Ernest Robert Whitcombe (17 October 1890 – 14 July 1971) was an English

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 p ...

. 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 born in Berrow, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset. He was the eldest of the three Whitcombe brothers who were all successful English

s in the 1920s and 1930s.

Golf career

He was runner-up in the 1924 Open Championship, carding rounds of 77-70-77-78=302, and finished just one shot behind

Walter Hagen Walter Charles Hagen (December 21, 1892 – October 6, 1969) was an American professional golfer and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of 11 professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tig ...

. The excellent 70 in round two was the best score in a single round by any competitor in the top 10. He won the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and

Dutch Open Dutch Open may refer to: * Dutch Open (tennis), an ATP tennis tournament from 1957 to 2008 * Dutch Open (golf), an annual golf tournament on the European Tour * Dutch Open (badminton) * Dutch Open (darts) {{disambig ...

s in 1928, the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ve ...

in 1930 and the Irish Open again in 1935. He also won the 1924

News of the World Match Play The British PGA Matchplay Championship was a match play golf tournament that began in 1903 and ran until 1979. Between 1903 and 1969, the event was sponsored by the now defunct British newspaper the ''News of the World'', and was commonly known b ...

Family

His two younger brothers

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...

and Reg were also professional golfers. Ernest played with his brother Charles in the

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

and

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

Ryder Cups and all three played together in the

1935 Ryder Cup The 5th Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey, a suburb northwest of New York City in Bergen County. The United States team won the competition by a score of 9–3 points to regain the cup. The U.S. t ...

. His son,

Eddie Whitcombe Ernest Edward Whitcombe (31 March 1913 – 16 January 1997) was an English professional golfer. He was the son of Ernest Whitcombe and was always known as Eddie. In the 1937 Daily Mirror Assistants' Tournament, Whitcombe was tied after 72 hole ...

, was also a professional golfer.

World War I

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

he joined the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of ...

as a gunner attached to the 16th Division of

Kitchener's Army The New Army, often referred to as Kitchener's Army or, disparagingly, as Kitchener's Mob, was an (initially) all-volunteer portion of the British Army formed in the United Kingdom from 1914 onwards following the outbreak of hostilities in the Fi ...

. Whitcombe saw combat at Hulluch,

Guillemont Guillemont () is a commune approximately east of Albert in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It, like much of the surrounding area, is primarily an agricultural community, but is known for its large Commonwealth War ...

, Messines and

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality ...

and suffered slight wounds from a machine-gun burst. He was hit by a small piece of

shrapnel Shrapnel may refer to: Military * Shrapnel shell, explosive artillery munitions, generally for anti-personnel use * Shrapnel (fragment), a hard loose material Popular culture * ''Shrapnel'' (Radical Comics) * ''Shrapnel'', a game by Adam C ...

which became lodged in his left eye—an injury which may have adversely affected his putting in later years. For his war service, he was awarded the

British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in ...

and the Victory Medal.

Death and legacy

Whitcombe died on 14 July 1971 in

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

, England."Mr E. Whitcombe" ''The Times'', 15 July 1971; pg. 18; Issue 58225. He was one of the top English golfers in the period from 1924 through 1937.

Professional wins

:Note: ''This list may be incomplete'' *1920 West of England Professional Championship *1924

*1927

Yorkshire Evening News Tournament The Yorkshire Evening News Tournament was an international golf tournament in the English Yorkshire area before the European Tour was founded. It was a match play tournament for most of its existence, but switched to stroke play in the 1940s. The ...

*1928 Irish Open,

*1930

*1931

*1934

Dunlop-Metropolitan Tournament The Dunlop-Metropolitan Tournament was an invitation professional golf tournament played in South East England. It was founded in 1934. The tournament was played towards the end of the season and was played over 72 holes of stroke play. The event ...

*1935 Irish Open *1937

News Chronicle Tournament The News Chronicle Tournament was a professional golf tournament played in the Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located sou ...

Results in major championships

''Note: Whitcombe only played in the U.S. Open and The Open Championship.''
NT = No tournament
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

* Great Britain vs USA (representing Great Britain): 1926 (winners) *

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

(representing Great Britain):

(winners),

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

*France–Great Britain Professional Match (representing Great Britain): 1929 (winners) *

England–Ireland Professional Match The England–Ireland Professional Match was an annual men's professional golf competition between teams representing England and Ireland. It was played in 1932 and 1933 before the Irish Open. The matches followed the same form as the England– ...

(representing England): 1933 (winners)