Thomas Hutchison (6 October 1877 – 8 December 1900) 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 ...

. Hutchison placed seventh in the 1900 U.S. Open, held 4–5 October 1900, at

Chicago Golf Club Chicago Golf Club is a private golf club in the central United States, located in Wheaton, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago. The oldest 18-hole course in North America, it was one of the five founding clubs of the United States Golf Association ...

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

. At the time, he was a touring professional playing out of

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is a Links (golf), links-style golf club located in an Shinnecock Hills, New York, unincorporated area of the Southampton (town), New York, Town of Southampton on Long Island, New York (state), New York, situated betwee ...

Early life

Tom Hutchison was born in

St Andrews St Andrews ( la, S. Andrea(s); sco, Saunt Aundraes; gd, Cill Rìmhinn) is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fou ...

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 ...

, on 6 October 1877 to William and Helen Hutchison (née Falls). He had a younger brother,

Jock Hutchison Jack Falls "Jock" Hutchison (June 6, 1884 – September 27, 1977) was a Scottish professional golfer. Hutchison was born in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, the son of William and Helen (née Falls). His name was registered as John Waters Hutchis ...

, who was also a fine professional golfer.

Golf career

Hutchison finished seventh in the 1900 U.S. Open, held 4–5 October 1900, at

. On 20 September 1900, Hutchison partnered with

George Low George Michael Low (born Georg Michael Löw, June 10, 1926 – July 17, 1984) was an administrator at NASA and the 14th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Low was one of the senior NASA officials who made numerous decisions as m ...

in a 36-hole best ball match on the Morris County links in

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

. They turned in a stellar card, defeating the celebrated British professional

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 ...

by the score of 7 and 6.

Death and legacy

Hutchison died on 8 December 1900 after a horse riding accident on Stafford Place links at

Cumberland Island Cumberland Island, in the southeastern United States, is the largest of the Sea Islands of Georgia. The long-staple Sea Island cotton was first grown here by a local family, the Millers, who helped Eli Whitney develop the cotton gin. With its ...

on the southeastern coast of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, where he was a guest of William Coleman Carnegie. Carnegie was a golf enthusiast and had a private golf course on Cumberland Island where Hutchison could hone his skills. For some unknown reason, he was buried on Cumberland Island and not sent back to Scotland. Since he was not a Carnegie, he was not buried in the Carnegie family cemetery, but instead at the Stafford cemetery. The Stafford family was long gone and had sold their land to the Carnegies. Newspaper reports from the 12 December 1900 issue of the ''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' and the 13 December 1900 issue of the ''New York Daily Tribune'' puts his date of death to 11 December, but his gravestone on Cumberland Island says 8 December.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchison, Tom Scottish male golfers Golfers from St Andrews Scottish emigrants to the United States Deaths by horse-riding accident in the United States Accidental deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) 1877 births 1900 deaths