William Nolan (25 March 1896 – 4 March 1939) was an Irish

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 ...

. He was one of the leading Irish professionals of the inter-war period. In 1933 he was a runner-up in the

Dunlop-Southport Tournament The Southport Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the Southport area in North West England. It was founded in 1930 when it was sponsored by a Manchester newspaper, the ''Daily Dispatch''. From 1931 it was sponsored by Dunlop a ...

and led qualifying 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 ...

. He won the

Irish Professional Championship The Irish Professional Championship was an invitational professional snooker tournament for mostly Irish and Northern Irish snooker players. History The Irish Professional Championship was first staged in 1947 in Northern Ireland, and Jack ...

in 1934. He died in 1939 aged 42.

Golf career

The first Irish Open was played at

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 ...

in August 1927. Nolan had been the professional at Portmarnock since 1925 and led the tournament after the first round with a 72, a new course record. Erratic driving led to a second round 83 and 12th place but two useful rounds in difficult conditions on the final day left him in fifth place, earning £40. Nolan came to wider prominence when he was a runner-up in the 1933

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 ...

. The tournament was won by Bill Davies with Nolan, Henry Cotton and

Ernest Whitcombe Ernest Robert Whitcombe (17 October 1890 – 14 July 1971) was an English professional golfer. Over the course of his career he had nine wins in professional tournaments and was runner-up in the 1924 Open Championship. Early life Whitcombe was ...

a stroke behind. Cotton had won the event in 1931 and 1932. At the

1933 Open Championship The 1933 Open Championship was the 68th Open Championship, held 5–8 July at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. Denny Shute defeated fellow American Craig Wood by five strokes in a Saturday playoff to win his only Open title, the firs ...

Nolan set a new course record for 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 ...

during the qualification. On the first day of qualifying he had scored 71 on the New course and then had a 67 on the Old Course the following day, to beat the record of 68 held by Bobby Jones set during the 1927 Open Championship. Nolan led the qualifiers on 138, four ahead of

Horton Smith Horton Smith (May 22, 1908 – October 15, 1963) was an American professional golfer, best known as the winner of the first and third Masters Tournaments. Tournament career Born in Springfield, Missouri, Smith turned professional in 1926 and w ...

and eight ahead of the rest. In the event itself, Nolan started with 71 and 75 but had rounds of 79 and 80 on the final day to drop into a tie for 31st place. In the

1934 Open Championship The 1934 Open Championship was the 69th Open Championship, held 27–29 June at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Henry Cotton dominated the championship, leading wire-to-wire on his way to a five-stroke win and his first of th ...

Royal St George's Golf Club The Royal St George's Golf Club located in Sandwich, Kent, England, is a golf club in the United Kingdom and one of the courses on The Open Championship rotation and is the only Open rota golf course to be located in South East England. It has ...

Nolan again started well and was tied for 8th after three rounds. A final round 83 dropped him well down the leaderboard. Nolan won his only

at Dún Laoghaire in July 1934. His score of 282 was a record low for the championship and gave him a one stroke win over AJ Ward. He was runner-up in the championship in 1925, 1928 and 1938. Nolan had tied the 1933 Dunlop-Irish Tournament with Pat O'Connor, but in August 1934 he won it outright when it was played at Knock Golf Club, Belfast. Nolan was a regular competitor in the

, playing 11 times between 1926 and 1938. His best finish was to be tied for 21st place in 1934. He was also a regular in the Irish team from when the professional international matches were restarted in 1932. Nolan was professional at Sutton, Tullamore (1922), County Sligo (1921), Galway (1921), Howth (1924) and then Portmarnock from 1925 until his death.

Death

Nolan died in a Dublin hospital on 4 March 1939, three weeks before his 43rd birthday. Willie Nolan Road in

Baldoyle Baldoyle () is a coastal suburb of Dublin's Northside (Dublin), northside. It is located in the southeastern part of the jurisdiction of Fingal, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, developed from a former fishing village. Baldoyle is also a Civil pa ...

, the only road in Ireland named after a golfer, takes his name.

Professional wins (3)

*1933 Dunlop-Irish Tournament (tie with Pat O'Connor) *1934

, Dunlop-Irish Tournament

Results in major championships

''Note: Nolan only played in The Open Championship.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

* England-Ireland Professional Match (representing Ireland): 1932, 1933 * Ireland–Scotland Professional Match (representing Ireland): 1932 (tie), 1933 (winners), 1934 (winners), 1935 (winners), 1936 (winners) *

Triangular Professional Tournament The Triangular Professional Tournament was a professional team match play golf tournament that was played at the Cawder Golf Club from 21 to 23 October 1937. The tournament was contested between Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Scotland won the tourn ...

(representing Ireland): 1937 *

Llandudno International Golf Trophy The Llandudno International Golf Trophy was a professional team match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in ...

(representing Ireland): 1938

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolan, Willie Irish male golfers People from Bray, County Wicklow 1896 births 1939 deaths