Laurie Auchterlonie

Lawrence "Laurie" Auchterlonie (8 December 1867 – 20 January 1948) was a Scottish professional golfer, a native of St Andrews. In 1902, representing the Glen View Club, he won the eighth U.S. Open at Garden City Golf Club in Garden City, New York.[1]

Laurie Auchterlonie
Personal information
Full nameLawrence Auchterlonie
NicknameLaurie
Born(1867-12-08)8 December 1867
St Andrews, Scotland
Died20 January 1948(1948-01-20) (aged 80)
St Andrews, Scotland
Nationality Scotland
Career
Turned professional1899
Professional wins2
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenWon: 1902
The Open ChampionshipT13: 1895

Early life and family

Born in St Andrews, Scotland,[2] Auchterlonie was the older brother of Willie Auchterlonie,[3] who won The Open Championship in 1893. Willie had a son named Laurie, who succeeded his father as honorary professional to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. This Laurie Auchterlonie should not be confused with his uncle, the U.S. Open winner.

Amateur career

Auchterlonie was over 30 before he became a professional. As an amateur he played in the Open Championship when it was played at St Andrews, in 1888, 1891 and 1895. He entered the Amateur Championship for the first time in 1895, when it was held at St Andrews. He reached the semi-finals, losing at the 19th hole to Leslie Balfour-Melville.[4] He entered again in 1897 at Muirfield and 1898 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. He won the Dundee Evening Telegraph Cup, the unofficial Scottish Amateur Championship, in 1897 at Leven, Fife, beating David Leitch by 2 holes in the final.[5]

Professional career

Auchterlonie's win at the U.S. Open in October 1902 marked the first time that 80 was broken in all four rounds, as he posted a score of 78-78-74-77=307.[1][6] (The U.S. Open became a 72-hole event four years earlier, in 1898.) He played with the recently invented Haskell rubber-cored golf ball,[7] which was at least partly responsible for the lower scoring. The new ball had first been used to win an important tournament the previous year, when it was used by Walter Travis at the U.S. Amateur and Sandy Herd at The Open Championship in June. It soon became the standard golf ball.

Auchterlonie competed in the U.S. Open eleven times, with seven top-ten finishes. His other victories included the 1901 Western Open. From 1901 to 1911, he was the head golf professional at Glen View Club in Golf, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago; he returned to his native Scotland in 1911.[3]

Death and legacy

Aucterlonie died in 1948 at age 80 in St Andrews, Scotland.[3][8] He is best remembered for winning the 1902 U.S. Open.

Major championships

Wins (1)
YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunners-up
1902U.S. Open5 shot lead(78-78-74-77=307)6 strokes Stewart Gardner, Walter Travis

Results timeline
Tournament 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899
U.S. Open NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF T9[9]
The Amateur Championship SF QF R16 –
The Open Championship T15 T18 T13 LA
Tournament 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909
U.S. Open 4[10] T5[11] 1 7 T4 24 T3 T11 T21 T23
The Open Championship

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

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play

References
  1. "Auchterlonie is Open champion". Chicago Sunday Tribune. 12 October 1902. p. 1, sec. 2.
  2. "Births in the United District of St Andrews and St Leonards in the County of Fife". Statutory Births 453/00 0223. ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  3. "Golfing veteran dead". Glasgow Herald. 21 January 1948.
  4. "The Amateur Championship – Fifth and Semi-final Rounds". Glasgow Herald. 10 May 1895. p. 11.
  5. "Evening Telegraph Cup". Glasgow Herald. 2 August 1897. p. 10.
  6. "Open Golf Champion". The Saint Paul Globe. Minnesota. 12 October 1902. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  7. "Notes on sport". Glasgow Herald. 13 October 1902. p. 10.
  8. "Death of L. Auchterlonie". The Times. 21 January 1948. p. 2.
  9. "The Golf Championship". North Adams Transcript. Massachusetts. 16 September 1899.
  10. "Vardon Was the Winner - Took the Open Golf Championship at Wheaton Yesterday". The Saint Paul Globe. 6 October 1900. Retrieved 9 April 2015 – via Minnesota Historical Society.
  11. "Alexander Smith and Willie Anderson Tied for the Open Championship at 331". New York Tribune. 16 June 1901. p. 9. Retrieved 9 April 2015 – via Library of Congress.
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