1908 News of the World Match Play
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6–8 October 1908 |
| Location | Richmond, London, England |
| Course(s) | Mid-Surrey Golf Club |
| Organised by | The PGA |
| Format |
Match play – 18 holes (Final 36 holes) |
| Statistics | |
| Field | 32 players |
| Prize fund | £240 |
| Winner's share | £100 |
| Champion | |
 J.H. Taylor | |
| def. Fred Robson 2 up | |
|
«1907 1909» | |
The 1908 News of the World Match Play was the sixth News of the World Match Play tournament. It was played from Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 October at Mid-Surrey Golf Club. 32 players competed in a straight knock-out competition, with each match contested over 18 holes, except for the final which was over 36 holes. The winner received £100 out of a total prize fund of £240. J.H. Taylor defeated Fred Robson by 2 holes in the final to win the tournament.
Qualification
Entry was restricted to members of the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA). Qualification was by a series of 36-hole stroke-play competitions; one for each of the six PGA sections. The Southern section had 14 qualifiers, the Northern section 7, the Midland and the Scottish sections 4, the Irish section 2 and the Welsh section 1. Compared to 1907 there was one extra qualifier for the Northern section and one less for Welsh section. In the event of a tie for places there was a playoff.
The qualifiers were:
- Irish section: James Edmundson, Harry Kidd
- Midland section: Willie Aveston, George Coburn, Jack Oke, Tom Williamson
- Northern section: Tom Ball, Tom Beck, Sandy Herd, Ted Ray, Thomas Renouf, Fred Robson, Tom Watt
- Southern section: James Batley, James Bradbeer, James Braid, Ernest Gray, Rowland Jones, Arnaud Massy, Charles Mayo, Jack Rowe, James Sherlock, J.H. Taylor, Albert Tingey, Sr., Harry Vardon, Tom Vardon, Reg Wilson
- Scottish section: Willie Binnie, Willie Fernie, Charles Neaves, Ben Sayers
- Welsh section: Syd Ball
Format
The format was unchanged. Matches were over 18 holes except for the final which was over 36 holes. Extra holes were played in the event of a tied match. Two rounds were played on the first day, two more on the second day with the final on the third day.
Results
| First round 6 October |
Second round 6 October |
Third round 7 October |
Semi-finals 7 October |
Final 8 October | |||||||||||||
 Harry Vardon |
7&6 | ||||||||||||||||
 Charles Neaves |
Harry Vardon |
3&1 | |||||||||||||||
| Jack Rowe |
Jack Oke |
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| Jack Oke |
1up | Harry Vardon |
|||||||||||||||
| Tom Beck |
Charles Mayo |
4&3 | |||||||||||||||
| Charles Mayo |
6&5 | Charles Mayo |
4&2 | ||||||||||||||
| Reg Wilson |
Tom Williamson |
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| Tom Williamson |
4&2 | Charles Mayo |
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| Syd Ball |
Fred Robson |
3&1 | |||||||||||||||
| Ben Sayers |
3&2 | Ben Sayers |
2&1 | ||||||||||||||
| Sandy Herd |
Tom Vardon |
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| Tom Vardon |
19h | Ben Sayers |
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| Fred Robson |
3&2 | Fred Robson |
1up | ||||||||||||||
| Albert Tingey, Sr. |
Fred Robson |
2&1 | |||||||||||||||
| Tom Ball |
4&3 | Tom Ball |
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 Arnaud Massy |
Fred Robson |
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| Tom Watt |
J.H. Taylor |
2up | |||||||||||||||
| Rowland Jones |
1up | Rowland Jones |
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| Willie Fernie |
James Sherlock |
4&3 | |||||||||||||||
| James Sherlock |
w/o | James Sherlock |
1up | ||||||||||||||
 Willie Aveston |
Thomas Renouf |
||||||||||||||||
 Harry Kidd |
3&2 | Harry Kidd |
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| George Coburn |
Thomas Renouf |
5&3 | |||||||||||||||
| Thomas Renouf |
5&4 | James Sherlock |
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| J.H. Taylor |
2&1 | J.H. Taylor |
3&2 | ||||||||||||||
| James Braid |
J.H. Taylor |
2up | |||||||||||||||
| Ted Ray |
3&1 | Ted Ray |
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| James Batley |
J.H. Taylor |
3&1 | |||||||||||||||
| James Edmundson |
Ernest Gray |
||||||||||||||||
| Ernest Gray |
2&1 | Ernest Gray |
2&1 | ||||||||||||||
| Willie Binnie |
3&1 | Willie Binnie |
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| James Bradbeer |
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w/o = Walk over
Prize money
The winner received £100 and a gold medal, the runner-up £30 and a silver medal, the losing semi-finalists £15 and a bronze medal, while the third round losers received £10 and the second round losers received £5.
References
- ↑ "The News of the World tournament – The Draw". The Times. 29 September 1908. p. 13.
- ↑ "Golf – Professional tournament at Richmond – Some sensational results". The Glasgow Herald. 7 Oct 1908. p. 14.
- ↑ "Golf – The £240 tournament – Exciting games at Richmond". The Glasgow Herald. 8 Oct 1908. p. 13.
- ↑ "Golf – The £240 tournament – Taylor beats Robson after an exciting match". The Glasgow Herald. 9 Oct 1908. p. 12.
Coordinates: 51°28′8″N 0°18′46″W / 51.46889°N 0.31278°W