Harry Vardon
- Full Name
- Henry William Vardon
- Year of Birth
- 1870
- Year of Death
- 1937 (aged 66)
- Place Born
- Grouville, Jersey, Channel Islands
- Place Died
- Whetstone, London, England
World Golf Hall of Fame – Class of 1974: "Harry Vardon was possessed with a talent and method so singular he was considered a shotmaking machine in the era of hickory and gutta percha. He won The Open a record six times and was golf’s first superstar. Vardon was a true original. On his own, he developed the Vardon Grip, the grip used by 90 percent of golfers today."

Vardon was born in Jersey, the son of an English gardener (Philip George Vardon) and a French mother (Elizabeth Augustine Bouchard), into a family of six boys and two girls. Both he and his younger brother Tom spent most of their summer holidays caddying on the local links.
Along with Ted Ray and a few others, the Vardons were part of a group that become known as the 'Jersey School' which emanated from the Caddies Competitions run by Royal Jersey Golf Club, allowing youngsters to learn to play the game on the course without a membership.
Tom Vardon turned professional first and headed off to England in search of golfing fame and fortune (he would later emigrate to the United States where he worked for twenty-five years until he died in 1938) with Harry following him across the Channel in 1890.
His first appointment in England was as the professional/greenkeeper at Studley Royal Golf Club in Ripon then he moved on to Bury Golf Club for a short time before taking up a plum position at Ganton in 1896.
That year, after the County match between Hampshire and Yorkshire played at Ganton, club members raised money for a challenge match between Vardon and J.H. Taylor, the 1894 and 1895 Open Champion.
Vardon won this match then went on a month later to win the Open at Muirfield, after a play-off against Taylor. He also won another two Opens whilst at Ganton (Prestwick in 1898 and Royal St George’s in 1899) then finished runner-up the following three years.
There were many big money, winner-takes-all challenge matches arranged in those days, with Vardon playing against others such as Ben Sayers and Willie Park Jr. His 1899 match play tu...
Vardon was born in Jersey, the son of an English gardener (Philip George Vardon) and a French mother (Elizabeth Augustine Bouchard), into a family of six boys and two girls. Both he and his younger brother Tom spent most of their summer holidays caddying on the local links.
Along with Ted Ray and a few others, the Vardons were part of a group that become known as the 'Jersey School' which emanated from the Caddies Competitions run by Royal Jersey Golf Club, allowing youngsters to learn to play the game on the course without a membership.
Tom Vardon turned professional first and headed off to England in search of golfing fame and fortune (he would later emigrate to the United States where he worked for twenty-five years until he died in 1938) with Harry following him across the Channel in 1890.
His first appointment in England was as the professional/greenkeeper at Studley Royal Golf Club in Ripon then he moved on to Bury Golf Club for a short time before taking up a plum position at Ganton in 1896.
That year, after the County match between Hampshire and Yorkshire played at Ganton, club members raised money for a challenge match between Vardon and J.H. Taylor, the 1894 and 1895 Open Champion.
Vardon won this match then went on a month later to win the Open at Muirfield, after a play-off against Taylor. He also won another two Opens whilst at Ganton (Prestwick in 1898 and Royal St George’s in 1899) then finished runner-up the following three years.
There were many big money, winner-takes-all challenge matches arranged in those days, with Vardon playing against others such as Ben Sayers and Willie Park Jr. His 1899 match play tussle against Willie took place over 36 holes at North Berwick and 36 holes at Ganton. Harry carried a 2-hole lead into the second game at his home club in Yorkshire, winning 11 &10 and collecting the purse of £200.
Vardon was at the height of his powers when he made his first tour of the United States and Canada in 1900 (he would later visit in 1913 and 1920). His sponsors, AG Spalding, had just brought out the "The Vardon Flyer" and they wanted their man to promote the new ball.
In effect, Harry became golf’s first international celebrity when he made this tour and it lasted almost twelve months, covering many thousands of miles. He played literally dozens of matches and exhibitions and it’s said he only ever lost two games (both against Boston professional Ben Nicholls) during the tour.
It was a highly successful overseas venture for Vardon, culminating in his 2-stroke victory in the 6th edition of the US Open at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Illinois in October 1900, with J.H. Taylor in second place and eight Scotsmen occupying all of the other Top 10 positions.
After leaving Ganton in 1903 (succeeded by Ted Ray, his fellow Channel Islander, good friend and rival, who also went on to become an Open Champion and US Champion) he joined South Hertfordshire Golf Club, where he remained for the rest of his golfing career.
Vardon won the 1903 Open at Prestwick from his brother Tom, though he was ill during the tournament and subsequently spent more than six months at Mundesley Sanatorium in Norfolk battling tuberculosis, a condition he would continue to fight for years to come.
He challenged strongly every year for the Open up until the First World War and he won the tournament twice again, in 1911 and 1914. Together with James Braid and J.H. Taylor, Vardon formed what was dubbed “The Great Triumvirate” of golf, with these three claiming sixteen of the twenty-one Opens contested between 1894 and 1914.
Vardon toured North America again in 1913, accompanied by Ted Ray, and they played an extensive series of forty-five exhibition matches, winning thirty-six of them. He finished second in the US Open that year in a 3-way play-off against Ted Ray and eventual winner Francis Ouimet.
His last trip across the Atlantic came after the Great War in 1920, aged 50, and he was accompanied once more by Ted Ray, playing a gruelling schedule of nearly 100 exhibition and challenge matches over a 6-month period. He again finished second in the US Open, a stroke behind the champion, Ted Ray.
During his career, Vardon won forty-nine individual titles and thirteen team events, nine of which were when representing England against Scotland. It’s said that over the two-year period of 1898 to 1899, he won fourteen of the seventeen events he played in, finishing as runner-up in the other three.
He struggled with health problems in his later years, turning to coaching and writing golf instruction books.
Extracts:
World Golf Hall of Fame: “Vardon taught himself the effortless, upright swing that would serve him the rest of his life. Still, as a child he played very few actual rounds of golf, never had a lesson and at age 13 became an apprentice gardener. He played in a few tournaments into his late teens and didn’t decide to make it a career until he saw that his younger brother, Tom, had turned professional and was doing well in tournaments.
But Vardon was made for golf. Although only 5-feet 9-inches and 155 pounds, he had enormous hands that melted perfectly around the club. He also possessed a sweet, peaceful temperament. Most of all, Vardon had a swing that repeated monotonously. His swing was more upright and his ball flight higher than his contemporaries, giving Vardon’s approach shots the advantage of greater carry and softer landing. He took only the thinnest of divots.
Vardon played in knickers (the first professional to do so), fancy-topped stockings, a hard collar and tie and tightly buttoned jacket, but still there was a wonderful freedom to his movement. He allowed his left arm to bend as he reached the top of the backswing, and there was a lack of muscular stress or tension at any part of the swing. 'Relaxation,' he said, 'added to a few necessary fundamental principles, is the basis of this great game.'”
From bleacherreport.com: “Due in large part to Hollywood’s depiction of the 1913 US Open in the popular film The Greatest Game Ever Played, most associate Harry Vardon with his unsuccessful trip to America in 1913. However, 13 years earlier in 1900, the Vardon Invasion occurred.
While in the prime of his career, Vardon toured America for several months, won at least 70 out of 80 exhibition matches and concluded his tour by winning the 1900 US Open by two strokes over J.H. Taylor. Vardon’s tour of America in 1900 more or less introduced this young nation to the game of golf.
Little did he know that 13 years later this introduction would come back to bite him at the Country Club in Brookline, MA.
When we think of winning streaks in golf, three things come to mind.
1) Bobby Jones' four consecutive Majors in 1930
2) Tiger Woods’ four consecutive Majors between 1999 and 2000
3) Byron Nelson’s eleven consecutive wins in 1945
But Harry Vardon has an impressive streak of his own, only it’s not recognized by most golf fans. During the prime of his career, Vardon had a streak of 14 consecutive wins in Europe. This is better than Nelson’s streak of 11, only it’s not recognized by most fans and analysts because it took place in Europe.”
Courtesy of Ganton Golf Club: “Vardon was an excellent all round sportsman playing cricket in his youth and whilst at Ganton first played centre forward and later in goal for the village football team.
Vardon's swing was much more upright than was the vogue at the time, and he played with a slightly bent left arm and a flying right elbow, when the fashion was for a rigid left arm. He was rare among great players in not taking a divot with any of his shots.
So precise was he with all his clubs that he could always sweep the ball off the turf cleanly, hardly disturbing the surface at all. He showed that rhythm and timing were more valuable than strength.
Nevertheless, Vardon had the reputation of being a long hitter, though the clubs he used were lightweight and never more than 10 in number. He popularised the overlapping grip, which became known as the Vardon Grip, although he did not in fact invent it.
Vardon was a kindly and considerate man of great courage. His name will live in golf annals. Not only was he the supreme player of his time but he was a catalyst to the development of golf in America and his methods are a link between the style of the early players and the modern approach.”
Bibliography:
The Complete Golfer, Page & Co., New York 1922
Featured courses designed, remodelled and added to by Harry Vardon
Aberystwyth
6th

Aberystwyth Golf Club was formed in 1911 and the first committee made the wise decision to engage Harry Vardon to design the 18-hole layout.
Brocton Hall
10th
Designed by Harry Vardon, the parkland course at Brocton Hall Golf Club sits close to Cannock Chase. With fairways winding past stands of mature trees and attractive water features, golfers are always assured of an engaging game when they tee it up here.
Bush Hill Park
5th
Bush Hill Park Golf Club was founded in 1895 and the modern day layout only extends to a modest 5,776 yards from the back tees, but length isn’t the course's most potent protector of par...
Church Stretton
5th
Church Stretton Golf Club is the oldest 18-hole layout in the county of Shropshire and is also the third highest golf course in the UK. The course here offers golfers fantastic views across Stretton valley to the east and there's some testing golf too.
Copt Heath
5th
Founded in 1907, Copt Heath Golf Club is a mixture of park and heathland with holes lined by mature and grand trees waiting to catch the wayward drive.
Dunfanaghy
10th

Harry Vardon designed the “True Links” layout at Dunfanaghy Golf Club in 1905 close to the western shoreline of Sheephaven Bay on Ireland’s stunning northwest coast.
Harry Vardon Leaderboard
Rank | Name | Courses Played |
---|---|---|
1 | Brian Ward |
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2 | Keith Baxter |
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3 | David Baxter |
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4 | Tim Elliott |
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= | Andy Newmarch |
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6 | Andrew Cooke |
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= | Matt Stables |
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= | Ed Battye |
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9 | Greg Watson |
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= | Sam Pitt |
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