Willie Park, Jr.

Willie Park, Jr.
— Golfer —

Personal information
Full name	William Park, Jr.
Nickname	Willie
Born	(1864-02-04)4 February 1864 Musselburgh, Scotland
Died	22 May 1925(1925-05-22) (aged 61) Edinburgh, Scotland
Nationality	Scotland
Career
Status	Professional
Best results in major championships (Wins: 2)
Masters Tournament	NYF
U.S. Open	CUT: 1919
The Open Championship	Won: 1887, 1889
PGA Championship	DNP
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	2013 (member page)

Willie Park, Jr. (4 February 1864 – 22 May 1925) was one of the top professional golfers of his era, winning The Open Championship twice.^[1] Park was also a successful golf equipment maker and golf writer. In his later years, Park built a significant career as one of the world's best golf course architects, with a world-wide business. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013.^[2]

Early years

Park was born in Musselburgh, Scotland (near Edinburgh) on 4 February 1864.^[3] His father, Willie Park, Sr., was one of Scotland's top golfers, who won the first Open Championship in 1860^[4] and Park, Jr. learned golf from childhood. His father ran a successful golf equipment business, producing clubs and balls to order. Park, Sr. also played challenge matches for stakes, and competed in professional tournaments.

The Musselburgh Links course in the family's home town was one of the main centres of golf at the time, and was on the rota for The Open Championship from 1873 to 1891. In 1892 it was removed from the rota in favor of Muirfield, a new course which became the home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Willie Park, Sr. won the first Open Championship in 1860, and won it again three more times. Mungo Park, younger brother of Park, Sr., also won the Open in 1874. The Park family had a deep and fierce golf rivalry, both in competition and in business, with the Morris family (led by Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris) of St. Andrews during most of the 19th century.

Open Champion

Park caddied and played golf professionally, in stakes matches and tournaments, from his mid-teens. He developed his golf skills and played in his first Open Championship in 1880, at age 16, at which time he was already one of Scotland's best players. He worked in the family golf equipment business. Park won the Open in 1887 and 1889. In the latter year he was taken to a playoff by Andrew Kirkaldy. During his competitive career, Park placed in the top ten 12 times at the Open, and was out of the top eight only twice between 1881 and 1892. He was notable for his excellent short game, which compensated for a sometimes unreliable long game. He is famous for the saying: "A man who can putt is a match for anyone."

Businessman

At the time, it was very difficult, if not impossible, for a golfer to make a living from prize money alone. Park often played challenge matches. He took over the family ball and club making business, establishing an export business just when golf was beginning to spread internationally. He patented several golf club designs.

Golf writer

Park's The Game of Golf (1896) was the first book about golf written by a professional golfer. It was well received, and has proven continuously popular since, being available in a modern, unabridged edition from Arcturus Publishers (2010). Park's second book, The Art of Putting, was published in 1920.

Golf course architect

He also worked as a golf course designer, with 170 designs to his credit in the British Isles, Europe, the US and Canada. Park entered this profession, while winding down his competitive play, in his mid-30s, just as golf was beginning an enormous increase in popularity in North America. New golfers needed new courses to play, and Park took advantage of the opportunities. His services were much in demand, and he became one of the first people, along with fellow Scot Donald Ross, to become a full-time golf course architect.

Park's first well-known design was the Old Course of the Sunningdale Golf Club near London, just at the turn of the 20th century. This club's brilliant success on heathland property, which earlier had been thought unsuitable for golf, brought him world-wide fame.^[5] Sunningdale Old has frequently been ranked among the world's top courses.

Other highly regarded Park courses include Weston Golf and Country Club in Toronto (host of the 1955 Canadian Open, Arnold Palmer's first professional victory), the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club in Ottawa, Ontario (host of the 2008 Canadian Women's Open), the Calgary Golf and Country Club in Calgary, Le Club Laval-sur-le-Lac in Laval, Quebec, the Maidstone Golf Club on Long Island, the New Haven Country Club in Hamden, Connecticut, Shuttle Meadow Country Club in Kensington, Connecticut, the North Course of the Olympia Fields Country Club near Chicago (host of the 2003 U.S. Open), and Berkshire Country Club in Reading, Pennsylvania. Weston G&CC hosts an annual elite amateur men's Willie Park Jr. Memorial tournament, held over 36 holes in one day in late summer. It was started in 1925 to memorialize Park's passing.

Family

Park's daughter, Dorothy Park, was runner-up in the 1937 British Ladies Amateur Championship.^[6]

Death

Overwork on his design business led to a decline in health and his eventual death, at age 61 on 22 May 1925.^[7] His health had been in decline for some time; Park knew he was dying, and traveled home from the United States to Scotland, in order to die in his home country.^[5] He died in Edinburgh, although his "usual residence" was given as Musselburgh.^[7]

Major championships

A group photo of Scotland's 1903 international golf team. Park is standing in the back row, second from the right. They defeated the English team that year.

Wins (2)

Year	Championship	18 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1887	The Open Championship	5 shot deficit	82-79=161	1 stroke	Bob Martin
1889	The Open Championship (2)	1 shot deficit	39-38-39–39=155	Playoff ¹	Andrew Kirkaldy

¹ Park defeated Kirkaldy by five strokes in a 36-hole playoff.

Results timeline

Tournament	1880	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889
The Open Championship	16	T5	T18	8	T4	T4	T4	1	T11	1

Tournament	1890	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899
The Open Championship	T4	6	7	T19	12	DNP	T14	T22	2	14

Tournament	1900	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909
The Open Championship	6	T18	T23	T15	T12	T13	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1910	1911	1912	1913	1914	1915	1916	1917	1918	1919
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	NT	NT	CUT
The Open Championship	T38	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT

NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

References

↑ "1887 Willie Park Jr". The Open. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
↑ "Willie Park Jr. selected for World Golf Hall of Fame". PGA Tour. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
↑ "Births in the District of Inveresk and Musselburgh in the County of Edinburgh". Statutory Births 689/00 0051. ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 15 February 2015. (subscription required (help)).
↑ Duncan, George (1951). Golf At The Gallop. p. 7.
1 2 Whitten, Ronald; Cornish, Geoffrey (1981). The Golf Course. Rutledge Press. ISBN 978-0004900308.
↑ BBC – A Sporting Nation – Jessie Valentine: Queen of Golf 1958
1 2 "Deaths in the District of Morningside in the City of Edinburgh". Statutory Deaths 689/00 0124. ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 15 February 2015. (subscription required (help)).

The Open Championship champions

1860 Willie Park, Sr. 1861 Tom Morris, Sr. 1862 Tom Morris, Sr. 1863 Willie Park, Sr. 1864 Tom Morris, Sr. 1865 Andrew Strath 1866 Willie Park, Sr. 1867 Tom Morris, Sr. 1868 Tom Morris, Jr. 1869 Tom Morris, Jr. 1870 Tom Morris, Jr. 1871 No championship 1872 Tom Morris, Jr. 1873 Tom Kidd 1874 Mungo Park 1875 Willie Park, Sr. 1876 Bob Martin† 1877 Jamie Anderson 1878 Jamie Anderson 1879 Jamie Anderson 1880 Bob Ferguson 1881 Bob Ferguson 1882 Bob Ferguson 1883 Willie Fernie† 1884 Jack Simpson 1885 Bob Martin 1886 David Brown 1887 Willie Park, Jr. 1888 Jack Burns 1889 Willie Park, Jr.† 1890 John Ball# 1891 Hugh Kirkaldy 1892 Harold Hilton# 1893 William Auchterlonie 1894 John Henry Taylor 1895 John Henry Taylor 1896 Harry Vardon† 1897 Harold Hilton# 1898 Harry Vardon 1899 Harry Vardon 1900 John Henry Taylor 1901 James Braid 1902 Sandy Herd 1903 Harry Vardon 1904 Jack White 1905 James Braid 1906 James Braid 1907 Arnaud Massy 1908 James Braid 1909 John Henry Taylor 1910 James Braid 1911 Harry Vardon† 1912‡ Edward Ray 1913 John Henry Taylor 1914 Harry Vardon 1915-19 No Championships due to World War I 1920 George Duncan 1921 Jock Hutchison† 1922 Walter Hagen 1923 Arthur Havers 1924 Walter Hagen 1925 Jim Barnes 1926 Bobby Jones# 1927‡ Bobby Jones# 1928 Walter Hagen 1929 Walter Hagen 1930 Bobby Jones# 1931 Tommy Armour 1932‡ Gene Sarazen 1933 Denny Shute† 1934‡ Henry Cotton 1935 Alf Perry 1936 Alf Padgham 1937 Henry Cotton 1938 Reg Whitcombe 1939 Dick Burton 1940-45 No Championships due to World War II 1946 Sam Snead 1947 Fred Daly 1948 Henry Cotton 1949 Bobby Locke† 1950 Bobby Locke 1951 Max Faulkner 1952 Bobby Locke 1953 Ben Hogan 1954 Peter Thomson 1955 Peter Thomson 1956 Peter Thomson 1957 Bobby Locke 1958 Peter Thomson† 1959 Gary Player 1960 Kel Nagle 1961 Arnold Palmer 1962 Arnold Palmer 1963 Bob Charles† 1964 Tony Lema 1965 Peter Thomson 1966 Jack Nicklaus 1967 Roberto De Vicenzo 1968 Gary Player 1969 Tony Jacklin 1970 Jack Nicklaus† 1971 Lee Trevino 1972 Lee Trevino 1973‡ Tom Weiskopf 1974 Gary Player 1975 Tom Watson† 1976 Johnny Miller 1977 Tom Watson 1978 Jack Nicklaus 1979 Seve Ballesteros 1980 Tom Watson 1981 Bill Rogers 1982 Tom Watson 1983 Tom Watson 1984 Seve Ballesteros 1985 Sandy Lyle 1986 Greg Norman 1987 Nick Faldo 1988 Seve Ballesteros 1989 Mark Calcavecchia† 1990 Nick Faldo 1991 Ian Baker-Finch 1992 Nick Faldo 1993 Greg Norman 1994 Nick Price 1995 John Daly† 1996 Tom Lehman 1997 Justin Leonard 1998 Mark O'Meara† 1999 Paul Lawrie† 2000 Tiger Woods 2001 David Duval 2002 Ernie Els† 2003 Ben Curtis 2004 Todd Hamilton† 2005‡ Tiger Woods 2006 Tiger Woods 2007 Pádraig Harrington† 2008 Pádraig Harrington 2009 Stewart Cink† 2010 Louis Oosthuizen 2011 Darren Clarke 2012 Ernie Els 2013 Phil Mickelson 2014‡ Rory McIlroy 2015 Zach Johnson†

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire in 72-holes; # indicates the event was won by an amateur

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