Grand Duke Michael's Tournament was a professional invitational golf tournament played at Cannes Golf Club in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and promoted by the

Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia (Russian: Михаил Михайлович; 16 October 1861 – 26 April 1929) was a son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a grandson of Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. He was raised in the ...

. The event was held just once, on 26 February 1907. The tournament was contested by 12 invited players. The main event was a stroke-play contest over 36 holes, won by

Arnaud Massy Arnaud George Watson Massy (; 6 July 1877 – 16 April 1950) was one of France's most successful professional golfers, most notable for winning the 1907 Open Championship. Early life Massy was born in Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. The ...

, a stroke ahead of Ted Ray.

History

In October 1906 it was announced that Grand Duke Michael was organising a professional tournament at Cannes. By January 1907 the arrangements were complete and a field of 10 was announced with the meeting to take place from 25 to 27 February. Eventually 12 players were invited to play in the event. These were: James Braid, Bernard Callaway, Christopher Callaway,

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 ...

, Rowland Jones,

, Ted Ray,

Ben Sayers Bernard "Ben" Sayers (23 June 1856 – 9 March 1924) was a Scottish professional golfer, who later became a distinguished golf teacher, golf course designer and manufacturer of golf clubs and equipment. Sayers had a reputation for making good q ...

J.H. Taylor John Henry "J.H." Taylor (19 March 1871 – 10 February 1963) was an English professional golfer and one of the pioneers of the modern game of golf. Taylor is considered to be one of the best golfers of all time. He was a significant golf ...

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 ...

Tom Vardon Thomas Alfred Vardon (11 October 1874 – 13 October 1938) was a professional golfer from Jersey, Channel Islands, and the brother of golfer Harry Vardon, whom he sometimes played against professionally. From 1892 to 1909 he played in 18 Open Ch ...

and

Jack White John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...

. The field thus contained all the leading players, including all recent winners and runners-up 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 ...

. Massy, the only Frenchman, had performed well in recent Opens and had won the inaugural

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 1906. The Callaway brothers, late additions to the field, were less well known and were professionals in Switzerland, Bernard at Maloja and Christopher at

St Moritz St. Moritz (also german: Sankt Moritz, rm, , it, San Maurizio, french: Saint-Moritz) is a high Alpine resort town in the Engadine in Switzerland, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is Upper Engadine's major town and a municipality in ...

. The main event was played on 26 February and was a 36-stroke play tournament. J.H. Taylor led after the first round with a 72 with Arnaud Massy and Ted Ray on 75. Massy had taken 6 at the last to spoil a good round. In the afternoon Taylor reached the turn in 37 and was then two ahead of Ray and four ahead of Massy. Taylor, however, had a poor last 9, taking 43 and Massy, coming home in 36, beat Ray by a stroke. Rowland Jones had the best afternoon round, scoring 72. The first prize was £50 given by The Cannes club together with £12 and a golf club given by the town of Cannes. Second prize amounted to £33 with £15 for third. The following day, 27 February, there was a four-ball competition. This was won by Rowland Jones and Arnaud Massy who scored 137, including a first round of 66. Ben Sayers and Tom Vardon were second, 4 strokes behind. There was a prize of £15 for the winners, with £10 for second place and £5 for third.

Hyères

After the Cannes tournament most of the professionals travelled to

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The old town lies from the sea clustered arou ...

to play a day's golf there on 1 March. The Callaway brothers, Arnaud Massy and Ben Sayers did not play. The other 8 played four-ball matches in the morning. They were joined by local professional William Freemantle for an 18-hole stroke play contest in the afternoon. This resulted is a tie between

and Ted Ray who both scored 71. Ray seemed the likely winner until he took 5 at the short 17th, while Herd scored 2 there. Ray and Herd shared the first prize of 300 francs (£12) and second prize of 200 francs (£8).

Rowland Jones

Rowland Jones had played in the

London Professional Foursomes Tournament The London Professional Foursomes Tournament was a professional golf tournament played annually from 1907 to 1911. In 1909 the southern section of the PGA took over the organisation of the event which was called the Southern Professional Foursomes ...

partnered by

Alfred Toogood Alfred Henry Toogood, Sr. (1872 – July 1928) was an English professional golfer who played during the late 19th and early 20th century. Toogood finished fourth in the 1894 Open Championship and won £7. He also tied for ninth place in the 189 ...

. They had won their semi-final on 14 February but the final was arranged for 27 February, when Jones was in Cannes. It was suggested that the final be postponed but it was argued that Jones should not have entered unless he was available and so their opponents, Ralph Smith and Albert Tingey, Sr., claimed the final.

Winners

References

{{Reflist, 2 Defunct golf tournaments in France Sport in Cannes 1907 in French sport