Fred Herd (26 November 1873 – 14 March 1954) was a Scottish professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

er from St Andrews. In 1898 he won the fourth U.S. Open at

Myopia Hunt Club Myopia Hunt Club is a foxhunting and private country club in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, northeast of Boston. In the early years of the U.S. Open, the club hosted it four times: 1898, 1901, 1905, and 1908. History Myopia Hunt Club was foun ...

, in

South Hamilton, Massachusetts South Hamilton is a postal address assigned to ZIP code 01982 by the Postal Service and is part of the town of Hamilton, Essex County, Massachusetts, United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the Uni ...

. This was the first U.S. Open to be played over 72 holes, requiring the competitors to play eight rounds of Myopia's nine-hole course. Herd turned in a card totaling 328, 84-85-75-84, averaging 82 strokes per 18-hole round.

Early life

Herd was born at St Andrews,

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 ...

on 26 November 1873. He emigrated to the United States in 1897, became a naturalized citizen, :File:Frederick Herd naturalization record, 18 Sept, 1897.jpg and that same year was posted as the professional at the Washington Park course in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He and his brother James were boarding at the Chicago home of Ellen McNulty and her family in 1900. :File:HerdBoarding.jpg

Golf career

1898 U.S. Open

He won a $150 prize for winning the 1898 U.S. Open—a large sum of money at the time—but such was his reputation as a drinker that he was not allowed to take the U.S. Open trophy away until he had paid a deposit, as the

USGA The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

was worried that he might pawn it to buy alcohol. Herd played in the U.S. Open on three other occasions, but did not have any other top ten finishes. His brother,

Sandy Herd Alexander "Sandy" Herd (24 April 1868 – 18 February 1944) was a Scottish professional golfer from St Andrews. He won The Open Championship in 1902 at Hoylake. Early life Born in St Andrews, Scotland, on 24 April 1868, to a golfing family, He ...

, won

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 t ...

in 1902. Two of Herd's other brothers, Alex and Davy, also played in the 1898 U.S. Open but did not finish in the top 10.

Death and legacy

Herd died on 14 March 1954. He is best remembered for winning the 1898 U.S. Open.

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

Herd played only in the U.S. Open. DNP = Did not play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

References

Scottish male golfers Golfers from St Andrews Winners of men's major golf championships 1873 births 1954 deaths {{Scotland-golf-bio-stub