Horace Hutchinson Explained

Horace Hutchinson
Fullname:Horatio Gordon Hutchinson
Nickname:Horace
Birth Date:16 May 1859
Birth Place:London, England
Death Place:Chelsea, London, England
Height:5 ft 11.5 in
Weight:175lb
Spouse:Dorothy Margaret Chapman
College:Corpus Christi College
Oxford University
Status:Amateur
Masters:DNP
Usopen:DNP
Open:6th: 1890
Pga:DNP
Britamateur:Won: 1886; 1887

Horatio Gordon "Horace" Hutchinson (16 May 1859 – 27 July 1932)[1] [2] was an English amateur golfer who played in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Hutchinson won the 1886 and 1887 Amateur Championships. He had three top-10 finishes in the Open Championship, his best result being sixth in the 1890 Open Championship.[3]

He was also a prolific writer of books on the subject of golf and other sporting themes.[4] Hutchinson was the second English captain of the St Andrews Golf Club, Scotland. Onesiphorus Tyndall Bruce was the first Englishman to captain the R&A in 1838. Hutchinson suffered from grave illness in the latter portion of his life and committed suicide in Chelsea, London, England, on 27 July 1932.

Early life

Hutchinson, born 16 May 1859 in London, England, was the third son of General William Nelson Hutchinson (1803–1895) and Mary Hutchinson (née Russell).[1] [5] He began his golfing career at an early age playing at the Royal North Devon Golf Club—also known as Westward Ho!—a course founded in 1864 and designed by Old Tom Morris.[6] By the age of 16, he won the club medal championship. He attended the University of Oxford's Corpus Christi College from 1878 to 1881, where he was a cricket player,[7] [8] and where he made an immediate impression by playing number one on the Oxford University golf team, and led them to victory over arch-rival Cambridge in the University Golf Match.

During his Oxford years he would spend vacations at home playing the Royal North Devon course accompanied by a young orphaned caddie who was employed by the Hutchinson family as a houseboy. The young lad went by the name of John Henry Taylor. Taylor's future exploits in golf—which included winning five Open Championships—would become legendary.[9]

Hutchinson was a keen billiards player and enjoyed rowing, shooting and angling. He graduated from Oxford BA with third-class honours in literae humaniores (1881) and entered the Inner Temple with a view to reading for the bar, but his health, always frail, temporarily broke down.[10] In 1890 he considered becoming a sculptor and studied briefly under G. F. Watts. In 1893 he married Dorothy Margaret Chapman, daughter of Major Frederick Barclay Chapman of the 14th Hussars.[11]

The Amateur Championship

Hutchinson's major accomplishments in golf were his two victories in the 1886 and 1887 Amateur Championships. He became the first player to successfully defend the title by defeating the great John Ball on Ball's home course at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake.

Hutchinson was an avid student—and later teacher—of the mechanics of the golf swing, so he decided to put forth in writing his suggestions on methods of play. He said, among other things, "The great secret of all strokes played for the most part is to make the club travel as long as possible in the direction in which you want the ball to go".

In 1896, showing his humorous side on the subject of golf etiquette, Hutchinson remarked:

Business ventures

From 1910 a local director to their West End branch and later its chairman,[12] Hutchinson was elected to the court of Directors of Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation in May 1919.[13] Following Hutchinson's death in 1932 the chairman of Royal Exchange began his address to their 213th Annual General Court by telling of his deepest regret. "He had the interests of the Corporation always very much at heart and the charm of his personality endeared him to his colleagues and to all those with whom he came in contact. He is very much missed by us all".[12]

In 1905, with his golfing friend H. C. B. Underdown, he became one of the two first directors of Commercial Cars Limited (Commer) which the pair of them set up to make Commer commercial vehicles. Their venture was intended to capitalize on a promising preselector gearbox invented for heavy vehicles. He remained on that board until his death.

Death

Although he lived to be 73 years old, Hutchinson suffered with poor health most of his life, and was for the last eighteen years of life incapacitated by grave illness. Before 1920 he left his Sussex home, Shepherds Gate, Coleman's Hatch, across Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club from Forest Row, and moved to 29 Lennox Gardens, Chelsea, London. Eighteen years after he could no longer play golf, he committed suicide there on 27 July 1932. He was survived by his wife. According to his 1932 probate, his wealth at death was £26,337 (£ today).

Legacy

American golf teaching professional Mike Stevens said of Hutchinson, "In my mind, there is no question that Horace Hutchinson was a teacher extraordinaire and is clearly the father of golf instruction".

Walter Travis, in 1904—shortly after his victories in the 1903 U.S. Amateur and 1904 British Amateur—said of Hutchinson:

Tournament wins (25)

Note: This list may be incomplete.

Major championships

Amateur wins (2)

YearChampionshipWinning scoreRunner-up
1886 7 & 6 Henry Lamb
1887 1 up John Ball

Results timeline

Tournament1885188618871888[29] 1889[30]
The Open ChampionshipT11 LAT16T10
The Amateur Championship211R16R32
Tournament1890[31] 18911892[32] 18931894[33] 18951896[34] 18971898[35] 1899
The Open Championship6T2410WDCUT
The Amateur ChampionshipQFQFR32SFR16
Tournament1900[36] 1901[37] 1902[38] 19031904[39] 1905[40] 1906[41] 1907[42] 1908[43] 1909[44]
The Open Championship
The Amateur ChampionshipR64SFR642SFR128R16R64R256R64
Tournament1910[45] 1911[46] 1912[47]
The Open Championship
The Amateur ChampionshipR32R64R256
Note: Hutchinson played in only The Open Championship and The Amateur Championship.LA = low amateur
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

Books written by Hutchinson

Note: This list may be incomplete.

Notes and References

  1. News: The Times . 29 July 1932 . 14 . Mr H G Hutchinson.
  2. Web site: Mr. Horace Hutchinson . 18 April 2015.
  3. Book: Brenner, Morgan G. . The Majors of Golf: Complete Results of the Open, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and the Masters, 1860–2008 . 1 . 2009 . McFarland . 978-0-7864-3360-5.
  4. Web site: Oxford Index – Horace G. Hutchinson (1859–1932), golfer and writer . Oxford University Press . 18 April 2015.
  5. Web site: Paul @ Golfing Herald . Legends : Horace Hutchinson . Golfing Herald . 9 August 2020 . 10 February 2020.
  6. http://www.golfcoursearchitecture.net/Article/Old-Tom-Morris/1423/Default.aspx Old Tom Morris
  7. Web site: Horatio Gordon Hutchinson . cricketarchive.com . 20 April 2015.
  8. News: Players of Golf . The Evening Star . Washington, D.C. . 4 May 1895 . 13 . 16 April 2015.
  9. Web site: Stevens . Mike . The Father of Golf Instruction . usgtf.com . 16 April 2015 . 21 November 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141121033904/http://usgtf.com/articles/father.html . dead .
  10. Web site: Oxford Dictionary of National Biographies – Horatio Gordon Hutchinson . 20 April 2015 .
  11. William, Arthur . Pollock, Alsager . The Army Gazette, War Office, Pall Mall . The United Service Magazine . 1870 .
  12. Royal Exchange Assurance. The Times, Thursday, 27 April 1933; p. 21; issue 46429.
  13. City News in Brief. The Times, Friday, 9 May 1919; p. 19; issue 42095.
  14. Fifty Years of Golf, pp. 29–34.
  15. Fifty Years of Golf, pp. 41–46.
  16. Fifty Years of Golf, pp. 47–52.
  17. Fifty Years of Golf, pp. 59–64.
  18. Book: The Golfing Annual, 1887–88 . C. Robertson . Bauchope . London . 1888 . Horace Cox . 179.
  19. Fifty Years of Golf, pp. 71–76.
  20. The Golfing Annual, 1887–88, p. 211.
  21. The Golfing Annual, 1887–88, p. 178.
  22. The Golfing Annual, 1887–88, p. 218.
  23. The Golfing Annual, 1887–88, p. 206.
  24. The Golfing Annual, 1887–88, p. 221.
  25. Book: The Golfing Annual, 1889–90 . David Scott . Duncan . London . 1890 . Horace Cox . 155.
  26. The Golfing Annual, 1889–90, p. 243.
  27. Book: The Golfing Annual, 1892–93 . David Scott . Duncan . London . 1893 . Horace Cox . 170.
  28. Fifty Years of Golf, pp. 150–155.
  29. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=18880510&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, May 10, 1888, p. 11
  30. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=18890512&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, May 8, 1889, p. 10
  31. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=18900502&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, May 2, 1890, p. 8
  32. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=18920513&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, May 13, 1892, p. 9
  33. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=18940426&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, April 26, 1894, p. 11
  34. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=18960522&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, May 22, 1896, p. 10
  35. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=18980526&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1898, p. 11
  36. http://www.usgamuseum.com/researchers/usga_segl/ Golf, July, 1900, p. 20
  37. http://www.usgamuseum.com/researchers/usga_segl/ Golf, June, 1901, p. 414
  38. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19020430&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, April 30, 1902, p. 10
  39. http://www.usgamuseum.com/researchers/usga_segl/ Golf, July, 1904, p. 9
  40. http://www.usgamuseum.com/researchers/usga_segl/ Golf, June, 1905, p. 340
  41. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19060524&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, May 24, 1906, p. 8
  42. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19070529&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, May 29, 1907, p. 12
  43. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19080526&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1908, p. 13
  44. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19090526&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1909, p. 14
  45. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19100602&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, June 2, 1910, p. 8
  46. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19110531&printsec=frontpage The Glasgow Herald, May 31, 1911, p. 10
  47. http://la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/AmericanGolfer/1912/ag83d.pdf The American Golfer, July, 1912, p. 197
  48. https://web.archive.org/web/20070515221619/http://www.library.uiuc.edu/rbx/exhibitions/Victorian%20Entertainments/catalog/catalog.html Victorian Entertainments: We Are Amused An Exhibit Illustrating Victorian Entertainment
  49. Web site: Hutchinson, Horatio Gordon ('Horace'). The Golfing Pilgrim on Many Links . christies.com . Longmans . 20 April 2015.
  50. Book: Hutchinson, Horace G. . The Book of Golf and Golfers . 1899 . Longmans Green and Co. . London; New York; Bombay . 1st . 12 October 2015.
  51. Book: Hutchinson, Horace G. . The New Book of Golf . 1912 . Longmans, Green & Co. . London, England . 18 April 2015.
  52. Book: Hutchinson, Horace G. . Life of Sir John Lubbock, Lord Avebury . 28 May 1914 . Macmillan (London) . 18 April 2015.
  53. Web site: Fifty Years of Golf . Horace G. . Hutchinson . Country Life . 1919 . 18 April 2015.

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