greatest amateur golfer Archives - Silver Club Golfing Society https://silverclubgolfingsociety.com/tag/greatest-amateur-golfer/ A Competitive Golf Membership Tue, 12 Mar 2024 18:43:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4 150073839 #37 – Ivo Whitton https://silverclubgolfingsociety.com/37-ivo-whitton/ Thu, 20 Sep 2018 11:00:25 +0000 http://silverclubgolfingsociety.com/?p=389 Ivo Whitton was an Australian amateur golfer, who , besides Greg Norman, is the only Australian to have won the Australian Open five times (1912, 1913, 1926, 1929 and 1931). Whitton took up golfing at theContinue reading#37 – Ivo Whitton

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Ivo Whitton was an Australian amateur golfer, who , besides Greg Norman, is the only Australian to have won the Australian Open five times (1912, 1913, 1926, 1929 and 1931).

Whitton took up golfing at the age of 14, joining his father in the Caulfield Golf Club (later the Metropolitan Golf Club) the next year, and winning the club championships three times. In 1911, he began working at a wool broking firm which allowed him time off to play golf during the off-season. In 1912, he competed at The Amateur Championship in the United Kingdom, returning to England during World War I to serve with the Royal Garrison Artillery after being rejected by the Australian Imperial Force.

In 1912, Whitton won his first Australian Open championship, and went on to win four more in 1913, 1926, 1929 and 1931. He also won the Australian Amateur twice, the Victorian Amateur five times, the New South Wales Amateur and the Queensland Amateur and Open.

In 1920, Whitton won the Helms Award as the most outstanding Australasian athlete. He returned to the wool industry as a wool appraiser for the Australian government, but ended up as a general manager for the Spalding sporting goods company.

The Victorian Golf Association created the Ivo Whitton Trophy in 1960 for the lowest stroke average in certain tournaments held each year. Whitton himself presented the award to the first champion, Kevin Hartley, who went on to win it a eleven more times.  In addition, the Royal Melbourne Golf Club established the Ivo Whitton Cup in Whitton’s memory. One of the streets in Kambah, a suburb of Canberra, is named Ivo Whitton Circuit.

A group of local Melbourne golfers regularly play-off in a 9-hole stroke play event for the Ivo Whitton Trophy to honour his memory. 


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]]> 389 The Top 50 Amateur Golfers of All Time https://silverclubgolfingsociety.com/the-top-50-amateur-golfers-of-all-time/ Fri, 07 Sep 2018 22:00:34 +0000 http://silverclubgolfingsociety.com/?p=129 Silver Club Golfing Society’s list of the top 50 Amateur Golfers of All Time (#50AMGOAT) is here in all its glory. While we had to make many tough choices andContinue readingThe Top 50 Amateur Golfers of All Time

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]]> Silver Club Golfing Society’s list of the top 50 Amateur Golfers of All Time (#50AMGOAT) is here in all its glory. While we had to make many tough choices and many great players didn’t make the cut, It was fun to dive into the history books to arrive at a comprehensive list. A couple of ground rules: while there is a special place for those like Bobby Jones who stayed career amateurs, this constraint would leave too many incredible golfers who either mastered or dabbled in professional golf like Phil Mickelson or Jay Sigel. Second, we had to weigh different eras and accomplishments. So we erred on the side of inclusivity. We didn’t bother with a point system or purely objective way of ordering these players. Instead, we sat around over a couple drinks and talked it out – we had a blast coming up with the list and we hope that you enjoy it as well. Without further ado…

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]]> 129 Honorable Mentions https://silverclubgolfingsociety.com/honorable-mentions/ Wed, 05 Sep 2018 22:12:45 +0000 http://silverclubgolfingsociety.com/?p=140 Legendary Amateur Ed Updegraff had a long and distinguished amateur career, winning the Western Am (1957, 1959), Sunnehanna Am (1962), Pacific Coast Am (1967) and the U.S. Senior Amateur (1981).Continue readingHonorable Mentions

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]]> Legendary Amateur Ed Updegraff had a long and distinguished amateur career, winning the Western Am (1957, 1959), Sunnehanna Am (1962), Pacific Coast Am (1967) and the U.S. Senior Amateur (1981). He was a semi-finalist at 1963 British Amateur. He played on three winning WalkerCup teams (1963, 1965, 1969) and captained the 1975 team to a win. Interestingly enough, Updegraff also finished in a tie for 4th place at the 1969 Tucson Open on the PGA Tour but failed to sign his scorecard and was disqualified! We are sure he felt better after receiving the Bob Jones Award from the @USGA in 1999. 2011 and 2013 WalkerCup Captain Jim Holtgrieve has had a long and distinguished amateur career and has given so much back to the game. He won the inaugural U.S. Mid Amateur in 1981, was runner up at the 1983 British Am and made it to the semis in the 1980 U.S. Am as well as being a 3 time Walker Cup competitor. A classic pose from O. Gordon Brewer Jr, former president at Pine Valley, arguably the world’s greatest course. As a player, he made it into a mind-boggling 42 USGA national championships, capping his competitive career with two victories in the U.S. Senior Amateur (1994, ’96). He also won five Crump Cups.

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