James Kay ( – 18 April 1927) 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 wi ...

er who played during the late 19th century and early 20th century. He served as the head professional at

Seaton Carew Golf Club Seaton Carew Golf Club has held golf games since 1874, making it the tenth oldest golf club in England. The club is based in Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool on the North Sea coast, north of the River Tees in North East England. When it was firs ...

from 1886 to 1926, a remarkable 40 years of service. He 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 son Andrew was also a professional golfer.

1892 Open Championship

Kay placed tied for 5th place in the

1892 Open Championship The 1892 Open Championship was the 32nd Open Championship, held 22–23 September at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Harold Hilton, an amateur, won the Championship by three strokes from another amateur John Ball and two profess ...

. The 1892 Open Championship was the 32nd

, held 22–23 September at

Muirfield Muirfield is a privately owned golf links which is the home of The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Located in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the Firth of Forth, Muirfield is one of the golf courses used in rotation for The ...

in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland.

Harold Hilton Harold Horsfall Hilton (12 January 1869 – 5 May 1942) was an English amateur golfer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He won The Open Championship twice, The Amateur Championship four times, and the U.S. Amateur Championship once. Bi ...

, an amateur, won the Championship by three strokes from another amateur, John Ball, and two professionals—

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, H ...

and

Hugh Kirkaldy Hugh Kirkaldy (5 June 1868 – 4 April 1897) was a Scottish professional golfer who played in the late 19th century. He won the 1891 Open Championship. Early life Kirkaldy was born on 5 June 1868 at St Andrews, Scotland. His brothers, Andrew ...

. This was the second win by an amateur following Ball's victory in 1890.

Career at Seaton Carew Golf Club

Very few golf clubs can claim to have had a golfing legend as their long-term professional, but an exceptional example is that of

where Kay served as the head professional for a remarkable 40 years. Seaton Carew Golf Club Hole

Kay, born in Lieth, Scotland in 1855, was engaged by Seaton Carew as their professional on 1 May 1886 following the resignation of Tom Park, a member of the famous Park Scottish golfing family. It was Kay's playing record that elevated him above his peers. Press reports of the time show that Kay played in a total of 22 Open Championships, qualifying in 20 and twice finishing in the top six in the 1892 Open at Muirfield and 1893 Open at Prestwick. On 8 June 1908 he also represented his homeland when he played for Scotland in an international match against England 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 May 1909—at the age of 53—Kay won the

Leeds Cup The Leeds Cup is a golf tournament that has been played annually in northern England since 1902. The event is organised by the north region of the Professional Golfers' Association. It is the oldest trophy in professional golf that is still play ...

, a tournament for professional golfers; this is currently the oldest tournament in professional golf worldwide. It was presented to the Professional Golf Association on its formation in 1901 by Alderman Penrose-Green, Lord Mayor of Leeds and President of Leeds Golf Club to be competed for annually by professional golfers. The first competition was held in 1902 at Leeds Golf Club and Kay was one of its earliest winners. Contemporaries record that Kay was "a veritable demon on the green and extremely adept at laying a

stymie A stymie is an obsolete rule in the sport of golf. It legislated for the situation where a player's ball lay behind or blocked by another player's ball; the blocked player was not afforded relief. In the modern game, the blocking ball is temporar ...

and therefore as might be guessed was a very fine match player." Kay played in an era when most of golf's professional players made their money through "money matches" and this was where Kay came into his own especially when playing against the top golfers of his era. Pride of place must go to his performances against 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 golf. J. H.Taylor, James Braid and

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 ...

. Many of these memorable matches being reported in newspaper articles of the day that are in the club's historical archive. In 1895 Kay defeated the then Open Champion, Taylor, who had just retained his prestigious title 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 ...

. The match, over 36 holes, took place on 16 June and although the respective scores were equal, James Kay beat his illustrious opponent by one hole. On 22 September 1900, Kay exacted a similar outcome on Braid, although at that time Braid hadn't yet recorded any of his five Open Championship victories. Vardon was the only member of the Great Triumvirate to actually get the better of Kay on his home course, when he won 6 and 5 on 8 September 1898. In August 1898, Kay—in an Open Professional tournament at Earlsferry and Elie links—was second only to Vardon, then Open Champion, beating all other leading professionals including Braid, Taylor, Herd and Kirkaldy. But, eventually around the time of his Leeds Cup win, Kay exacted his revenge on Vardon in an exhibition match at Whitby, defeating Vardon by two holes in a 36-hole exhibition match. Not that these money matches were played in anything but the spirit of friendly rivalry as can be detected by Vardon's comment in his 1905 book "The Complete Golfer" where he tells how advice from his friend James Kay of Seaton Carew helped him win the

1896 Open Championship The 1896 Open Championship was the 36th Open Championship, held 10–11 and 13 June at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Harry Vardon won the Championship after a playoff against J.H. Taylor. Sandy Herd led by five shots after a f ...

. Given such a remarkable playing record it's not surprising that Kay was held in great esteem by the club's members, and on 20 July 1911 the Committee agreed to mark the great man's service of 25 years. A total of £23.8s.6d was raised by subscription and a tea and coffee service was presented to him at the club's annual general meeting. Some 14 years later the committee had more serious matters to contemplate, namely James Kay's retirement, but the matter was deferred for a further 12 months. On 9 December 1926, after long and serious discussion, it was finally resolved that a change in the professional was necessary. Inquiries were made as to Kay's financial status and it was decided to award him a pension and elect him as an Honorary Member of the club. A gift of £200 was also presented, following another subscription, and Kay's employment came to an end after 41 years.

Golf course designer

James Kay was himself a notable course designer; the Seaton Carew records show that he was charged with creating four additional holes which were opened on 4 August 1891. The club records of golf clubs such as Bishop Aukland Golf Club, Middlesbrough Golf Club and Beamish Park Golf Club record Kay's involvement in their design and subsequent works. There are likely to be a number of other clubs which benefited from Kay's advice.

Death

Shortly before his retirement Kay was helping his former assistant to chop up some old railway sleepers, for use as fuel in the clubhouse, when he got a wood splinter in his right thumb. He developed

blood poisoning Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

, his condition gradually worsened, and on 18 April 1927 Kay died.https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk His funeral was attended by fellow professionals, Seaton Carew members, and staff from the club acted as pall bearers. The body of this golfing legend was finally laid to rest in Seaton Carew parish churchyard and he is commemorated in the name of the club's old course 8th hole which is named "Jimmy Kay".

Results in major championships

''Note: Kay played only 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 ...

.'' "T" indicates a tie for a place
Yellow background for top-10

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)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, James Scottish male golfers Golfers from Edinburgh Sportspeople from County Durham People from Leith People from Seaton Carew 1855 births 1927 deaths