Henry Cotton (golfer)

For other people of this name, see Henry Cotton.

Sir Henry Cotton
Personal information
Full name	Sir Henry Thomas Cotton
Born	28 January 1907(1907-01-28) Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, England
Died	22 December 1987(1987-12-22) (aged 80)
Nationality	England
Career
Turned professional	1924
Professional wins	17
Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 3)
Masters Tournament	T13: 1957
U.S. Open	T17: 1956
The Open Championship	Won: 1934, 1937, 1948
PGA Championship	DNP
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	1980 (member page)

Sir Henry Thomas Cotton, KCMG, MBE (26 January 1907 – 22 December 1987) was an English professional golfer known for winning three Open Championships.

Early life

Cotton was born in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire. A prestigious cricketer, while attending Alleyn's School in Dulwich, South London, he and the other non-prefects were ordered by the six prefects in the school team to transport their cricket clothing back to the school on public transport. After returning to the school, he wrote a letter to the headmaster explaining that he was not amused. The headmaster ordered that he be caned in punishment, but Cotton refused. Resultantly banned from the cricket team, Cotton and his brother took up their second sport golf at the Aquarius Golf Club [1] in Honor Oak from 1920. In 1923 Cotton won the Hutchings Trophy, the club championship. The brothers left in 1924 to become professionals.

Career

Cotton started his career as a professional golfer at the age of 17, and was known for working extremely hard at his game, often practising until his hands bled. Cotton placed great emphasis upon accuracy and differed from modern golf teachers in the great emphasis he placed upon the role of the hands in the golf swing. Although emphasis was given to a correct grip, he also emphasised the need to build up the strength of the hands and forearms. The competition golfer, equipped with such assets could counter an off centre strike off the face of the club and still achieve a powerful, yet accurate shot. He also stated the need to "educate the hands" in that the competitive golfer had to achieve an awareness of the position of the hands during the golf swing itself, something modern teachers have not stressed greatly, preferring a more passive role for the hands.

He achieved fame during the 1930s and 1940s, with three victories in The Open Championship (1934, 1937, and 1948). His record round of 65, made during the 1934 Open Championship, led to the Dunlop golf company issuing the famous 'Dunlop 65' ball. Cotton placed 17 times in the top-10 at the Open. Cotton also succeeded in winning many titles on the European circuit during the 1930s.

During World War II he served with the Royal Air Force, and raised money for the Red Cross by playing exhibition matches and shows. This earned him an MBE.

Cotton was a member of four British Ryder Cup teams, and served as captain of the team in 1947 and 1953. He competed only occasionally in the United States, without notable success.

Retirement

Following his retirement from competitive golf in the early 1950s, Cotton became a successful architect of golf courses, including designing the Le Méridien Penina on the Algarve, Portugal. Cotton wrote 10 books, and established the Golf Foundation, which helped thousands of young boys and girls get started in golf.

Cotton loved the high life, including champagne, caviar and bespoke tailored clothes. He lived for a while in a suite in a 5-star hotel, and later bought an estate complete with butler and full staff, traveling everywhere in a Rolls-Royce.

He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1980.

Cotton was knighted in the New Year's Day Honours of 1988, named Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG). This was reported in some media as a "posthumous knighthood" because he had died by the time it was publicly announced. However, he had accepted the knighthood before his death, and it was made effective from the date of his death.

Tournament wins (17)

this list may be incomplete

• 1930 Belgian Open, South Open (Argentina)
• 1932 News of the World Match Play
• 1934 The Open Championship, Belgian Open
• 1936 Italian Open
• 1937 The Open Championship, German Open
• 1938 Belgian Open, German Open
• 1939 German Open
• 1940 News of the World Match Play
• 1946 French Open, News of the World Match Play
• 1947 French Open
• 1948 The Open Championship
• 1954 Penfold Tournament

Major championships are shown in bold.

Major championships

Wins (3)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runner-up
1934	The Open Championship	10 shot lead	(67–65–72–79=283)	5 strokes	Sid Brews
1937	The Open Championship (2)	3 shot deficit	(74–72–73–71=290)	2 strokes	Reg Whitcombe
1948	The Open Championship (3)	2 shot lead	(71–66–75–72=284)	5 strokes	Fred Daly

Results timeline

Tournament	1927	1928	1929
The Masters	NYF	NYF	NYF
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	9	T18	T32

Tournament	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939
The Masters	NYF	NYF	NYF	NYF	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	8	T10	T10	T7	1	T7	T3	1	3	T13

Tournament	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	NT	NT	NT	DNP	DNP	T25	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	NT	NT	NT	NT	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	T4	T6	1	DNP

Tournament	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T68	T13	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T17	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	4	DNP	CUT	T32	T6	T9	T8	T41

Tournament	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	T32	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977
The Masters	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT

Note: Cotton never played in the PGA Championship.
NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Quotes

• The best is always good enough for me
• To be a champion, you must act like one

External links

• Henry Cotton