Gustavus Kirkham Faulkner (1893 – 6 August 1976) 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 ...

, best known as the father of

Max Faulkner Herbert Gustavus Max Faulkner, OBE (29 July 1916 – 26 February 2005) was an English professional golfer who won the Open Championship in 1951. Early life Faulkner was born on 29 July 1916 in Bexhill-on-Sea, the son of Gus (1893–1976), a pr ...

, the winner of the

1951 Open Championship The 1951 Open Championship was the 80th Open Championship, held 4–6 July at Royal Portrush Golf Club in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Until 2019, it was the only time the championship was played outside England or Scotland. In it, Max Faulkn ...

. He won the Welsh Professional Championship in 1922 and was tied for 12th in the

1931 Open Championship The 1931 Open Championship was the 66th Open Championship, held 3–5 June at Carnoustie Golf Links in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. Tommy Armour outlasted José Jurado by a single stroke to win his only Open title, and his third and final majo ...

Early life

Faulkner was born Walton-on-the-Hill,

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

in 1893. He was brought up near Walton Heath Golf Club and was an assistant to James Braid before World War I. He competed in the qualifying stage of the 1914

Perrier Water Assistant Professionals' Tournament The PGA Assistants' Championship is a golf tournament for golf club assistant professionals. It is held by the Professional Golfers' Association (Great Britain and Ireland), British PGA. The first championship was held in 1930 but earlier nationa ...

, an event whose final stages were later cancelled because of the war.

Golf career

After World War I, Faulkner took a position at Pennard Golf Club on the Gower Peninsula in south Wales. Faulkner played regularly in domestic and national tournaments. He won the Welsh Professional Championship in 1922 at Rhos-on-Sea Golf Club. He had tied with James Horn on 292 for the 72 holes but won the 36-hole playoff the following day, scoring 148 to Horn's 151. He tied again in 1923, this time with Jack Milner, but this time lost the 36-hole playoff by a single stroke, having been 6 behind at lunch. In 1926 Faulkner took a position at a golf facility in Regent's Park but the following year took a position at Bramley Golf Club where he remained until 1945. After leaving Bramley, Faulkner was briefly at West Bay, Dorset and Worlebury Golf Club, Weston-super-Mare. In 1948, together with his son,

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

, they bought Selsey Golf Club in

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. The purpose of this was to provide Max with practice facilities to help him win the Open Championship. They remained the owners until selling the lease in 1957.

Personal life

Faulkner married Ellen Eliza Hussey in 1915. They had three children,

(1916–2005), who won the

, Reginald (born 1918) and Frank (1919–1941). Frank was an assistant professional to his father at Bramley before World War II but was killed in a road traffic accident near Cambridge, while serving as a corporal in the Army, aged 21.

Death

Faulkner died in West Sussex on 6 August 1976 aged 82.

Professional wins (1)

*1922 Welsh Professional Championship

Results in major championships

''Note: Faulkner only played in The Open Championship.''
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faulkner, Gus English male golfers People from Reigate and Banstead (district) 1893 births 1976 deaths