)31 August 1878
Died9 January 1959(1959-01-09) (aged 80)
Sporting nationality England
Career
StatusAmateur
Professional wins2
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters TournamentDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT20: 1922
U.S. AmateurDNQ
British AmateurWon: 1933

The Hon. Michael Scott OBE (31 August 1878 – 9 January 1959) was an English amateur golfer, most famous for being the oldest winner of The Amateur Championship.

Michael Scott was the son of John Scott, 3rd Earl of Eldon, and the youngest of seven children. He attended Winchester College.[1] He emigrated to Australia in about 1900 but returned to the United Kingdom between July 1906 and early 1907, missing the main Australian golf events of 1906.[2][3] Scott won a number of important amateur tournaments in Australia, including four Australian Amateur titles (1905, 1907, 1909, and 1910), six Victorian Amateur Championship titles (all between 1904 and 1910), and several others. He won the inaugural Australian Open in 1904, and again in 1907. He returned to England in 1911.[4]

Scott fought in World War I, and was decorated with the Order of Aviz of Portugal and the Order of the Black Star of France. In 1918, he was invested as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.[1]

While he won the French Amateur in 1912 and 1922, Scott was not able to win in England itself, though he was a member of Great Britain's 1924 Walker Cup team. Finally, in 1933 when he was nearly 55 years old, he won The Amateur Championship by beating Thomas A. Bourn 4 & 3 at Hoylake.[5] The following year, Scott played for and captained the 1934 Walker Cup team, setting the record for the oldest player in that event as well (which still stands). He later won a West of England Amateur title at the age of 57, and was the Captain at Royal St George's Golf Club.[6][7]

Several of Scott's siblings were also golfers. The most famous was Lady Margaret Scott, a dominant player in early women's golf who won the first three British Ladies Championships from 1893 to 1895 before retiring from tournament play. Osmund Scott was the runner-up at the 1905 Amateur Championship, and Denys Scott also competed. Michael Scott was married three times, had at least one daughter, and died at the age of 80 in 1959.[1]

Tournament wins

Major championships

Amateur wins (1)

Year Championship Winning score Runner-up
1933 The Amateur Championship 4 & 3 England Dale Bourn

Results timeline

Tournament 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
The Open Championship T41 T37 LA NT NT NT NT NT
The Amateur Championship R128 QF R64 R16 NT NT NT NT NT
U.S. Amateur NT NT
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
The Open Championship 60 T20 LA
The Amateur Championship SF R64 R128 R16 R16 R128 R256 QF
U.S. Amateur DNQ
Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
The Open Championship WD
The Amateur Championship R16 R256 R128 1 R256 R128 R256 R128 R256 R256
U.S. Amateur
Tournament 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947
The Open Championship NT NT NT NT NT NT
The Amateur Championship NT NT NT NT NT NT R256 R128
U.S. Amateur NT NT NT NT

Note: Scott played in only The Open Championship, the U.S. Amateur, and The Amateur Championship.

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

LA = Low amateur
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 British Open: www.opengolf.com

Source for 1911 British Amateur: The American Golfer, July 1911, p. 180.

Source for 1912 British Amateur: The American Golfer, July 1912, p. 199.

Source for 1913 British Amateur: The American Golfer, July 1913, p. 224.

Source for 1914 British Amateur: Golf Illustrated, July 1914, p. 29.

Source for 1920 British Amateur: The American Golfer, 19 June 1920, p. 9.

Source for 1923 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 10 May 1923, p. 15.

Source for 1924 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 29 May 1924, p. 13.

Source for 1924 U.S. Amateur: USGA Championship Database

Source for 1925 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 28 May 1925, p. 9.

Source for 1926 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 28 May 1926, p. 8.

Source for 1927 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 25 May 1927, p. 4.

Source for 1928 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 22 May 1928, p. 4.

Source for 1929 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 15 June 1929, p. 8.

Source for 1930 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 30 May 1930, p. 13.

Source for 1931 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 19 May 1931, p. 17.

Source for 1932 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 25 May 1932, p. 6.

Source for 1934 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 22 May 1934, p. 10.

Source for 1935 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 22 May 1935, p. 7.

Source for 1936 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 27 May 1936, p. 6.

Source for 1937 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 26 May 1937, p. 23.

Source for 1938 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 24 May 1938, p. 3.

Source for 1939 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 23 May 1939, p. 17.

Source for 1946 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 29 May 1946, p. 2.

Source for 1947 British Amateur: The Glasgow Herald, 28 May 1947, p. 6.

Team appearances

References

  1. ^ a b c "Person Page 4325". thePeerage.com.
  2. ^ "Champion golf player". Kalgoorlie Miner. Vol. 10, no. 3378. Western Australia. 24 July 1906. p. 8. Retrieved 22 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Hon. Michael Scott to Miss C Bruton". Punch. Vol. CVI, no. 2693. Victoria, Australia. 7 March 1907. p. 28. Retrieved 22 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Drouin Golf Club history". Archived from the original on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  5. ^ "At Hoylake". Time Magazine. 3 July 1933. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  6. ^ Gadd, Bert. "To The Brink of Fame". p. 36. Retrieved 29 January 2007.
  7. ^ Gadd, Bert. "To The Brink of Fame". p. 52. Retrieved 29 January 2007.