On the 29 June, 1934, Sir Henry Cotton, MBE, won the 69th Open Championship at the Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England.
Cotton dominated the championship, leading wire-to-wire on his way to win the first of his three Open titles (1934, 1937, 1948) by a five-stroke margin over South African, Sid Brews. Picking up the princely sum of £100 for his trouble, from a total prize fund of £ 500.
Cotton’s win was part of a long period of sustained excellence in the tournament. From 1930 through 1952, he finished in the top-ten in all but one of the Opens he played in. In all, he played in twenty Opens between 1927 and 1958, winning three and finishing in the top-ten in seventeen.
Born in Holmes Chapel, then known as Church Hulme, near Congleton, Cheshire near in 1907, he had an older brother, Leslie who was also a professional golfer. Cotton was brought up in Crystal Palace Road, East Dulwich, London. As a youngster he was a useful cricketer, but had already taken up golf, at the Aquarius Golf Club in Honor Oak.
In September 1921 the Cotton brothers played in the first Boys Amateur Championship, then limited to boys under the age of sixteen. Henry played the eventual winner, Donald Mathieson, on the first day, losing by two holes. All square after sixteen holes Cotton lost the seventeenth after being incorrectly penalised for placing his bag in a bunker. Cotton also played in the 1922 Boys Championship, again losing in the first round.
Cotton left school in 1923 and began his career as the assistant teaching professional at the Fulwell Golf Club, Twickenham, London, but within a year had left to become an assistant at Rye Golf Club, East Sussex. In 1926, aged nineteen, he became the professional at Langley Park Golf Club, Kent.
Cotton received the Ryle Memorial Medal, awarded to members of the British PGA winning the Open Championship. He was the first recipient since Arthur Havers in 1923.
Cotton loved the high life, travelling almost everywhere in a Rolls Royce. And for a while lived in a suite in a five-star hotel. He would later bought an estate complete with butler and full staff,
Cotton was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1980, and was knighted in the New Year’s Day Honours list 1988, named a Knight Bachelor . He died in London in December 1980, aged 80.
29 June, 2019