Alexander "Sandy" Herd (24 April 1868 – 18 February 1944) 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 wi ...

er from

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 fourt ...

. He 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 ...

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' ...

Hoylake Hoylake is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historically part of Cheshire, the Domes ...

Early life

Born in

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 ...

, on 24 April 1868, to a golfing family, Herd had brothers who were also golf professionals.

Golf career

Herd was the club professional at Huddersfield Golf Club from 1892 to 1911. He won

. Herd had a three-shot lead after 54 holes, but nearly let the title slip out of his hands by scoring an 81 in the final round.

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 ...

and James Braid both had medium length putts at the final hole to force a playoff, but they missed and Herd took the Championship. Herd was the first Open Champion to use the Haskell rubber-cored ball. In

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War in 1920: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its own ma ...

, he became the oldest runner-up in The Open at age 52, which stood for 89 years, until Tom Watson (age 59) in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

. Herd's appearances in the championship spanned fifty years, the last at age 71 at

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

, but failed to advance from qualifying. He last played in The Open six years earlier in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

, but twisted an ankle during the first round and had to withdraw; he last made the cut in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

and tied for tenth. Herd's brother

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Rod ...

won the U.S. Open 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 ...

. Herd also got involved in golf course architect and worked with

Alister MacKenzie Alister MacKenzie (30 August 1870 – 6 January 1934) was a golf course architect whose course designs span four continents. Originally trained as a surgeon, MacKenzie served as a civilian physician with the British Army during the Boer War ...

to create Wakefield Golf Clubs 18-hole course.

Death

Following an operation, Herd died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

at age 75 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1944.

Tournament wins

:''Note'': ''This list may be incomplete'' *1895

Irish Championship Meeting Professional Tournament The Irish Championship Meeting Professional Tournament was a series of golf tournaments played in Ireland. The Irish Championship Meeting had been instituted in 1892 by the Golfing Union of Ireland. The main event was the Irish Amateur Open Champ ...

*1896

*1901

*1902

*1904

Leeds Cup The Leeds Cup is a golf tournament that has been played annually in northern England since 1902. The event is organised by the north region of the Professional Golfers' Association. It is the oldest trophy in professional golf that is still play ...

*1905

*1906 News of the World Match Play *1911

Sphere and Tatler Foursomes Tournament The Sphere and Tatler Foursomes Tournament was a professional golf tournament played annually from 1911 to 1914. Total prize money was £350 provided by the owners of ''The Sphere'' and ''The Tatler''. The winners received individual silver troph ...

(with James Bradbeer) *1923

Roehampton Invitation The Roehampton Invitation Tournament was a British golf tournament played each April at the Roehampton Club from 1920 to 1935. From 1922 the tournament was played over three days. There was 36 holes of stroke play on the first day with the leading ...

*1925 Hertfordshire Open Championship *1926 News of the World Match Play Major championships are shown in bold.

Major championships

Wins (1)

Results timeline

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

Team appearances

England–Scotland Professional Match The England–Scotland Professional Match was an annual men's professional golf competition between teams representing England and Scotland. It was played from 1903 to the start of World War I and was then revived in 1932 and played until the star ...

(representing Scotland): 1903 (winners), 1904 (tie), 1905 (tie), 1906, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1912 (tie), 1913, 1932 *Coronation Match (representing the Professionals):

1911 A notable ongoing event was the race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * ...

(winners) * Seniors vs Juniors (representing the Seniors): 1928 (winners)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herd, Sandy Scottish male golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Golfers from St Andrews Deaths from pneumonia in England 1868 births 1944 deaths