Horatio Gordon "Horace" Hutchinson (16 May 1859 – 27 July 1932) was an English amateur golfer who played in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Hutchinson won the 1886 and 1887

Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

s. He had three top-10 finishes 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 ...

, his best result being sixth in the 1890 Open Championship. He was also a prolific writer of books on the subject of golf and other sporting themes. Hutchinson was the second English captain of the

St Andrews Golf Club St Andrews Golf Club, originally known as St Andrews Mechanics Golf Club, is a private members’ golf club located in St Andrews, Scotland. The club is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world, having been established in 1843. The club does n ...

, Scotland. He suffered from grave illness in the latter portion of his life and committed suicide in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on 27 July 1932. ( Onesiphorus Tyndall Bruce was the first Englishman to Captain R&A in 1838).

Early life

Hutchinson, born 16 May 1859 in

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, was the third son of General

William Nelson Hutchinson General William Nelson Hutchinson (1803–1895) was a British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding Western District. Early life Hutchinson was the son of General Sir William Hutchinson, who was Colonel of the 75th Regiment of Foot ...

(1803–1895) and Mary Hutchinson (née Russell). He began his golfing career at an early age playing at the Royal North Devon Golf Club—also known as

Westward Ho! Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides access from the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford, and Bude. It lies at the south end of Northam Burrows and faces westward into Bideford Bay, opposite Sau ...

—a course founded in 1864 and designed by

Old Tom Morris Thomas Mitchell Morris (16 June 1821 – 24 May 1908), otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, and The Grand Old Man of Golf, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links, and died ...

. By the age of 16, he won the club medal championship. He attended the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

's Corpus Christi College from 1878–81, where he was a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

player, and where he made an immediate impression by playing number one on the Oxford University golf team, and led them to victory over arch-rival

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

in the

University Golf Match The University Golf Match (commonly known as the Varsity Match) is the annual golf match contested between the Full Blue golf teams from Oxford and Cambridge universities. Dating back to 1878, it is the oldest amateur event in golf, as the first ...

. During his Oxford years he would spend vacations at home playing the Royal North Devon course accompanied by a young orphaned caddie who was employed by the Hutchinson family as a

houseboy A houseboy (alternatively spelled as ''houseboi'') was a term which referred to a typically male domestic worker or personal assistant who performed cleaning and other forms of personal chores. The term has a record of being used in the British ...

. The young lad went by the name of

John Henry 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 ...

. Taylor's future exploits in golf—which included winning five Open Championships—would become legendary. Hutchinson was a keen

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...

player and enjoyed

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

, shooting and

angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniqu ...

. He graduated Oxford BA with third-class honours in '' literae humaniores'' (1881) and entered the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

with a view to reading for the bar, but his health, always frail, temporarily broke down. In 1890 he considered becoming a sculptor and studied briefly under

G. F. Watts George Frederic Watts (23 February 1817, in London – 1 July 1904) was a British painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. He said "I paint ideas, not things." Watts became famous in his lifetime for his allegorical work ...

. In 1893 he married Dorothy Margaret Chapman, daughter of Major Frederick Barclay Chapman of the 14th Hussars.

The Amateur Championship

Hutchinson's major accomplishments in golf were his two victories in the 1886 and 1887 Amateur Championships. He became the first player to successfully defend the title by defeating the great John Ball on Ball's home course at

Royal Liverpool Golf Club The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is a golf club in Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1869 on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club. It received the "Royal" designation in 1871 due to the patronage of the Duke of ...

Hoylake Hoylake is a coast, 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, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historic counties of En ...

. Hutchinson was an avid student—and later teacher—of the mechanics of the golf swing, so he decided to put forth in writing his suggestions on methods of play. He said, among other things, "The great secret of all strokes played for the most part is to make the club travel as long as possible in the direction in which you want the ball to go". In 1896, showing his humorous side on the subject of golf etiquette, Hutchinson remarked:

Business ventures

From 1910 a local director to their West End branch and later its chairman,Royal Exchange Assurance. ''The Times'', Thursday, 27 April 1933; pg. 21; Issue 46429 Hutchinson was elected to the court of Directors of

Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation The Royal Exchange Assurance, founded in 1720, was a British insurance company. It took its name from the location of its offices at the Royal Exchange, London. Origins The Royal Exchange Assurance emerged from a joint stock insurance enterpr ...

in May 1919. Following Hutchinson's death in 1932 the chairman of Royal Exchange began his address to their 213th Annual General Court by telling of his deepest regret. "He had the interests of the Corporation always very much at heart and the charm of his personality endeared him to his colleagues and to all those with whom he came in contact. He is very much missed by us all". In 1905, with his golfing friend H.C.B. Underdown, he became one of the two first directors of Commercial Cars Limited (Commer) which the pair of them set up to make Commer commercial vehicles. Their venture was intended to capitalize on a promising preselector gearbox invented for heavy vehicles. He remained on that board until his death.

Death

Although he lived to be 73 years old, Hutchinson suffered with poor health most of his life, and was for the last eighteen years of life incapacitated by grave illness. Before 1920 he left his Sussex home, Shepherds Gate, Coleman's Hatch across Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club from

Forest Row Forest Row is a village and a large civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. The village is located three miles (5 km) south-east of East Grinstead. History The village draws its name from its proximity to the Ashdo ...

and moved to 29 Lennox Gardens,

. Eighteen years after he could no longer play golf he committed suicide there on 27 July 1932. He was survived by his wife. According to his 1932

probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...

, his wealth at death was £26,337 (£ today).

Legacy

American golf teaching professional Mike Stevens said of Hutchinson, "In my mind, there is no question that Horace Hutchinson was a teacher extraordinaire and is clearly the father of golf instruction".

Walter Travis Walter J. Travis (January 10, 1862 – July 31, 1927) was an American amateur golfer during the early 1900s. He was also a noted golf journalist and publisher, an innovator in all aspects of golf, a teacher, and golf course architect. Golfing ca ...

, in 1904—shortly after his victories in the 1903 U.S. Amateur and 1904 British Amateur—said of Hutchinson:

Tournament wins (25)

:''Note: This list may be incomplete.'' *1875 Royal North Devon Golf Club Boy's Bronze Scratch Medal, Royal North Devon Golf Club Autumn Scratch Medal *1878 Crookham Cup''Fifty Years of Golf'', pp. 47–52. *1879 Crookham Cup, Royal Liverpool Autumn Dowie Silver Cup Medal *1880 Crookham Cup *1884 St. Andrews Autumn Gold Medal, St. Andrews George Glennie Medal *1885 Royal Liverpool Spring Connaught Challenge Star Medal *1886

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

, Royal North Devon Golf Club Spring Prince of Wales Gold Challenge Medal''The Golfing Annual, 1887–88'', p. 218. *1887

, St. Andrews Autumn Gold Medal, St. Andrews Spring Silver Cross Medal, Royal North Devon Golf Club Spring Prince of Wales Gold Challenge Medal *1889 Royal Eastbourne Fall Hartington Gold Medal, St. Andrews Autumn Gold Medal''The Golfing Annual, 1889–90'', p. 243. *1892 Royal Eastbourne Spring Club Gold Medal, Royal Eastbourne Fall Hartington Gold Medal *1894 Royal Liverpool Spring Medal,''Fifty Years of Golf'', pp. 150–155 Royal Liverpool Fall Medal *1895 Royal Liverpool Fall Medal *1896 Royal Liverpool Fall Medal

Major championships

Amateur wins (2)

Results timeline

''Note: Hutchinson played in only

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 ...

and

.'' LA = low amateur
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in match play

Team appearances

England–Scotland Amateur Match The England–Scotland Amateur Match was an annual men's amateur golf competition between teams representing England and Scotland. It was played from 1902 to 1931, although the match lapsed between 1913 and 1921. The match continued after 1931 but ...

(representing England): 1902, 1903 (winners), 1904, 1906, 1907, 1909

Books written by Hutchinson

:''Note: This list may be incomplete.'' * ''Hints on the Game of Golf'' (1886) * ''The

Badminton Library The ''Badminton Library'', called in full ''The Badminton Library of Sports and Pastimes'', was a sporting and publishing project conceived by Longmans Green & Co. and edited by Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort (1824–1899). Between 1885 a ...

of Sports and Pastimes – Golf'' (1890)Victorian Entertainments: We Are Amused An Exhibit Illustrating Victorian Entertainment
at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

(Item 31: Golf in 1890, Item 32: Skating in 1892, Item 33: Cricket in 1888, Item 34: Cycling in 1887) online at library.uiuc.edu. Retrieved 18 April 2015 * ''The Golf Pilgrim on Many Links'' (1897) * ''The Book of Golf and Golfers'' (1899) * ''A Friend of Nelson'' (1902) * ''Bert Edward, The Golf Caddie'' (1903) * ''The New Book of Golf'' (1912) – with contributions by

May Hezlet Mary Elizabeth Linzee "May" Hezlet (29 April 1882 – 27 December 1978) was a British amateur golfer and sports writer. She has been called "probably Ireland's greatest woman golfer". Early life Hezlet was born in Gibraltar, the daughter of Lie ...

, et al. * ''Life of

Sir John Lubbock John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury, 4th Baronet, (30 April 183428 May 1913), known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet from 1865 until 1900, was an English banker, Liberal politician, philanthropist, scientist and polymath. Lubbock worked in his fam ...

, Lord Avebury'' (1914) * ''The Eight of Diamonds: the Story of Week-End'' (1914) * ''Fifty Years of Golf'' (1919)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchinson, Horace English male golfers Amateur golfers British writers Alumni of the University of Oxford Golf writers and broadcasters Suicides in Chelsea 1859 births 1932 suicides 1932 deaths People from Hartfield