THEOPENROYAL ST GEORGE // 10-17 JULY 2011

INTERNATIONALMAGAZINE

GOLFIN ASSOCIATION WITH

FEATURE HENRY COTTON 1934

GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JULY 201186

Henry Cotton’s viCtory at the 1934 open at

royal st George’s not only confirmed the promise

of Britain’s 27-year-old major hope at the very

highest level, it was a landmark in British golfing

history that also saw the claret jug recaptured after a decade

of american domination dating back to arthur havers at

troon, in 1923. Walter hagen, Gene sarazen and Bobby Jones

had been among the all-conquering heroes during that time;

causing the home game to wallow in a deep inferiority complex

– reinforced in early 1934 by Us success in the Walker Cup and

British amateur.

But over the course of five days that summer, Cotton not

merely broke the spell but transformed British golf, astonishing

the world with his technique and tenacity while comprehen-

sively rewriting the record books.

he smashed the 18-, 36- and 54-hole open records in a per-

formance which, in the words of Golfing magazine at the time,

“eclipsed anything that has ever been done since golf began”.

Gene sarazen, the pre-tournament favourite and champion

two years previously at princes, acclaimed it “as near perfect

golf as man can hope to play,” while even Bobby Jones, who had

previously epitomised the concept of golfing perfection, volun-

teered: “it is difficult to conceive of the superb play by which he

achieved his victory.”

however, Cotton’s victory would only be secured after a near

collapse in the final round that turned what should have been a

procession into a rollercoaster finale. the newspaper reports in

Cotton’s scrapbook capture the drama as well as the euphoria

and sense of awe that greeted his golf

that week, starting with his qualifying

rounds which were mandatory in those

days.

66: 1st qualifying round (Monday

June 25, 1934)

ironically, for all the achievements in the

championship proper, Cotton would always

nominate the 66 he shot in qualifying as his

finest round of the week.

the royal st George’s course record of 68

The ultimate account of Henry Cotton’s sensational 1934 Open triumph at Royal St George’s compiled from the pages of the Maestro’s personal scrapbook

When Henry Cotton’s prized possessions were auctionedat Sotheby’s in the summer of 1996, the highlight of thesale – the gold medal from his 1934 Open triumph – wasdramatically withdrawn at the eleventh hour. As the roomhushed for Lot 176, the auctioneer announced: ‘Sold byprivate treaty to the R&A for an undisclosed sum’.

Whether the R&A forked out the £20,000 estimated at thetime they’re not saying, but they weren’t going to let the ultimate memento of such a landmark moment in Britishgolfing history slip through their fingers (even if Cotton’s twoother Open medals, Carnoustie 1937 and Muirfield 1948,went to other bidders for £9,200 and £12,600, respectively).

Meanwhile, other items of ‘Maestro Memorabilia’ underthe hammer that day included a bronze bust (£7,130); a silver trophy modelling his textbook grip (£11, 500); a presentation box of Dunlop 65 golf balls (£2,185); his1953 Ryder Cup Team Captain badge (£1,610); and Cotton’s own personal album of newspaper cuttings documenting every detail of the drama of the 1934 Open.

The album was bought by Golf International writer, Dominic Pedler, who recounts the extraordinary events at Sandwich that summer.

SANDwich

SPREAD

Smash hit: Seve’s game,charisma and daring won himinstant popularity at Birkdale in1976 – the start of a love affairthat would span five decades.

JULY 2011 GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM 87

THEOPENROYAL ST GEORGE'S // 10-17 JULY 2011

(held by amateurs e. Merton smith and Douglas Grant) had

stood for 20 years, with George Duncan’s 69 at the 1922 open

being the lowest professional score. But Cotton beat both these

scores three times in three days (and on a newly lengthened lay-

out), starting with a display of shot-making which the Daily Tele-

graph described the following day as “Flawless to the point of

tedium”.

on a course measuring almost 6,800 yards, Cotton was out in

31 and back in 35, without a five – or a single dropped shot – on

his card. he was twelve under the official ‘bogey’ of 78 and six

under the ‘strict’ par.

Most incredibly, he achieved it with a positively generous 33

putts, the longest being a 15-footer for birdie on the 3rd which

helped him play the first six holes in 20 shots. elsewhere, he

lipped-out three times and often tapped-in nonchalantly with

the back of his hickory-shafted Braid Mills putter.

Cotton’s extraordinary length off the tee was well docu-

mented: George Greenwood of the Daily Telegraph reported

drives well past 300-yards “on several occasions”, most notably

at the 370-yard 2nd hole, where a “tiny chip” secured his first

birdie of the day; and at the 520-yard 14th, ‘suez’, where he was

“pin-high with a driver and spoon” before lipping out for eagle.

sceptics who assume that course and wind conditions must

have been favourable, should note that sandwich suffered tor-

rential rain the previous night, making the greens receptive but

the fairways slow, while several accounts describe how Cotton

played suez against a light wind.

admittedly, the smaller 1.62 ball was in operation in those

days but it still makes sobering reading for those who believe

that modern equipment has made such a ruinous impact on the

game.

Cotton was never in a bunker and only once in the rough with

his only bad shot of the day – a hooked approach to the 13th

from which he recovered instantly with a chip and a 7-foot, par-

saving putt.

‘a record smashing achievement immaculate in its execution,’

said the Daily Telegraph; ‘one of the greatest rounds ever

played,’ claimed many others ranging from the Yorkshire Ob-

server to the great henry Longhurst.

75: 2nd qualifying round

– at deal (tuesday June 26)

in the excitement it was easy to forget that Cotton’s 66 was

‘merely’ a qualifying round. indeed, when the 8-1 hot favourite,

Gene sarazen, who had started his 36-hole qualifying at neigh-

bouring Deal that day, was greeted with the news of Cotton’s

score he teased that “while it is spectacular, it is wholly unneces-

sary” and would be soon “wiped from the slate” as the champi-

onship proper began.

as if heeding sarazen’s words, Cotton turned up at Deal for the

second qualifying round the following day and matched the mod-

est 75 that sarazen himself had happily posted 24 hours earlier.

Scraps of inspiration: presscuttings tell the story of HenryCotton’s extraordinary ex-ploits during the 1934 Openat Sandwich, a week in whicha second-round 65 set one ofseveral new scoring records

FEATURE HENRY COTTON 1934

GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JULY 201188

The Times saw this as a welcome calm before the storm. “it

was rather to be hoped that Cotton would not play too well

and waste too much sweetness on the desert air, so it was

rather cheering to hear that he had taken sixes at the 9th and

10th holes.”

the bookies, too, were not fooled – slashing Cotton’s odds to

8-1 joint-favourite after his 36-hole qualifying aggregate of 141

was only beaten by 25-year-old Bert Gadd.

two other englishman, percy alliss and James adams also

posted 141, while the highest american, MacDonald smith, was

placed 28th. the Daily Express captured the sense of British des-

tiny that evening, “the Union Jack Floats over the royal st

George’s clubhouse. For the first time in 11 years we are

unashamedly proud to look at it.”

67: 1st round (Wednesday June 27)

sarazen had indeed tempted fate. Cotton took up where he had

left off at st George’s, striding to a three-shot lead over the field

and eight clear of sarazen himself.

this time his 67 matched the lowest 18-hole score ever

recorded in the championship proper, set by Walter hagen at

Muirfield five years previously. Cotton was again out in 31, again

almost driving the 2nd green before holing putts of three yards

at the 4th and 10 yards at the 5th. he was back in 36 making

only one error despite the stiff south-westerly breeze: at the

11th (then a par-4) where a bunker cost him a five.

With open title-holder, Densmore shute, the only american in

the top-22 at the end of the day, the writing was on the wall.

65: 2nd round (thursday June 28)

not only did Cotton lower the course record for the second time

in three days, his 132 beat the 36-hole open score set by

sarazen at prince’s by a full seven shots. it eclipsed hagen’s (and

his own) 67 as the single lowest round in open history – more-

over it was the lowest round ever recorded in the history of any

national championship.

While his scorecard boasted all threes and fours, his golf

was by no means blemish-free, making five obvious errors in

contrast to the single loose shot in each of the previous two

rounds at st George’s. one of the most striking images of the

day is Cotton extricating himself from the hades bunker (the

old 8th) where his ball was lodged almost at head height. From

there he nearly found sand on the other side, some 18 yards

from the flag, before getting down in two more en route to an

outward half of 33.

the amazing inward 32 also featured some brilliant recovery

play. another fine bunker shot at the 12th saved his par; he al-

most three-putted suez after leaving his first putt 10 feet short;

and needed a five-yard putt on the 15th after a badly pushed ap-

proach into long grass.

no one had ever finished with three threes at st. George’s be-

fore. But Cotton managed it, holing from ten feet and six feet for

closing birdies in a round in which he had taken 28 putts. his 65

was not bettered in any open until 1977, while his 36-hole total

of 132 stood until nick Faldo’s 66-64 at Muirfield in 1992. and

his nine-shot lead prompted some superlative-strewn eulogies.

“i have seen the wonder round of golf,” began the Daily Tele-

graph’s correspondent George Greenwood (who, incidentally,

had given the young Cotton his first golf lesson at alleyn’s, in

Dulwich). “the one of which i have been dreaming ever since i

began to play many years ago.” More prosaically, the Daily

Sketch wrote: “such perfection almost bordered on monotony”.

eleven shots behind, Densmore shute – still the closest amer-

ican challenger – was eloquently lost for words. “What have i to

say of Cotton’s golf? Just nothing! it is so phenomenal that it

does not admit of speech.”

72: 3rd round (friday June 29)

not surprisingly the papers on the final morning were full of

‘the one-Man tournament’, with the number-crunchers calcu-

lating that a modest pair of 75s would see Cotton beat the 72-

hole aggregate of 283 set by Gene sarazen at

princes in 1932. only the Daily Express,

having similarly proclaimed “the Great-

est round of Golf ever played”, man-

aged a “nothing is certain in golf”

disclaimer that would almost prove

prophetic.

the final 36 holes were scheduled over one day

and yet there was little in Cotton’s morning round

of 72 to suggest any alarm. While the scoring was

not up to his earlier heroics, the mild wind of the

previous days had turned into a stiff northwest-

erly.

Without a five at st George’s all week, he fi-

nally succumbed at the 4th when compiling an outward

35 in which he was bunkered twice. a topped shot at the 13th,

and a shanked chip (almost sideways when disturbed by a fe-

“The greatest round everplayed,” said Gene Sarazenof Cotton’s second-round65, just one of dozens ofheadlines in that momen-tous championship week

In 1934. Dunlop had produced a new balland gave some to Henry Cotton to try. He used them in the Open Championshipat Royal St George’s. In one of the qualifying rounds he went round in 66 and in the second round of the Championship proper he did a record 65.When the new ball was put on the market,it was called the ‘Dunlop 65’.The 1934 retail price was two shillings a ball.

DUNLOP 65ROUND DiMPLE - 1934

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Call our subscription Hotline on (020) 8955 7018

...or click on the SUBSCRIPTIONS button online at:www.golfinternationalmag.com

PLEASE QUOTE SOURCE CODE: GiJULY103 Offer applies only to mailing addresses within the UK only and whilst stocks last

£24.99 8 ISSUESOFGOLF INTERNATIONALdelivered direct to your door

(MAGAZINE ONLY)

Srixon Z-Star premium golf balls RRP £45 per dozen

£39.99 8 ISSUES OFGOLF INTERNATIONALdelivered direct to your doorPLUS YOU WILL RECEIVE A DOZEN SRIXON Z-STAR BALLS

INTRODUCING THE NEW ALLSRIXON Z-STAR GOLF BALL

FEATURE HENRY COTTON 1934

GOLFINTERNATIONALMAG.COM JULY 201190

male photographer) at the last, contributed to an inward 37, but

Cotton remained in control with back-to-back birdies on the

16th and 17th for a record 54-hole total of 204.

nevertheless, in its first edition (filed at lunchtime that day)

the Evening News wrote ominously: “the only criticism one can

make of Cotton’s round was that he was rather timid with some

of his approach shots.”

it was to get much worse…

79: 4th round (friday June 29)

The Times captured the drama of the final afternoon. “all’s well

that ends well….but there were moments of agony in the last

round that no tongue can tell, and no man ever came nearer to

cracking completely. neither did any man ever pull himself to-

gether more bravely when he was nearly gone.”

By all accounts it was a different henry Cotton who teed off

for his final round at 2.45 pm. Gone was the robotic shotmaking

machine to be replaced by a tentative, irritable, fallible human.

things began to go immediately wrong: a mishit approach at

the 1st brought an early bogey while only a five-yard putt saved

par at the 2nd after a badly hooked drive and a hack in the

rough. he then took six at the 5th after trying to cut the corner,

and missed a tiddler for par at the Maiden hole.

Later that day trevor Wignall of the Daily Express asked Cot-

ton: “What happened to you this afternoon – was it the wind or

what?” Cotton replied: “Foolishly, i took far more luncheon that

i should have taken. people in their kindly way were bringing me

ice creams and the rest of it. the result was that before i got to

the 9th green i was almost sick three times.”

By then he was out in 40, before the wheels really started to

come off with three consecutive fives. Without a five on his card

for his first 57 holes at sandwich that week, Cotton was now

‘seven-over- fours’ for the last 12 holes!

But having heard that his closest challenger, sid Brews, had

now finished, and that an 83 would win it, Cotton dug deep into

his reserves and somehow arrested the downward spiral with

ruthless fours at the tough 13th and again at suez (his fourth

birdie of the week at this long par-five).

after narrowly missing birdies at the 16th and 17th, he had

finally righted the ship and victory was now a formality. But he

still needed a four at the last to beat sarazen’s 72-hole record.

sadly, after bunkering his approach he missed the 10-footer

and had to be content with a matching the four-round aggre-

gate of 283.

as an early blueprint for modern-day golf perfection, Cotton

was not content. “i have only one regret…. i wanted to win by

the length of oxford street and i believe i would but for the at-

tack of sickness,” he explained.

But Cotton’s sickness was not purely down to the ice cream –

or spaghetti, as he would later blame for “the screw that worked

loose in the robot golfer”, as the Glasgow News put it.

in his pursuit of excellence – and the open title in particular –

Cotton’s health had suffered over several years. in 1931 he had

been diagnosed with an ulcerated stomach from nervous ex-

haustion, gone abroad and given up golf altogether for four

months.

When henry Longhurst asked for the secret of his success in

an exclusive interview at his hotel that evening, Cotton immedi-

ately paid tribute to the French specialist without whose help he

felt he would never have contended.

the image of Cotton being chaired off the 18th green remains

a lasting image in the history of the open. “Cotton has killed the

american bogey” ran the Field; while the runners-up, sid Brews

and alf padgham (five and seven shots behind), also eclipsed the

Us pair of Denny shute and Gene sarazen (who incidentally shot

final rounds of 78 and 80, respectively).

Before we leave the statistics, here is some more trivia: Cot-

ton’s best nines at st George’s during that week were a previ-

ously unimaginable 31 out, and 32 back while, taking the best

score for each hole, he compiled an eclectic of 60 (twice 30).

at the time, the Field pointed out that his first four rounds at

sandwich amounted to 270. “18 under fours! that is a record

that will probably stand for all time.” Well, not quite. But it

would be 59 years before Greg norman (267) and nick Faldo

(269) raised the bar once again.

the Dunlop company famously named their next ball the ‘65’

in honour of Cotton’s record round while, half a century later,

the gesture lived on as the Maxfli 65 following a corporate re-

launch in the mid-1990s.

in the aftermath of the 1934 championship, talk turned in-

evitably to Cotton’s status in the game and comparisons were

made not merely with contemporaries such as Gene sarazen,

but with six-time open harry vardon – and even the great Bobby

Jones, to whom we give the last word as quoted in the Daily

Telegraph that week.

“i well remember the sandwich course. i could never break

70. i wish i had been there – but against that kind of golf maybe

it is just as well i am safely at home!”

The 65 – COTTON’S CARD SHOT-BY-SHOT

Hole Yards Bogey Score Details

1 441 5 4 Driver, spade mashie, 2 putts

2 370 4 3 Driver, niblick to 12ft, 1putt

3 238 4 3 3-wood, 2 putts

4 460 5 4 Driver, 3-wood, 2 putts

5 451 5 4 Driver, 3-iron, chip, 1 putt

6 183 3 3 Spade mashie, 2 putts

7 493 5 4 Driver, 3-wood, chip, 1 putt

8 183 3 4 Spade mashie, bunker shot, 2 putts

9 396 4 4 Driver, mashie niblick, 2 putts

OUT 3,225 38 33

10 380 4 4 Driver, mashie niblick, 2 putts

11 384 4 3 Driver, mashie niblick, 1 putt

12 343 4 4 Driver, bunker shot, 2 putts

13 443 5 4 Driver, 3-iron, chip to 3ft, 1 putt

14 520 5 4 Driver, 3-wood, 2 putts

15 454 5 4 Driver, 2-iron, chip to 15ft, 1 putt

16 163 3 3 Mashie niblick, 2 putts

17 423 5 3 Driver, spade mashie to 3ft, 1 putt

18 441 5 3 Driver, 2-iron to 7 ft, 1 putt

IN 3,551 40 32

TOTAL 6,776 78 65

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

Call our subscription Hotline on (020) 8955 7018

...or click on the SUBSCRIPTIONS button online at:www.golfinternationalmag.com

PLEASE QUOTE SOURCE CODE: GiJULY103 Offer applies only to mailing addresses within the UK only and whilst stocks last

£24.99 8 ISSUESOFGOLF INTERNATIONALdelivered direct to your door

(MAGAZINE ONLY)

Srixon Z-Star premium golf balls RRP £45 per dozen

£39.99 8 ISSUES OFGOLF INTERNATIONALdelivered direct to your doorPLUS YOU WILL RECEIVE A DOZEN SRIXON Z-STAR BALLS

INTRODUCING THE NEW ALLSRIXON Z-STAR GOLF BALL