J. H. Taylor
- Full Name
- John Henry Taylor
- Year of Birth
- 1871
- Year of Death
- 1963 (aged 91)
- Place Born
- Northam, Devon, England
- Place Died
- Northam, Devon, England
It was through his inter-war partnership with Fred G. Hawtree that Taylor involved himself in a greater number of design commissions. Although Hawtree did the bulk of the design work, they both were involved in the layout and detailed design work. At Hartsborne Golf Club, for instance, they shared the detailed design responsibilities by taking nine holes each. EIGCA.
Set in dramatic Ice Age valleys, Hindhead is J.H. Taylor’s sparkling gem
John Henry Taylor is rightly regarded as a golfing pioneer. He was one of the best golfers of his era then played a significant role in shaping the way that the game is now played. Born into an ordinary, working class family in Devon, his father passed away when he was only eleven years of age, forcing him to leave school in favour of paid employment.
He worked as a mason’s labourer and as a gardening assistant to Horace Hutchinson, who won a couple of Amateur Championships and was one of the earliest writers on golf architecture and golf instruction. He also caddied at nearby Westward Ho! which was where he learned to play the game.
Taylor turned professional in 1890 and served a number of clubs – Burnham & Berrow, Royal Winchester and Royal Wimbledon – over the following decade before moving to Royal Mid-Surrey in Richmond, where he served the club for almost half a century, from 1899 until he retired in 1946.
He became the first Englishman to win the Open at Royal St George’s in 1894 and he would go on to become the Champion Golfer at this event another four times. He also triumphed in the French Open a couple of times (1908 and 1909) and the German Open in 1912.
Taylor travelled to the United States with Harry Vardon in 1900 to compete in the US Open at Chicago Golf Club, playing a series of exhibition matches around the country before the competition got under way. Vardon then sailed back to Britain with the winner’s cheque in his pocket after winning the event by two strokes from Taylor.
The following year, he co-founded the British Professional Golfers’ Association, becoming its first chairman. He was also instrumental in th...
John Henry Taylor is rightly regarded as a golfing pioneer. He was one of the best golfers of his era then played a significant role in shaping the way that the game is now played. Born into an ordinary, working class family in Devon, his father passed away when he was only eleven years of age, forcing him to leave school in favour of paid employment.
He worked as a mason’s labourer and as a gardening assistant to Horace Hutchinson, who won a couple of Amateur Championships and was one of the earliest writers on golf architecture and golf instruction. He also caddied at nearby Westward Ho! which was where he learned to play the game.
Taylor turned professional in 1890 and served a number of clubs – Burnham & Berrow, Royal Winchester and Royal Wimbledon – over the following decade before moving to Royal Mid-Surrey in Richmond, where he served the club for almost half a century, from 1899 until he retired in 1946.
He became the first Englishman to win the Open at Royal St George’s in 1894 and he would go on to become the Champion Golfer at this event another four times. He also triumphed in the French Open a couple of times (1908 and 1909) and the German Open in 1912.
Taylor travelled to the United States with Harry Vardon in 1900 to compete in the US Open at Chicago Golf Club, playing a series of exhibition matches around the country before the competition got under way. Vardon then sailed back to Britain with the winner’s cheque in his pocket after winning the event by two strokes from Taylor.
The following year, he co-founded the British Professional Golfers’ Association, becoming its first chairman. He was also instrumental in the formation of the Artisan Golfers’ Association through his membership of Northam, which is still one of more than sixty clubs affiliated to that national organization.
Further biography details to follow…
Featured courses designed, remodelled and added to by J. H. Taylor
Addington Palace
32nd
Once the home of the Archbishops of Canterbury, Addington Palace Golf Club is set in mature rolling parkland and it presents an honest golfing test.
Aldeburgh (Championship)
1st
49th
Founded in 1884, Aldeburgh Golf Club is one of the oldest golf clubs in Suffolk and is separated from the tidal Alde estuary by an unusual strip of coastal heathland.
Ashburnham
1st
6th
Bernhard Gallacher picked up his first pay cheque at Ashburnham Golf Club when he won the 1969 Schweppes PGA Championship.
Båstad (Gamla)
32nd
Founded in 1930, Båstad Golfkubb engaged the then leading architectural firm of Fred Hawtree and JH Taylor to construct the Gamla (Old) course and it’s now considered to be the second oldest 18-hole layout in the country.
Bigbury
19th
Bigbury Golf Club is perched high on the cliffs where fickle sea breezes and panoramic views across to Burgh Island making the golf both challenging and arresting.
Boyce Hill
12th
Boyce Hill Golf Club, as the name implies, is one of the hilliest courses in Essex where you’ll be presented with plenty of awkward stances and fine views. Playing to handicap on this charming 6,003-yard parkland course is more difficult than it may seem.
Brookmans Park
16th
Set in densely wooded and undulating parkland, Brookmans Park Golf Club, founded in 1930, represents a fair but challenging test of golf in delightful surroundings.
