PGA Championship
The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers Association of America. It is one of the four championships in professional golf. It is an official event on the PGA Tour, European Tour. In line with the majors, winning the PGA gains privileges that improve career security. PGA champions are invited to play in the other three majors for the next five years, and are exempt from qualifying for the PGA Championship for life. They receive membership on the PGA and European Tours for the five seasons and invitations to The Players Championship for five years. S. In 1894, with 41 golf courses operating in the United States, one was held at Newport Country Club in Rhode Island, and the other at St. Andrews Golf Club in New York. In addition, and at the time as the amateur event. None of the championships was officially sanctioned by a body for American golf. Later in 1894 this led to the formation of the United States Golf Association, after the formation of the USGA, golf quickly became a sport of national popularity and importance.
In February 1916 the Professional Golfers Association of America was established in New York City, one month earlier, the wealthy department store owner Rodman Wanamaker hosted a luncheon with the leading golf professionals of the day at the Wykagyl Country Club in nearby New Rochelle. The attendees prepared the agenda for the organization of the PGA, consequently. The new organizations first president was Robert White, one of Wykagyls best-known golf professionals, the first PGA Championship was held in October 1916 at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York. The winner, Jim Barnes, received $500 and a gold medal donated by Rodman Wanamaker. The 2016 winner, Jimmy Walker, earned $1.8 million, the champion is awarded a replica of the Wanamaker Trophy, which was donated by Wanamaker, to keep for one year, and a smaller-sized keeper replica Wanamaker Trophy. Initially a match play event, the PGA Championship was originally played in early fall but varied from May to December. Following World War II, the championship was played in late May or late June, moved to early July in 1953.
As a match play event, it was not uncommon for the finalists to play over 200 holes in seven days
London
London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, education, fashion, healthcare, professional services and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region.
Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud.
From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U. S. Open, is the annual open national championship of golf in the United States. It is the second of the four championships in golf. It is staged by the United States Golf Association in mid-June, scheduled so that, if there are no delays, the final round is played on the third Sunday. The U. S. Open is staged at a variety of courses, U. S. Open play is characterized by tight scoring at or around par by the leaders, with the winner usually emerging at around even par. A U. S. Open course is seldom beaten severely, some courses that are attempting to get into the rotation for the U. S. Open will undergo renovations to develop these features. Rees Jones is the most notable of the Open Doctors who take on these projects, as with any professional golf tournament, the available space surrounding the course and local infrastructure factor into deciding which courses will host the event. The first U. S. Open was played on October 4,1895, on a course at the Newport Country Club in Newport.
It was a 36-hole competition and was played in a single day, ten professionals and one amateur entered. The winner was a 21-year-old Englishman named Horace Rawlins, who had arrived in the U. S. in January that year to take up a position at the host club. He received $150 cash out of a fund of $335, plus a $50 gold medal, his club received the Open Championship Cup trophy. In the beginning, the tournament was dominated by experienced British players until 1911, American golfers soon began to win regularly and the tournament evolved to become one of the four majors. Since 1911, the title has been won mostly by players from the United States, since 1950, players from only six countries other than the United States have won the championship, most notably South Africa, which has won five times since 1965. A streak of four consecutive non-American winners occurred from 2004 to 2007 for the first time since 1910 and these four players, South African Retief Goosen, New Zealander Michael Campbell, Australian Geoff Ogilvy and Argentine Ángel Cabrera, are all from countries in the Southern Hemisphere.
The U. S. Open is open to any professional, Players may obtain a place by being fully exempt or by competing successfully in qualifying. About half of the field is made up of players who are exempt from qualifying. Senior Open Top 10 finishers and ties from the previous years U. S, the exemptions for amateurs apply only if the players remain amateurs as of the tournament date. Before 2011, the sole OWGR cutoff for entry was the top 50 as of two weeks before the tournament. Through 2011, exemptions existed for leading money winners on the PGA, European and these categories were eliminated in favor of inviting the top 60 on the OWGR at both relevant dates
Old Tom Morris
Thomas Mitchell Morris, otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, the home of golf and location of the St Andrews Links, Young Tom Morris, a golfer, was his son. Morris served four years as apprentice and a five years as journeyman under Robertson. From the early 1840s, Robertson often chose Morris as his partner in challenge matches, played by alternate shot format and it was said the two never lost a team match played on even terms. The team became known as The Invincibles, as Robertsons employee, Morris was in somewhat of an awkward position. Morris was hired by Prestwick Golf Club, which was just starting up, at Prestwick, he designed, laid out, and maintained the course, ran his own golf equipment business selling gutties and clubs, gave instruction to players, and ran events. He was influential in beginning The Open Championship in 1860, Morris returned to St Andrews as greenskeeper and professional in 1865, at a then-generous salary of ₤50 per year.
He was sought out by the Royal and Ancient, which passed a motion in 1864 calling for his rehiring. St Andrews was in poor condition, and his first task was to correct this. He did so by widening the fairways, enlarging the greens, applying greenkeeping techniques he had developed at Prestwick and he stayed in the post until 1903, a total of 39 years, and was kept on afterward by the R & A at full salary. Morris worked as a greenkeeper, ballmaker, golf instructor and he came second in the first Open Championship in 1860, and won the following year. He followed this up with victories in 1862,1864 and 1867. He still holds the record as the oldest winner of The Open Championship at 46, also, he was part of the only father/son couple being winner and runner-up. Morris held the record for the largest margin of victory in a major championship and he became the second player to break 80 over the Old Course, scoring 79, Robertson had been the first to do it. Their partnership, although not exclusive, would continue until the death of Young Tom in 1875, Morris played a role in designing courses across the British Isles.
He began by assisting Robertson lay out ten holes at Carnoustie in 1842, Morris was the father of modern greenkeeping. He introduced the concept of top-dressing greens with sand, which significantly helped turf growth and he introduced many novel ideas on turf and course management, including actively managing hazards and yardage markers. He was the first to use a push mower to cut greens and he created a new first green on the Old Course, and was responsible for the initial design of the New Course 1895 and Jubilee course in 1897
The Amateur Championship
The Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. It is one of the two leading individual tournaments for amateur golfers, alongside the U. S. Amateur and it normally has the widest international representation of any individual amateur event, with 34 golf federations from all six continents represented in the 2010 championship. It has been held in the UK on all but one occasion, before World War II it was regarded as one of golfs major championships, but given the modern dominance of the sport by professional golfers, this is no longer the case. Only one Amateur Championship winner in the post-World War II era has gone on to win a major championship. The inaugural championship was held in 1885 by the Royal Liverpool Golf Club and was, for many years, in 1922, the R&A decided that Allan Macfie, the winner of the event, should be added to the list of Amateur Championship winners. The tournament was played on 20,21 and 23 April and was open to all members of recognised golf clubs.
All players were included in the draw for round, any extra player receiving a bye. If a match was halved after the 18 holes both players progressed to the round, playing each other again. There were 49 entries from 12 different clubs, although only 44 were included in the draw, of the 22 first-round matches,2 were halved, meaning that there were 12 matches in the second round. There were no more halved matches in the following rounds which meant that 3 players reached the semi-final stage, John Ball beat his father, called John, in the third round. Allan Macfie was the player to receive a bye at the semi-final stage with Horace Hutchinson beating Ball 2 up in the only semi-final match. After his morning round, Hutchinson played badly in the afternoon, each player paid a 1 guinea entry fee. This, together with 25 guineas from the Royal Liverpool club, was used for prizes, the losing finalist received £10 with the remainder being used to buy plate for the winner. The final amount for the winner was about £60 or £70, by comparison the winner of the 1885 Open Championship received £10.
Entry to the Championship is now given to the most-qualified 288 applicants from around the world, with half the places reserved for top players from the United Kingdom. Qualifying rounds for all players were first introduced in 1983, when the popularity of the led to the number of applicants increasing to unmanageable levels. Major golf nations are allocated entries on what amounts to a basis for their top applicants. For example, the 2010 entry list included players from the British Isles, mainland Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Africa
Hoylake
Hoylake is a seaside town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, England. The town is located at the western corner of the Wirral Peninsula, near to the town of West Kirby. The Peninsula was part of the county of Cheshire, at the time of the Domesday it was within the Hundred of Wilaveston. At the 2001 census, the population of Hoylake was 5,710 of a population of 13,042. By the time of the 2011 Census population figures for Hoylake were no longer maintained, however figures do exist for the ward of Hoylake and Meols. The total population at this Census was 13,348, in 1690, William III set sail from Hoylake, known as Hyle or High-lake, with a 10, 000-strong army to Ireland, where his army was to take part in the Battle of the Boyne. The location of departure remains known as Kings Gap, the previous year a large force under Marshal Schomberg had departed from Hoylake on 12 August, crossing to Ireland to capture Carrickfergus. The present day township grew up in the 19th century around the fishing village of Hoose.
The name Hoylake was derived from Hoyle Lake, a channel of water between Hilbre Island and Dove Point. Protected by a wide sandbank known as Hoyle Bank and with a depth of about 20 feet. To facilitate safe access into the Hoylake anchorage, two lighthouses were constructed in 1763, the lower light was a wooden structure that could be moved according to differing tides and shifting sands to remain aligned to the upper light, which was a permanent brick building. Both of these structures were rebuilt a century later, the upper lighthouse, consisting of an octagonal brick tower, last shone on 14 May 1886 and is now part of a private residence in Valentia Road. The lower lighthouse, closer to the shore in Alderley Road, was deactivated in 1908, the township of Hoose was part of the West Kirby Parish, Wirral Hundred. It became part of Hoylake and West Kirby civil parish in 1894, the population was 60 in 1801,589 in 1851 and 2,701 in 1901. At that point, Hoylake ceased to be in Cheshire, Kings Gap roundabout is home to a sculpture by Scottish sculptor David Annand.
Called Knots, it consists of seabirds looping around four poles and it was commissioned by the council as part of the regeneration of Hoylake and was installed in June 2006 in time for the 2006 Open Championship. The Royal Hotel was built by Sir John Stanley in 1792, the numerous steam packet vessels sailing between Liverpool and North Wales which called at the hotel provided valuable patronage. By the mid-19th century a racecourse was laid out in the grounds of the hotel, the hotel building was demolished in the 1950s
Rowing
Rowing is the act of propelling a boat using the motion of oars in the water, displacing water, and propelling the boat forward. The difference between paddling and rowing is that rowing requires oars to have a connection with the boat. In some localities, rear-facing systems prevail, in other localities, forward-facing systems prevail, especially in crowded areas such as in Venice, Italy and in Asian and Indonesian rivers and harbors. This is not strictly an either-or, because in different situations its useful to be able to row a boat facing either way. The current emphasis on the aspects of rowing has resulted in some new mechanical systems being developed. Rearward-facing systems, This is probably the oldest system used in Europe, a seated rower pulls on one or two oars, which lever the boat through the water. The pivot point of the oars is the fulcrum, the motive force is applied through the rowers feet. In traditional rowing craft, the point of the oars is generally located on the boats gunwale.
The actual fitting that holds the oar may be as simple as one or two pegs or a metal oarlock, in performance rowing craft, the rowlock is usually extended outboard on a rigger to allow the use of a longer oar for increased power. Sculling involves a seated rower who pulls on two oars or sculls, attached to the boat, thereby moving the boat in the direction opposite that which the rower faces, in some multiple-seat boats seated rowers each pull on a single sweep oar, usually with both hands. Boats in which the rowers are coordinated by a coxswain are referred to as a coxed pair/four/eight, sometimes sliding seats are used to enable the rower to use the leg muscles, substantially increasing the power available. An alternative to the seat, called a sliding rigger, uses a stationary seat. On a craft used in Italy, the catamaran moscone, the rower stands and this is a convenient method of manoeuvring in a narrow waterway or through a busy harbour. The Rantilla system of frontrowing oars uses inboard mounted oarlocks rather than a reversing transmission to achieve forward motion of the boat with a motion on the oars.
In ancient times, rowing vessels, especially galleys, were used in naval warfare and trade. Galleys had advantages over sailing ships, they were easier to maneuver, capable of bursts of speed. Galleys continued in use in the Mediterranean until the advent of steam propulsion and their use in northern Atlantic waters was less successful, finishing with their poor performance with the Spanish Armada. The Classical trireme used 170 rowers, galleys included even larger crews, trireme oarsmen used leather cushions to slide over the seats, which allowed them to use their leg strength as a modern oarsman does with a sliding seat
John Ball (golfer)
John Ball, Jr. was an English amateur golfer of the late 19th and early 20th century. Ball was born in Hoylake and his father was the prosperous owner of the Royal Hotel, located near the Royal Liverpool Golf Club, in Hoylake. Ball grew up playing golf as a youth on the Royal Liverpool course, in 1878, at the age of 17, Ball finished fifth in The Open at Prestwick. His run of Amateur titles began in 1888 and stretched until 1912 and his best year was 1890, when he won both the Amateur and Open Championships. Bobby Jones, who won the Grand Slam in 1930, is the other golfer in history to win those two tournaments in the same year. Ball subsequently won the 1892,1894,1899,1907,1910, and 1912 Amateurs, Ball retired with a 99–22 record at The Amateur Championship. Ball was runner-up in the 1892 Open Championship, finishing three strokes behind Harold Hilton, Ball dominated amateur golf in Great Britain. He won all the important golf championships as well as the hearts, in the words of British golf historian Donald Steele, No golfer ever came to be more of a legend in his own lifetime.
He was the first amateur golfer in England to be named by the Royal Empire as an Immortal, although he gripped the club tightly in the palms of both hands, Ball’s swing was the most graceful and stylish of his era. Bernard Darwin wrote, I have derived greater aesthetic and emotional pleasure from watching John Ball than from any other spectacle in the game, Ball learned the game competing against Harold Hilton on the links at Hoylake. In 1878, at the age of 16, he competed in his first Open Championship, Ball was famous for refusing to carry a niblick, which had the loft of a modern-day 8- or 9-iron. In a bunker, Ball would simply lay open the blade of a mid-iron and it was this stubbornness and dogged determination that made Ball such a lion in match play. Darwin once noted that Ball had a vein of hostility and if he wanted a particular players blood. Darwin added, That was not a personal hostility, but rather a desire to measure himself against a foe really worthy of him, words from Ball are hard to find.
He was a shy man who went about his business without wasted motion, Ball died in Holywell, Wales on 2 December 1940. Ball served his country during the Second Boer War and he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1977. Note, This list may be incomplete, yellow background for top-10 World Golf Hall of Fame profile
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain.
The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
John Henry Taylor
John Henry J. H. Taylor 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 and he was a significant golf course architect. He was a member of the fabled Great Triumvirate of the sport in his day, along with Harry Vardon and James Braid, and he won The Open Championship five times. Born into a family, and orphaned as a boy, he began work as a caddy. He was employed as a caddie and houseboy by the Hutchinson family and was tasked to carry the bag of Horace Hutchinson, in 1901, Taylor was a co-founder and the first chairman of the British Professional Golfers Association. This was the first association for professional golfers in the world, bernard Darwin wrote that Taylor had turned a feckless company into a self-respecting and respected body of men. Taylor was a factor in the Open Championship from age 22 in 1893, until age 55 and his five Open victories all took place before the First World War.
He is attributed with being the inventor of the dogleg, although holes of that form had existed on many courses before Taylor began golf course design. He was made a member of the R&A in 1949. A housing development in his hometown of Northam was named in his honour, The Masters Tournament was not founded until 1934, and Taylor never played in it nor the PGA Championship. NYF = Tournament not yet founded NT = No tournament CUT = missed the half-way cut DNP = Did not play T indicates a tie for a place Green background for wins
Cue sports
Historically, the umbrella term was billiards. While that familiar name is employed by some as a generic label for all such games. There are other variants that use of obstacles and targets. Fields, Babe Ruth, Bob Hope, and Jackie Gleason, the modern term cue sports can be used to encompass the ancestral mace games, and even the modern cueless variants, such as finger billiards, for historical reasons. Cue itself came from queue, the French word for a tail and this refers to the early practice of using the tail of the mace to strike the ball when it lay against a rail cushion. A recognizable form of billiards was played outdoors in the 1340s, king Louis XI of France had the first known indoor billiard table. Louis XIV further refined and popularized the game, and it spread among the French nobility. Mary, Queen of Scots, claimed that her table de billiard had been taken away by those who became her executioners. In 1588, the Duke of Norfolk, owned a billyard bord coered with a greene cloth, three billyard sticks and 11 balls of yvery.
Billiards grew to the extent that by 1727, it was being played in almost every Paris café, in England, the game was developing into a very popular activity for members of the gentry. By 1670, the butt end of the mace began to be used not only for shots under the cushion. The cue as it is today was finally developed by about 1800. Initially, the mace was used to push the balls, rather than strike them, the newly developed striking cue provided a new challenge. Cushions began to be stuffed with substances to allow the balls to rebound, after a transitional period where only the better players would use cues, the cue came to be the first choice of equipment. The demand for tables and other equipment was initially met in Europe by John Thurston, the early balls were made from wood and clay, but the rich preferred to use ivory. The early croquet-like games eventually led to the development of the carom or carambole billiards category – what most non-Commonwealth, variations include three-cushion, straight rail and the balkline variants, cushion caroms, five-pins, and four-ball, among others.
In the United States pool and billiards had died out for a bit, players in annual championships began to receive their own cigarette cards. This was mainly due to the fact that it was a pastime for troops to take their minds off from battle
Walter Travis
Walter J. Travis was an American amateur golfer in the during the early 1900s. He was a noted golf journalist and publisher, an innovator in all aspects of golf, a teacher, Travis was born in Maldon, Australia. He arrived in New York City in 1886 as a 23-year-old representative of the Australian-based McLean Brothers and Rigg exporters of hardware and construction products. Travis married Anne Bent of Middleton, Connecticut, on January 9,1890, and that year, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Shortly after their wedding and his wife moved into their new home in Flushing, New York, in 1896, while traveling in England, Travis learned that his Niantic Club friends of Flushing, New York, were intent on creating a new golf club. He was scornful of the idea but, wishing to keep up with his friends, as he said, I first knelt at the shrine of the Goddess of Golf in October 1896 on the Oakland links, just three months before his 35th birthday. Within a month of hitting his first golf shot, Travis earned his first trophy by winning the Oakland Golf Club handicap competition, Travis became, in his words, an infatuated devotee of the game.
He dedicated himself to the study of books written by Horace Hutchinson, Willie Park, Jr. Within a year, Travis won the Oakland Golf Club championship with a score of 82, in 1898, Travis entered his first U. S. Amateur and lost to Findlay S. Douglas in the semi-final match. By this time, he had caught the attention and respect of fellow competitors and, because of his start in the game. Driven by his intense and compulsive dedication to the game, Travis was soon the top amateur golfer, winning the U. S. Amateur in 1900,1901. The news of Traviss British victory sparked a surge of interest in the game of golf throughout the United States, still, it boasts useful attributes, it is business-like and determined, and is one in which no energy is wasted. Like all golfers who really scored a success at the game, he keeps the right elbow well in to the side, holding the hands very low. Hutchings, Fry and G. F. Smith—three of the best examples of golfers who have risen to eminence while lacking the advantage of playing the game in their youth.
The swing of the club is not long—in fact, it might be termed a three-quarter swing—but it is sufficient to get a free action with the wrist, and although Mr. Among his other victories as an amateur golfer were the following, Three North and South Amateurs at Pinehurst. When Travis won his fourth MGA Championship, in 1915, at the age of 53, just the year before, Travers had eliminated Travis in the semi-finals of the U. S. Amateur. With declining health diminishing his skills, Travis announced his retirement from golf in 1916
England
