James Braid (6 February 1870 – 27 November 1950) was a Scottish

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 ...

and a member of the

Great Triumvirate In U.S. politics, the Great Triumvirate (known also as the Immortal Trio) refers to a triumvirate of three statesmen who dominated American politics for much of the first half of the 19th century, namely Henry Clay of Kentucky, Daniel Webste ...

of the sport alongside

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 ...

and

John Henry Taylor John Henry "J.H." Taylor (19 March 1871 – 10 February 1963) was an English professional golfer and one of the pioneers of the modern game of golf. Taylor is considered to be one of the best golfers of all time. He was a significant golf ...

. 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 th ...

five times. He also was a renowned

golf course architect A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

. Braid is a member of the

World Golf Hall of Fame The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site honors both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 go ...

. Braid was born in

Earlsferry Elie and Earlsferry is a coastal town and former royal burgh in Fife, and parish, Scotland, situated within the East Neuk beside Chapel Ness on the north coast of the Firth of Forth, eight miles east of Leven. The burgh comprised the linked v ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, the son of James and Mary (née Harris). He played golf from an early age, working as a clubmaker before turning professional in 1896. Initially his game was hindered by problems with his putting, but he overcame this after switching to an aluminium putter in 1900. He won

in 1901, 1905, 1906, 1908 and 1910. In addition, Braid won four

British PGA Matchplay Championship 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 ...

s (1903, 1905, 1907 and 1911), as well as the 1910

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

title. He was also runner-up in The Open Championship in 1897, 1902, 1904, and 1909. His 1906 victory in The Open Championship was the last successful defence of the title by a European until

Pádraig Harrington Pádraig Peter Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Champi ...

replicated the feat in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. In 1912, Braid scaled back his tournament golf, and became a full-time club professional at

Walton Heath Walton Heath Golf Club is a golf club in England, near Walton-on-the-Hill in Surrey, southwest of London. Founded in 1903, the club comprises two 18-hole golf courses, both of which are well known for having heather covering many of the areas ...

; he had begun a relationship with that London-area club more than a decade before. He developed a very successful career in golf course design, and is sometimes regarded as the "inventor" of the dogleg, although holes of similar design had been known for centuries (for example, the Road Hole at 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 ...

). Among his designs are the "King's Course" and the "Queen's Course" at Gleneagles, and the 1926 remodelling of The Open Championship venue

Carnoustie Golf Links Carnoustie Golf Links is in Carnoustie, Angus, Scotland. Carnoustie has four courses – the historic Championship Course, the Burnside Course, the Buddon Links Course and a free-to-play short, five-hole course called The Nestie. Carnoustie ...

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

Golf Club's course was the final one that was designed by Braid in the year that he died, 1950. He was called out of retirement to plan Creachmore, which was to be his last commission. Braid never lived to see the course completed. He died in London on 27 November 1950.

and Braid collaborated on several editions of

Spalding Athletic Library Spalding Athletic Library sold sports and exercise books through American Sports Publishing Company from 1892 to 1941. Both companies were owned and founded by Spalding (company), Spalding. Books cover over 30 different sports and exercises, and ...

"How to Play Golf". Braid also wrote "Advanced Golf, or, Hints and Instruction for Progressive Players" in 1911. There is also a book about all the courses Braid designed as an architect titled "James Braid and his 400 courses."

Tournament wins (19)

''Note: This list may be incomplete.'' *1901

, Lytham and St Anne's Professional Tournament *1902

Tooting Bec Cup The Tooting Bec Cup is a trophy currently awarded by the Professional Golfers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland to the association member born in, or with a parent or parents born in, the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland who returns ...

Greenore Professional Tournament The Greenore Professional Tournament was a golf tournament played in Greenore, County Louth, Ireland. The event was held just once, in 1902, and had total prize money of £70, provided by the London and North Western Railway. The railway compa ...

*1903

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 ...

*1904

*1905

*1906

*1907

*1908

*1910

*1911

*1920

Galashiels Tournament The Galashiels Tournament was a professional golf tournament played at Galashiels Golf Club near Galashiels, Scotland on 19 and 20 May 1920. It was first of three important tournaments held in Scotland on successive weeks, being followed by the ...

McVitie & Price Tournament The McVitie & Price Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the United Kingdom and sponsored by McVitie & Price. The event was held from 1920 to 1922. History 1920 Tournament The 1920 event had prize money of £550 and was play ...

(joint winner with

Abe Mitchell Henry Abraham Mitchell (18 January 1887 – 11 June 1947) was an English professional golfer. Mitchell had eight top-10 finishes out of 17 appearances in the Open Championship, his best performance being fourth in 1920. He was runner-up in the ...

), Amateurs and Professionals Foursomes Tournament (with J. H. Taylor) Major championships are shown in bold.

Major championships

Wins (5)

Results timeline

''Note: Braid only played in

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

Team appearances

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 Scotland): 1903 (winners), 1904 (tie), 1905 (tie), 1906, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1912 (tie) * France vs Great Britain (representing Great Britain): 1908 (winners) *Coronation Match (representing the Professionals): 1911 (winners) * Great Britain vs USA (representing Great Britain): 1921 (winners) * Seniors vs Juniors (representing the Seniors): 1928 (winners)

Golf courses designed by Braid

Braid designed over 200 courses including the following: *

Dalmahoy Dalmahoy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Dail MoThua'') is a hotel and former country house near Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located off the A71 road, south of Ratho. The house is protected as a category A listed building, History The estate was the proper ...

(East and West), Kirknewton, West Lothian, Scotland * Erskine Golf Club,

Erskine Erskine (, sco, Erskin, gd, Arasgain) is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire, and historic county of the same name, situated in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the southern bank of the River Clyde, providing the l ...

, Renfrewshire, Scotland *

Gleneagles Hotel Gleneagles Hotel is a hotel near Auchterarder, Scotland. It was commissioned by the Caledonian Railway and opened in 1924. The bandleader, Henry Hall (bandleader), Henry Hall, performed at the hotel before the World War II, Second World War d ...

(King's and Queen's), Auchterarder, Perth and Kinross, Scotland * Kirkhill Golf Club, South Lanarkshire * La Moye Golf Club, Jersey * Lancaster Golf Club, Lancashire *

Renfrew Golf Club Renfrew Golf Club is based in Renfrew, Scotland. It is situated in the Blythswood Estate, near to the River Cart and the River Clyde. History The club was established on 28 September 1894. A group of wealthy businessmen from Renfrew and Govan ...

Renfrew Renfrew (; sco, Renfrew; gd, Rinn Friù) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former ...

, Renfrewshire, Scotland *

Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club is an 18-hole championship golf course in North West England, situated near the Merseyside (formerly Lancashire) towns of Southport and Ainsdale, north of Liverpool. The course is near the coast of the Irish Sea, s ...

, Merseyside, England

Singapore designs

Braid disliked travel overseas, very rarely left the British Isles, and never traveled outside Europe. But he did design two 18-hole golf courses for the

Singapore Island Country Club Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, using topographic maps to plan his layouts there, which were then constructed to his orders."The Golf Course", by Geoffrey Cornish and Ronald Whitten, 1981, 'James Braid' in golf course architects section

References

External links

James Braid
profile at Golf Legends *
James Braid Golf TrailGolf House Club ElieSoHG ArchivesJames Braid on Golf Course Architecture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braid, James Scottish male golfers Golf course architects Winners of men's major golf championships World Golf Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Fife People from Elie and Earlsferry 1870 births 1950 deaths