Harold Horsfall Hilton (12 January 1869 – 5 May 1942) was an English amateur golfer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He won The Open Championship twice, The Amateur Championship four times, and the U.S. Amateur Championship once.

Harold Hilton
Hilton in 1913
Personal information
Full nameHarold Horsfall Hilton
Born(1869-01-12)12 January 1869
West Kirby, Merseyside, England
Died5 May 1942(1942-05-05) (aged 73)
Westcote, Gloucestershire, England
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight155 lb (70 kg; 11.1 st)
Sporting nationality England
Career
StatusAmateur
Best results in major championships
(wins: 7)
Masters TournamentNYF
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipWon: 1892, 1897
U.S. AmateurWon: 1911
British AmateurWon: 1900, 1901, 1911, 1913
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame1978 (member page)

Biography

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Hilton c. 1904
 
Hilton in 1914

Hilton was born in West Kirby and attended West Buckland School in Devon. In 1892, he won The Open Championship at Muirfield,[1] becoming the second amateur to do so. He won again in 1897 at his home club, Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake. The only other amateurs who have won the Open Championship are John Ball and Bobby Jones. Hilton's autobiography My Golfing Reminiscences was published in 1907.

Hilton also won The Amateur Championship on four occasions, including 1911, when he became the only British player to win the British and U.S. Amateurs in the same year. Hilton retired with a 99–29 record (77.3%) at The Amateur Championship.

From 1905 to 1915, Hilton was a member at Ashford Manor Golf Club in Middlesex (now Surrey), the club having been incorporated in 1902.[2] In 1912, he played a major part in designing Ferndown Golf Club in Dorset which became an Open Championship qualifying course and one of the top 100 courses in the UK.

Death

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Hilton died on 5 May 1942 at Westcote, Gloucestershire, England, at age 73.[3]

Legacy

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Hilton was also a golf writer. Hilton was the co-author in 1912 of The Royal and Ancient Game of Golf with Garden Smith. The Donovan and Jerris golf book bibliography says about the book, "Quite simply stated, Hilton and Smith's "The Royal and Ancient Game of Golf" is one of the most magnificent books in the library of golf. Well-illustrated and sweeping in content…" He was also the first editor of Golf Monthly, and also the editor of Golf Illustrated. He also designed many courses and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978.

Tournament wins (47)

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Note: This list may be incomplete

Major championships

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Professional wins (2)

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Year Championship 54 holes Winning score Margin Runner(s)-up
1892 The Open Championship 2 shot deficit 78-81-72-74=305 3 strokes   John Ball,   Sandy Herd,   Hugh Kirkaldy
1897 The Open Championship (2) 3 shot deficit 80-75-84-75=314 1 stroke   James Braid

Amateur wins (5)

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Year Championship Winning score Runner-up
1900 The Amateur Championship 8 & 7   James Robb
1901 The Amateur Championship 1 up   John L. Low
1911 The Amateur Championship 4 & 3   Edward Lassen
1911 U.S. Amateur 37 holes   Fred Herreshoff
1913 The Amateur Championship 6 & 5   Robert Harris

Results timeline

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Tournament 1887[17] 1888 1889[18]
The Open Championship
The Amateur Championship R16 R16
Tournament 1890[19] 1891 1892 1893[20] 1894[21] 1895[22] 1896 1897[23] 1898[24] 1899[25]
The Open Championship T8 1 LA T8 WD WD 23 1 LA 3 LA T12
The Amateur Championship QF 2 2 R32 QF R32 2 R32 R16 QF
U.S. Amateur NYF NYF NYF NYF NYF
Tournament 1900 1901 1902[26] 1903[27] 1904[28] 1905[29] 1906[30] 1907[31] 1908[32] 1909[33]
The Open Championship T16 4 LA T6 T25 WD CUT WD
The Amateur Championship 1 1 QF R64 QF R64 R128 R16 R64 R32
U.S. Amateur
Tournament 1910[34] 1911 1912[35] 1913 1914[36] 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
The Open Championship T3 LA WD WD NT NT NT NT NT
The Amateur Championship SF 1 R16 1 R32 NT NT NT NT NT
U.S. Amateur 1 M R32 NT NT
Tournament 1920[37] 1921[38] 1922[39] 1923 1924[40] 1925[41] 1926 1927[42]
The Open Championship[43]
The Amateur Championship[44] R32 R64 QF R128 R256 R256
U.S. Amateur

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

  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

LA = Low amateur
M = Medalist
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play

Team appearances

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  • England–Scotland Amateur Match (representing England): 1902, 1903 (winners), 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910 (winners), 1911, 1912
  • Coronation Match (representing the Amateurs): 1911

References

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  1. ^ "Muirfield – 1892". opengolf.com. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  2. ^ Ashford Manor Golf Club Archived 11 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Harold H. Hilton, Noted Golfer, Dies. Englishman Once Won U. S. Amateur Title. Winner of 6 Contests in Britain. Editor of Golf Magazine. American Victory at Rye, N. Y., in 1911. First Championship in 1892, Last in 1913". The New York Times. 7 May 1942. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  4. ^ a b c Duncan, David Scott, ed. (1890). The Golfing Annual, 1889–90. London: Horace Cox. p. 205.
  5. ^ a b c Duncan (1890) p. 206.
  6. ^ Duncan, David Scott, ed. (1893). The Golfing Annual, 1892–93. London: Horace Cox. p. 196.
  7. ^ Duncan (1893) p. 245.
  8. ^ a b c d Duncan (1893) p. 246.
  9. ^ Duncan (1893) p. 320.
  10. ^ a b Duncan, David Scott, ed. (1894). The Golfing Annual, 1893–94. London: Horace Cox. p. 228.
  11. ^ a b c Duncan (1894) p. 292.
  12. ^ a b c Duncan (1894) p. 294.
  13. ^ a b Duncan (1894) p. 317.
  14. ^ a b c Duncan, David Scott, ed. (1900). The Golfing Annual, 1899–1900. London: Horace Cox. p. 254.
  15. ^ a b Duncan (1900) p. 346.
  16. ^ a b Duncan (1900) p. 347.
  17. ^ The Glasgow Herald, August 4, 1887, p. 6. Google News
  18. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 9, 1889, p. 10. Google News
  19. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 2, 1890, p. 8. Google News
  20. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 10, 1893, p. 11. Google News
  21. ^ The Glasgow Herald, April 27, 1894, p. 11. Google News
  22. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 9, 1895, p. 3. Google News
  23. ^ april 1897 The Scotsman, April 29, 1897, p. 4. archive.scotsman.com
  24. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1898, p. 11. Google News
  25. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1899, p. 11. Google News
  26. ^ Golf, June, 1902, p. 397. United States Golf Association Museum
  27. ^ Golf, July, 1903, p. 8. United States Golf Association Museum
  28. ^ Golf, July, 1904, p. 9. United States Golf Association Museum
  29. ^ Golf, June, 1905, p. 341. United States Golf Association Museum
  30. ^ Golf, July, 1906, p. 29. United States Golf Association Museum
  31. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 30, 1907, p. 14. Google News
  32. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 27, 1908, p. 14. Google News
  33. ^ The American Golfer, July, 1909, p. 12 Archived 24 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. la84foundation.org
  34. ^ The Glasgow Herald, June 3, 1910, p. 10. Google News
  35. ^ The American Golfer, July, 1912, p. 199 Archived 24 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine. la84foundation.org
  36. ^ Golf Illustrated, July, 1914, p. 28. United States Golf Association Museum
  37. ^ The Glasgow Herald, June 10, 1920, p. 9. Google News
  38. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 25, 1921, p. 6. Google News
  39. ^ The American Golfer, July 1, 1922, p. 31. United States Golf Association Museum
  40. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 28, 1924, p. 8. Google News
  41. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1925, p. 15. Google News
  42. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 24, 1927, p. 10. Google News
  43. ^ www.opengolf.com. opengolf.com
  44. ^ USGA Championship Database