The 1911 Open Championship was the 51st Open Championship, held 26–30 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Harry Vardon won the Championship for the fifth time in a playoff over Arnaud Massy, the 1907 champion.
There was no qualifying event and with 226 entries it was not possible for all the players to play 18 holes on the same day. The players were therefore divided into three "sections," with the first 36 holes played over three days. Sections A and B played their first rounds on Monday, while section C played on Tuesday morning. Section A played their second rounds that afternoon, while sections B and C played their second rounds on Wednesday.
By the start of the first round, the number of participants had been reduced to 222, with four withdrawals. On Monday, Michael Moran of Section B had the best round at 72. On Tuesday morning, the players in Section C discovered that a number of the holes had been moved since the first day. Later in the day a letter of protest was drawn up by a group of professionals and presented to the authorities: "To the Committee of the Championship, 1911 - Gentlemen, we the undersigned competitors at this Championship meeting respectfully protest against the alteration of the course during the qualifying (sic) rounds." Play was somewhat easier on the second morning and amateur Edward Blackwell led at 71, with joining Moran with 72.
At the end of Tuesday, only Section A had completed 36 holes, and Ted Ray led at 148. The Committee replied to the professionals, "The Green Committee consider that in deciding to cut fresh holes each day they had adopted the best course possible under the terms of the competition, which were exceptional owing to the large entry, and though they regret that there was any dissatisfaction amongst the players, they decided that the protest could not be upheld." New holes were again cut on the third morning, so that Sections B and C played their second round to different holes to Section A.
The second round was completed on Wednesday evening, and George Duncan led the field at 144, four ahead of Ray, Taylor, and Vardon. The leading sixty players and ties advanced for the final 36 holes on Thursday; the cut was at 162 and 73 players advanced, with fifteen players on the number.
Duncan had a poor third round of 83 in the morning, which left Vardon with a three-shot lead over Sandy Herd, Taylor, and Massy.
Vardon was among the early starters in the afternoon and scored 80 for 303. Amateur Harold Hilton reached the turn in 33, but took 43 for the last nine and finished a shot behind. Massy needed a four at the difficult final hole to tie; he reached the green with two woods and two-putted to force a 36-hole playoff with Vardon on Friday.
Massy led the playoff after ten holes, but a six at the 14th and a disastrous seven at 17 put Vardon ahead by five after the first round. The lead extended to seven after 27 holes and ten after 34 holes. After Vardon reached the green in two at the 35th and Massy was in thick rough after two shots, Massy picked up his ball and conceded.
Coronation Match The Championship was preceded by a "Coronation Match" between teams of amateurs and professionals at Royal St George's on Saturday 24 June 1911. The match was in celebration of the coronation of George V on 22 June 1911. The match consisted of 9 foursomes matches, each over 36 holes. The result was an for the professionals. Only one match went beyond the 33rd hole and resulted in a win for the amateurs at the
Course
HoleYardsHoleYards1400 10365231211380325012370442513431539014505616015433750616160822017400942018460 Out3,083 In3,504Source: Total 6,587
Round summaries
First round Monday, 26 June 1911 (morning, section A; afternoon, section B) Tuesday, 27 June 1911 (morning, section C) PlacePlayerScoreSection1 Edward Blackwell (a) 71 CT2 Michael Moran 72 B J.H. Taylor CT4 George Duncan 73 C James Sherlock BT6 James Hepburn 74 C William Horne C Jack Rowe C Harry Vardon CT10 Harold Beveridge (a) 75 B Horace Fulford C Fred Leach C James Ockenden A Thomas Renouf C Source:
Second round Tuesday, 27 June 1911 (afternoon, section A) Wednesday, 28 June 1911 (morning, section B; afternoon, section C) PlacePlayerScoreSection1 George Duncan 73-71=144 CT2 Ted Ray 76-72=148 A J.H. Taylor 72-76=148 C Harry Vardon 74-74=148 CT5 Sandy Herd 77-73=150 B Harold Hilton (a) 76-74=150 A William Horne 74-76=150 C Michael Moran 72-78=150 BT9 James Hepburn 74-77=151 C Thomas Renouf 75-76=151 C Source:
Third round Thursday, 29 June 1911 (morning) PlacePlayerScore1 Harry Vardon 74-74-75=223T2 Sandy Herd 77-73-76=226 J.H. Taylor 72-76-78=226T4 James Braid 78-75-74=227 George Duncan 73-71-83=227 Arnaud Massy 75-78-74=227 Ted Ray 76-72-79=2278 Harold Hilton (a) 76-74-78=228 T9 Laurie Ayton, Snr 75-77-77=229 James Sherlock 73-80-76=229 Source:
Final round Thursday, 29 June 1911 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreMoney (£)T1 Arnaud Massy 75-78-74-76=303 Playoff Harry Vardon 74-74-75-80=303T3 Sandy Herd 77-73-76-78=304 15 Harold Hilton (a) 76-74-78-76=304 0T5 James Braid 78-75-74-78=305 86s 8d Ted Ray 76-72-79-78=305 J.H. Taylor 72-76-78-79=3058 George Duncan 73-71-83-79=306 59 Laurie Ayton, Snr 75-77-77-78=307 T10 James Hepburn 74-77-83-75=309 0 Fred Robson 78-74-79-78=309 Source:
Playoff Friday, 30 June 1911
Ten shots behind after 34 holes, Massy was in trouble on the 35th hole and conceded the match. Scores in the table below are after 34 holes. PlacePlayerScoreMoney (£)1 Harry Vardon 74-64=13834 holes 502 Arnaud Massy 79-69=148Conceded 25
Scorecards Morning round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out101112131415161718BackTotal Vardon443454534365454443453874 Massy444454434364554643754379
Afternoon round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out101112131415161718BackTotal Vardon454343535364445452––2864 Massy543553544384645543––3169 Source:
References
External links Royal St Georges 1911 (Official site)