Joseph Benedict Carr (22 February 1922 – 3 June 2004) was an Irish amateur golfer. Carr was born in

Inchicore Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchicore railway works (b ...

, a suburb of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland, to George and Margaret Mary "Missie" Waters (the fifth of seven children). At 10 days old, he was adopted by his maternal aunt, Kathleen, and her husband, James Carr, who were childless and had recently returned home from India. The Carrs had just been appointed steward and stewardess of the

Portmarnock Golf Club Portmarnock Golf Club is a links golf club in Portmarnock, County Dublin, Ireland, located close to Dublin Airport. The golf course is often rated as one of the top courses in the UK and Ireland and is also often included in lists of the top 10 ...

, allowing young Joe to play golf from a very early age. Carr won his first major tournament, the East of Ireland Amateur, at the age of 19 in 1941, which started one of Ireland's greatest golfing careers. He went on to win twelve East of Ireland titles, twelve West of Ireland titles, six Irish Amateur Close Championships, four Irish Amateur Opens, and three South of Ireland titles. Carr won

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

three times, in 1953, 1958, and 1960, and was runner-up in 1968. He was a semi-finalist at the

U.S. Amateur The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

in 1961, and was low amateur at

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 both 1956 and 1958 (and finished 8th overall in 1960). In 1967, he became the first Irishman to play in the Masters Tournament. He made three Masters appearances, surviving the cut in 1967 and 1968. He later became the first Irishman to be a member of the

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does n ...

. Carr received the Bob Jones Award in 1961, 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 ...

's highest honour, which is given for "distinguished sportsmanship in golf". He was the first non-American to win the award. Internationally, Carr represented Ireland in numerous amateur golfing events. He was a member of a record eleven

Walker Cup The Walker Cup is a golf trophy contested in odd-numbered years by leading male amateur golfers in two teams: United States, and Great Britain and Ireland. The official name is the Walker Cup Match (not "Matches" as in Ryder Cup Matches). It is ...

teams from 1947 to 1967, including non-playing captain in 1965 and playing captain in 1967, amassing a record of 5–14–1. After several years of playing against the United States' top-ranked players, he was moved down in the order for the 1961 event—only to be paired against Jack Nicklaus (who won the match). Carr was part of the first winning Irish team at the

European Amateur Team Championship The European Amateur Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for men organised by the European Golf Association which was introduced in 1959. The championship was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been ...

in 1965 and again when Ireland successfully defended the title in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. After a third and last appearance by Carr in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, his son

Roddy Roddy is a surname and a masculine given name, often a short form of Roderick. People Given name * Roddy Beaubois (born 1988), French basketball player * Roddy Blackjack (c. 1927-2013), Canadian Chief of the Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nati ...

was a member of the Irish team in 1971, as well as on the winning Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team. In

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

Carr's younger son

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 ...

was part of the Irish team winning a third title at the European Amateur Team Championship. Carr played and captained on multiple

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958, it is named after Dwight D. Eise ...

teams, and represented Ireland in the

Men's Home Internationals The Men's Home Internationals were an amateur team golf championship for men between the four Home Nations. Ireland was represented by the whole island of Ireland.The event was organised by The R&A. The inaugural event was held in 1932 and the v ...

every year from 1947 to 1969. Carr retired from competitive golf in 1971. In 1991, Carr was named Captain of

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is a private members-only club based in St Andrews in Scotland. It was previously known colloquially as "The R&A", but in 2004, a new organisation kn ...

, the first Irishman to hold the post. In July 2007, Carr was elected to 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 ...

in the Lifetime Achievement category, and was inducted in November 2007. From 1992 until his death in 2004, Carr was president of Mount Juliet Golf Club in Kilkenny. Mount Juliet still hosts the annual J.B. Carr Trophy for its members. Two months before Carr's death, his son John became the third Irishman to be invited to join Augusta National Golf Club, after his father and Ian Webb.

Amateur wins (42)

*1941 East of Ireland Amateur *1943 East of Ireland Amateur *1945 East of Ireland Amateur *1946

Irish Amateur Open Championship The Irish Amateur Open Championship is an amateur golf tournament held annually in Ireland and organised by the Golf Ireland. The championship has been played as a 72-hole stroke-play event since 1958. Previously it was played as a match-play to ...

, West of Ireland Amateur, East of Ireland Amateur *1947 West of Ireland Amateur *1948 West of Ireland Amateur, East of Ireland Amateur, South of Ireland Amateur *1950

*1951 West of Ireland Amateur,

Golf Illustrated Gold Vase The Golf Illustrated Gold Vase was a prestigious amateur golf tournament in England. It was a 36-hole scratch stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is co ...

*1953

British Amateur The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

, West of Ireland Amateur *1954

, Irish Amateur Close, West of Ireland Amateur *1955 Gleneagles-Saxone Foursomes Tournament (with Harry Brashaw) *1956

, West of Ireland Amateur, East of Ireland Amateur *1957 Irish Amateur Close, East of Ireland Amateur *1958

, West of Ireland Amateur, East of Ireland Amateur *1959

Berkshire Trophy The Berkshire Trophy is the amateur stroke play golf championship played at The Berkshire Golf Club in England. It has been played annually since 1946. The format is 72 hole stroke play contested over two days. Both the Blue and Red courses are us ...

*1960

, West of Ireland Amateur, East of Ireland Amateur *1961 West of Ireland Amateur, East of Ireland Amateur *1962 West of Ireland Amateur *1963 Irish Amateur Close *1964 Irish Amateur Close, East of Ireland Amateur *1965 Irish Amateur Close *1966 West of Ireland Amateur, South of Ireland Amateur *1967 Irish Amateur Close *1969 East of Ireland Amateur, South of Ireland Amateur

Major championships

Amateur wins (3)

Results timeline

LA = low amateur
CUT = Missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play Sources: Masters, U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur, Open Championship, 1948 British Amateur, 1949 British Amateur, 1950 British Amateur, 1951 British Amateur, 1952 British Amateur, 1954 British Amateur, 1955 British Amateur, 1956 British Amateur, 1957 British Amateur, 1959 British Amateur

Team appearances

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1947, 1949,

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...

, 1955,

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

, 1965 (tied, playing captain),

(playing captain) *

(representing Great Britain & Ireland):

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

(representing Ireland): 1965, (winners)

(winners),

* Amateurs–Professionals Match (representing the Amateurs): 1956, 1957, 1958 (winners), 1959, 1960 *

St Andrews Trophy The St Andrews Trophy is a biennial men's team golf tournament contested between teams of amateur golfers representing Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It takes its name from St Andrews in Scotland. It was first played in 1 ...

(representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1956 (winners), 1968 (winners) Sources:

References

External links

*
Biography page on the Carr family business websiteIrish Examiner obituaryGolf Union of Ireland article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Joe Irish male golfers Amateur golfers Golf administrators Sportspeople from County Dublin World Golf Hall of Fame inductees 1922 births 2004 deaths