Richard Burton (11 October 1907 – 30 January 1974) was an English

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

. Burton, a former four-loom weaver at Cobden Mill, is mainly remembered for winning

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 ...

(British Open) in 1939, when it was played on the

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links Trust under ...

in Scotland and holding the Open title for the longest time – from 1939 till after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He played for Great Britain in the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

in 1935, 1937, and 1949, and won two of his five matches.

Early life

Burton was born on a farm at Winter Hill in

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...

, Lancashire. The Burton family lived next to the Darwen Golf Club before moving to Lynwood Avenue. Richard was the youngest, but tallest, of three boys and with his brothers, Tom and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, used to watch members playing past their farm which was just above the clubhouse. As they had no golf equipment themselves, they had to make do with hitting bobbins from their mother's workbasket around the farm with an old walking stick. Eventually the brothers were given a few old hickory shafted clubs. Burton had started out as a caddie at Darwen Golf Club before applying for the position of greensman. After a number of years, in 1929, he then replaced his brother John as the club professional when John moved to the Hillside Club in Southport. Three years later, in 1932, Burton was appointed the professional at Hooton Golf Club, which is now known as Ellesmere Port Golf Club, which gave him more opportunity to play competitive golf. Also around this time Burton's remaining brother, Tom, was appointed the club professional at Darwen to complete a unique trio for the Burton family.

Career

In 1934, Burton won the Northern Professional Championship, the first of many titles, the following year he collected the Dunlop-Northern Tournament and made his first appearance in the Ryder Cup for Great Britain. He was also runner-up in the

Dunlop-Southport Tournament The Southport Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the Southport area in North West England. It was founded in 1930 when it was sponsored by a Manchester newspaper, the ''Daily Dispatch''. From 1931 it was sponsored by Dunlop ...

, semi-finalist in the

News of the World Match Play The British PGA Matchplay Championship was a match play golf tournament that began in 1903 and ran until 1979. Between 1903 and 1969, the event was sponsored by the now defunct British newspaper the ''News of the World'', and was commonly known b ...

and third in the Scottish Penfold Tournament. In 1936, Burton added the

Yorkshire Evening News Tournament The Yorkshire Evening News Tournament was an international golf tournament in the English Yorkshire area before the European Tour was founded. It was a match play tournament for most of its existence, but switched to stroke play in the 1940s. The ...

at Leeds Golf Club to his list of titles and he was runner-up in the Dunlop-Southport Tournament again but made the England team to play the annual match against Scotland, the first of three consecutive appearances. 1937 saw Burton win the Dunlop-Southport Tournament and he also appeared in the Coronation Match for King George VI. He appeared in the Ryder Cup again and was appointed the professional at Sale Golf Club on the Manchester Cheshire border and was the club professional until 1946. The following years brought more success, winning Manchester and District Professional Championship, being selected for the England team to play Ireland & Wales and finishing joint 4th in the 1938 Open Championship, held at Royal St George's in Kent, eight shots behind

Reg Whitcombe Reginald Arthur Whitcombe (10 April 1898 – 11 January 1957) was an English professional golfer. Whitcombe began his career at Came Down Golf Club in Dorset and served in the British armed forces during World War I. He was the professional at P ...

. At the 1939 Open Championship at the

, his first three rounds of 70, 72 and 77 put in him contention. Burton started his fourth round already knowing that he needed to score 72 or better to win the title as his rivals had completed their rounds. He did not start well as he 3-putted at the first hole but he recovered and carded two birdies in the last three holes on the front nine to go out in 35 and leave him in a great position. On the second part of the course, Burton played cautiously at the treacherous 14th for a five and avoided the sandtraps on the 17th. He came to the last needing a four to win and hit a huge drive, then pitched to 15 feet. His putt looked like it might race past the hole but as Burton walked after it, it dropped in the hole for a closing birdie. A 71 left him on 290 to win by two shots from

Johnny Bulla John Guthrie Bulla (June 2, 1914 – December 7, 2003) was an American professional golfer. Born in Newell, West Virginia, Bulla played on the PGA Tour, winning the 1941 Los Angeles Open, and finished runner-up three times in the majors, incl ...

. Burton was the sixth British winner in a row since

Denny Shute Herman Densmore "Denny" Shute (October 25, 1904 – May 13, 1974) was an American professional golfer who won three major championships in the 1930s. Life and career Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Shute was the son of a golf pro from England; Hermon ...

had won the last Open at St Andrews in 1933. In 1939, apart from his Open triumph, Burton also won the True Temper Foursomes Tournament, partnering

Fred Robson Frederick Robson (25 April 1885 – 3 November 1952) was an English professional golfer who played in the early 20th century. Robson was a frequent competitor in the Open Championship. His best performance was a tie for second with Aubrey Boo ...

and lost in a playoff to

Alf Padgham Alfred Harry Padgham (2 July 1906 – 4 March 1966) was one of the leading British professional golfers of the 1930s and 1940s. He won the 1936 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, Merseyside, England and played for Great Bri ...

for the

Silver King Tournament The Silver King Tournament was a professional golf tournament played at Moor Park Golf Club near Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. The event was promoted by The Silvertown Company, manufacturer of the Silver King golf ball. It was held from 1936 t ...

. He won the

News Chronicle Tournament The News Chronicle Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the Brighton area. It was held from 1936 to 1951. Winners References {{Reflist Golf tournaments in England Recurring sporting events established in 1936 Recurring ...

, at Hollingbury Park Golf Club, in 1949 with a record aggregate for 72 holes, at the time, with 266 strokes.

Personal life

Burton's only book, named ''Length with Discretion'', was published in 1939, shortly after his Open triumph, through Hutchinson & Co Publishers. It was a golf instruction in 13 chapters with illustrations. However, a few weeks after his Open triumph, Burton was serving in the RAF and never really had the opportunity to capitalise on his success. The fairways at the Old Course at St Andrews ended up being used by the RAF as runways. When asked, later in life, if he regretted not being able capitalise on the Open Championship win he replied "I was lucky enough…a lot of those who watched me at St Andrews also went off to war and they never came back. Some of my friends didn’t make it either, I did." Burton also helped the war effort by raising money for the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

by playing charity matches with Henry Cotton, who was also serving in the RAF. In the spring of 1946, he wrote to the Royal and Ancient, "Dear Sirs, Please find enclosed my fee of five

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from t ...

for this year's Open. I will bring the trophy back when I come." Burton is still celebrated at Sale Golf Club. Every year the club holds the Richard Burton Trophy on the weekend of the Open Championship, and have a display including the

putter A putter is a club used in the sport of golf to make relatively short and low-speed strokes with the intention of rolling the ball into the hole from a short distance away. It is differentiated from the other clubs (typically, irons and woods ...

he used to win the Open. In later life, he was the club professional at Coombe Hill Golf Club in

Kingston, Surrey Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

. His assistant there was

Neil Coles Neil Chapman Coles, MBE (born 26 September 1934) is an English professional golfer. Coles had a successful career in European golf, winning 29 important tournaments between 1956 and 1982. After reaching 50, he won a further 14 important Seniors ...

. Burton once bet a rival that he could beat him using only a putter. He lost his bet, but only on the 18th hole. When Burton played fourball with other members, rather than pair up with a member, he would play against all three, and give full handicaps. He still won more often than not. Also, Burton reputedly hit the 120-yard 17th hole with every club in his bag, including the putter. Burton died in hospital on 30 January 1974 after a long illness.

Tournament wins (14)

*1934 Northern Professional Championship *1935 Dunlop-Northern Tournament *1936

*1937

*1938 Manchester and District Professional Championship *1939

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 ...

, True Temper Foursomes Tournament (with

), Manchester and District Professional Championship *1940

Daily Mail Tournament The Daily Mail Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the United Kingdom. The ''Daily Mail'' sponsored the St Andrews Tournament in 1919 and in 1920 continued their sponsorship with the start of the Daily Mail Tournament. The even ...

, Manchester and District Professional Championship *1946 Surrey Open Championship *1949

*1953 Surrey Open Championship

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Note: Burton never played in the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

or the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

.'' NT = no tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain):

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

, 1937,

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

England–Scotland Professional Match The England–Scotland Professional Match was an annual men's professional golf competition between teams representing England and Scotland. It was played from 1903 to the start of World War I and was then revived in 1932 and played until the star ...

(representing England): 1935 (winners), 1936 (winners), 1937 (winners), 1938 (winners) *Coronation Match (representing the Ladies and Professionals): 1937 *

Llandudno International Golf Trophy The Llandudno International Golf Trophy was a professional team match play golf tournament that was played at the Maesdu Golf Club from 28 to 30 September 1938. The tournament was contested between England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. It was int ...

(representing England): 1938 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Dick English male golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Ryder Cup competitors for Europe People from Darwen 1907 births 1974 deaths