David Kinnell (1879 – January 1951) was a Scottish professional golfer who played in the late 19th and early 20th century. Kinnell had two top-10 finishes in the

Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

. His best performance came in the 1908 Open Championship when he finished tied for fifth place. He also had a good performance in the

1898 Open Championship The 1898 Open Championship was the 38th Open Championship, held 8–9 June at Prestwick Golf Club in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Harry Vardon won the Championship for the second time, a stroke ahead of Willie Park Jr., the 1887 and 18 ...

, finishing in the sixth position.

Early life and career

Kinnell was born in

Leven, Fife Leven ( gd, Inbhir Lìobhann) is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the coast of the Firth of Forth at the mouth of the River Leven, north-east of the town of Kirkcaldy and east of Glenrothes. A ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, in 1879. He served as the head professional at Leven Thistle Golf Club. Appointed professional to succeed his brother

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

at Prestwick St Nicholas, he laid out an 18-hole course for the Ladies Club in 1906 with

Charlie Hunter Charlie Hunter (born May 23, 1967) is an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. First coming to prominence in the early 1990s, Hunter plays custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars on which he simultaneously plays bass lines, chords, a ...

. He established and operated a club-making business in

Prestwick Prestwick ( gd, Preastabhaig) is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, an ...

with his brother called D & J Kinnell. He also designed the 9-hole seaside portion of the Girvan Golf Club.

Golf career

1898 Open Championship

The

was held 8–9 June at

Prestwick Golf Club Prestwick Golf Club is a golf course in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is approximately southwest of Scotland's largest city, Glasgow. Prestwick is a classic links course, built on the rolling sandy land between the beach and the hin ...

in Prestwick, South Ayrshire,

. According to newspaper accounts at the time, there were a number of "hopeless competitors" and "second-class golfers" entering the Open, so a cut was introduced for the first time to reduce the number of players on the final day. All entries played 36 holes on the first day with all those within 19 strokes of the leader making the cut and playing 36 holes on the final day, with the additional provision that the final day's field had to contain at least 32 professionals. Kinnell was not one of the "hopeless competitors" and proved his skill by shooting 80-77-79-80=316 and finished in sixth place. He took home £10 in prize money.

1908 Open Championship

The 1908 Open Championship was held 18–19 June and was also played at

. Kinnell carded rounds of 75-73-80-78=306 and tied for fifth place with

Harry Vardon Henry William Vardon (9 May 1870 – 20 March 1937) was a professional golfer from Jersey. He was a member of the Great Triumvirate with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. Vardon won The Open Championship a record six times, and also won the ...

. He won £7 10s in prize money.

Retirement

Kinnell retired at age 57 having been professional at St Nicholas for 34 years. He then became the caretaker of the Prestwick putting green.

Death and legacy

Kinnell died in January 1951 in Scotland. He is best remembered for having two top-10 finishes in the Open Championship.

Tournament wins

*1910 Dunlop Cup

Results in major championships

''Note: Kinnell played only in The Open Championship.'' DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinnell, David Scottish male golfers Sportspeople from Fife Sportspeople from South Ayrshire People from Leven, Fife People from Prestwick 1879 births 1951 deaths