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The Great Triumvirate
Heroes of their time
Three players, James Braid, JH Taylor and Harry Vardon, dominated golf in the 1900s to become inextricably linked with the development of the game
Words: Dan Hayes T he years between 1894 and 1914 were a time when three British players took the golfing world by storm. James Braid, John Henry (JH) Taylor and Harry Vardon between them won 16 out of a total of 21 Open Championships that were staged during that period. And, on the five occasions when another victor emerged, it was one of the Triumvirate who finished second. Their dominance both attracted spectators in their tens of thousands and also summed up the seemingly imperishable confidence of a nation at the zenith of its global influence.
Statistically, Vardon was the most successful of the three –winning The Open on six occasions to the others’ five. Born on Jersey, he began caddying at the Royal Jersey Golf Club at the age of eight, before leaving school at 12. Later, once he had established himself in the sport, he became the
Interested bystanders observe James Braid taking part in a tournament at Walton Heath Golf Club, where he was the professional, in October 1913 (left); JH Taylor conducts a putting masterclass in August 1908 (above)
professional at Bury St Edmunds, Ganton (Yorkshire) and South Hertfordshire – in the prosperous north London suburb of Totteridge, where he tutored some of the leading financiers of the era.
Dubbed “the Stylist” by Old Tom Morris, the Channel Islander was not only blessed with a smooth, elegant swing but was also an innovator in terms of technique; famously pioneering the famous Vardon grip, with its interlocking fingers.
Indeed, had it not been for ill health, he might well have added further to his Open Championship tally. In 1903, shortly after winning The Open at Prestwick (one of two he won at the course), Vardon was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Recovery was a slow process and left him with a twitch in his right hand – it is surely no coincidence that it was eight years before he was again triumphant at the Open. For all his many achievements, though, Vardon never raised the Claret Jug at St Andrews, though he did finish runner-up at the course in 1900. The winner that year was Taylor, who had also been victorious at the Home of Golf five years previously in 1895. A thoughtful, even risk-averse player, Taylor said after that former win that “steadiness and a capacity for controlling your nerves” were the key skills in winning at the highest level. The first of the Triumvirate to win The Open (in 1894 at Royal St George’s), Taylor left school at 11 and caddied at North Devon Golf Club before becoming a professional at Winchester, Royal Wimbledon and Royal Mid-Surrey in Richmond, where he stayed for almost 50 years. His first St Andrews triumph came after Vardon had made the early running among a field of 73 golfers. The Championship then crystallised into a showdown between Taylor and local hero Sandy Herd, who took a three-shot lead into the final round. For all his local knowledge, however, Herd struggled with a bleak day of wind and rain and carded an 85 leaving the Devonian to stroll to a four-shot victory with a round of 78. Taylor’s second win at the Home of Golf, and his third Open triumph, came in the landmark Championship of 1900. Old Tom Morris, four times an Open Champion in the 1860s, took the role of starter and a cut was enforced, with anyone more than 20 shots adrift of the leader after the opening day’s two rounds eliminated. Taylor produced one of the more emphatic margins of victory ever seen at an Open Championship, defeating the second-placed Vardon by eight shots with Braid a further five behind in third.
The Scotsman, though, would get his own opportunity for glory at the Home of Golf with victory in the Open Championships of both 1905 and 1910.
Born on the Fife coast at Earlsferry in 1870, Braid worked as a carpenter and clubmaker before turning professional at the relatively mature age of 26, taking a job as the professional at Romford Golf Club in Essex.
He had already secured the Claret Jug once (in 1901, at Muirfield) when he arrived at St Andrews for The Open of 1905. For the second time the Championship was played over three days, with a mixture of high winds and fast greens contributing to a winning score that was nine strokes higher than Taylor’s five years previously.
At the time the railway line was not out of bounds and twice during the final round, at holes 15 and 16, Braid had to cross the railway fence to retrieve his ball. On the second occasion it lay on stones “between two sleepers”, yet he managed to rescue the situation successfully enough to secure a six
In a photo from 1921 JH Taylor, James Braid and Harry Vardon join Fred Herd (far right), who won the US Open in 1898. Fred’s brother, Sandy, was Open Champion in 1902 and finished second in 1895, 1910 and 1920
before eventually going on to win by five shots from Taylor and Rowland Jones – the professional at Wimbledon Park Golf Club.
Braid returned to St Andrews in 1910 to take what would be his fifth Open victory at the 50th staging of the Championship. His fellow Scot George Duncan had looked like the man to beat, but a final round 83 put paid to the Aberdonian’s hopes and Braid won by four shots with Herd in second place.
Braid, the first of the Triumvirate to chalk up five Open victories, began to reduce his competitive golfing activity a couple of years afterwards as he focused on his professional role at Walton Heath Golf Club in Surrey and his growing involvement in course design.
The latter has left his signature on some of the most iconic golfing venues in Britain: from Carnoustie, to Southport and Ainsdale, to the Queen’s and King’s courses at Gleneagles.
With the latter hosting the Senior Open this year, it is perhaps reassuring to know the influence of the Great Triumvirate continues to resonate long after the glory years of Edwardian golf they personified have passed into history.
