Lawrence Auchterlonie (8 December 1867 – 20 January 1948) 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, a native of St Andrews. In

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world' ...

, representing the Glen View Club, he won the eighth U.S. Open at Garden City Golf Club in Garden City, New York.

Early life and family

Born in 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 ...

, Auchterlonie was the older brother of

Willie Auchterlonie William "Willie" Auchterlonie (7 August 1872 – 27 February 1963) was a Scotland, Scottish professional golfer. He was a native of St Andrews. He won the 1893 Open Championship at the age of and he remains the second youngest Open Champion afte ...

, who 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 ...

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

. Willie had a son named Laurie, who succeeded his father as honorary professional to

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 ...

. This Laurie Auchterlonie should not be confused with his uncle, the U.S. Open winner.

Amateur career

Auchterlonie was over 30 before he became a professional. As an amateur he played 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 ...

when it was played at St Andrews, in 1888, 1891 and 1895. He entered 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 ...

for the first time in 1895, when it was held at St Andrews. He reached the semi-finals, losing at the 19th hole to

Leslie Balfour-Melville Leslie Balfour-Melville (9 March 1854 – 17 July 1937), born Leslie Balfour, was a Scottish amateur sportsman, serving as captain, opening batsman, and wicket-keeper for the Scotland national cricket team. Balfour-Melville was also an int ...

. He entered again in 1897 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 ...

and 1898 at

Royal Liverpool Golf Club The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is a golf club in Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1869 on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club. It received the "Royal" designation in 1871 due to the patronage of the Duke of ...

. He won the Dundee Evening Telegraph Cup, the unofficial Scottish Amateur Championship, in 1897 at

Leven, Fife Leven ( gd, Inbhir Lìobhann) is a seaside town in Fife, set in the east Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the coast of the Firth of Forth at the mouth of the River Leven, north-east of the town of Kirkcaldy and east of Glenrothes. A ...

, beating David Leitch by 2 holes in the final.

Professional career

Auchterlonie's win at the U.S. Open in October

marked the first time that 80 was broken in all four rounds, as he posted a score of 78-78-74-77=307. (The U.S. Open became a 72-hole event four years earlier, in

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

.) He played with the recently invented Haskell rubber-cored

golf ball A golf ball is a special ball designed to be used in the game of golf. Under the rules of golf, a golf ball has a mass no more than , has a diameter not less than , and performs within specified velocity, distance, and symmetry limits. Like g ...

, which was at least partly responsible for the lower scoring. The new ball had first been used to win an important tournament the previous year, when it was used by

Walter Travis Walter J. Travis (January 10, 1862 – July 31, 1927) was an American amateur golfer during the early 1900s. He was also a noted golf journalist and publisher, an innovator in all aspects of golf, a teacher, and golf course architect. Golfing ca ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

in June. It soon became the standard golf ball. Auchterlonie competed in the U.S. Open eleven times, with seven top-ten finishes. His other victories included the 1901

Western Open The Western Open was a professional golf tournament in the United States, for most of its history an event on the PGA Tour. The tournament's founding in 1899 actually pre-dated the start of the Tour, which is generally dated from 1916, the ye ...

. From 1901 to 1911, he was the head golf professional at Glen View Club in Golf, Illinois, a northwest suburb of

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

; he returned to his native Scotland in 1911.

Death and legacy

Aucterlonie died in 1948 at age 80 in St Andrews, Scotland. He is best remembered for winning the 1902 U.S. Open.

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

''Note: Auchterlonie only played in the Open Championship, the Amateur Championship, and the U.S. Open.''
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play

References

External links

Article on the Auchterlonie golf family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Auchterlonie, Laurie Scottish male golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Golfers from St Andrews 1867 births 1948 deaths