Michael Scott (golfer)

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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 emigrated to Australia between 1900 and 1904^[1] and won a number of amateur tournaments there, including four Australian Amateur titles (1905, 1907, 1909, and 1910), six Victorian Amateur 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.^[2]

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.^[3] The following year, Scott played for and captained a second 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.^[4]^[5]

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. Osmund Scott was the runner-up at the 1905 Amateur Championship, and Denys Scott also competed. Michael Scott was married three times, and died at the age of 80 in 1959.^[6]