The New Book of Golf.
London: Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd, 1912. 361p. decorative boards contributors; May Hezlet, Bernard Darwin, James Sherlock, A.C.M. Croombe, C.K. Hutchinson. Part of the Percy Boomer golf library. More
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Horatio Gordon "Horace" Hutchinson (16 May 1859 – 27 July 1932)[1][2] was an English amateur golfer who played in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Hutchinson won the 1886 Amateur Championship and the 1887 Amateur Championship. He had three top-10 finishes in the Open Championship, his best result being sixth in the 1890 Open Championship.[3]
He was also a prolific writer of books on the subject of golf and other sporting themes.[4][5] Hutchinson was the first English captain of the R&A links at St Andrews Golf Club, Scotland.[6] He suffered from grave illness in the latter portion of his life and committed suicide in Chelsea, London, England, on 27 July 1932.
Hutchinson, born 16 May 1859 in London, England, was the third son of General William Nelson Hutchinson (1803–1895).[1] He began his golfing career at an early age playing at the Royal North Devon golf club—also known as Westward Ho!—a course founded in 1864 and designed by Old Tom Morris.[8] By the age of sixteen he won the club medal championship. He attended Corpus Christi College for a time where he was a cricket player,[9] then Oxford University from 1878–81[10] where he made an immediate impression by playing number one on the Oxford golf team and led them to victory over arch rival Cambridge in the University Golf Match.
During his Oxford years he would spend vacations at home playing the Royal North Devon course accompanied by a young orphaned caddie who was employed by the Hutchinson family as a houseboy. The young lad went by the name of John Henry Taylor. Taylor's future exploits in golf—which included winning five Open Championships—would become legendary.[11]
Hutchinson was a keen billiards player and enjoyed rowing, shooting and angling. He graduated Oxford BA with third-class honours in literae humaniores (1881) and entered the Inner Temple with a view to reading for the bar, but his health, always frail, temporarily broke down.[7] In 1890 he considered becoming a sculptor and studied briefly under G. F. Watts.[5] In 1893 he married Dorothy Margaret Chapman, daughter of Major Frederick Barclay Chapman of the 14th Hussars.[5][7][12]
Hutchinson's major accomplishments in golf were his two victories in the 1886 and 1887 Amateur Championships. He became the first player to successfully defend the title by defeating the great John Ball on Ball's home course at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake.
Hutchinson was an avid student—and later teacher—of the mechanics of the golf swing, so he decided to put forth in writing his suggestions on methods of play. He said, among other things, "The great secret of all strokes played for the most part is to make the club travel as long as possible in the direction in which you want the ball to go".[11]
In 1896, showing his humorous side on the subject of golf etiquette, Hutchinson remarked:
If your adversary is badly bunkered, there is no rule against your standing over him counting his strokes aloud, with increasing gusto as their number mounts up, but it will be a wise precaution to arm yourself with the niblick before doing so, so as to meet him on equal terms.[13]
— Horace Hutchinson
From 1910 a local director to their West End branch and later its chairman[14] Hutchinson was elected to the court of Directors of Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation in May 1919.[15]Following Hutchinson's death in 1932 the chairman of Royal Exchange began his address to their 213th Annual General Court by telling of his deepest regret. "He had the interests of the Corporation always very much at heart and the charm of his personality endeared him to his colleagues and to all those with whom he came in contact. He is very much missed by us all".[14]
In 1905, with his golfing friend H.C.B. Underdown, he became one of the two first directors of Commercial Cars Limited (Commer) which the pair of them set up to make Commer commercial vehicles. Their venture was intended to capitalize on a promising preselector gearbox invented for heavy vehicles. He remained on that board until his death.
Although he lived to be 73 years old, Hutchinson suffered with poor health most of his life, and was for the last eighteen years of life incapacitated by grave illness.[5] Before 1920 he left his Sussex home, Shepherds Gate, Coleman's Hatch across Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club from Forest Row and moved to 29 Lennox Gardens, Chelsea, London. Eighteen years after he could no longer play golf he committed suicide there on 27 July 1932. He was survived by his wife.[7] According to his 1932 probate, his wealth at death was £26,337 (£1.65 million today).[16]
American golf teaching professional Mike Stevens said of Hutchinson, "In my mind, there is no question that Horace Hutchinson was a teacher extraordinaire and is clearly the father of golf instruction".[11]
Walter Travis, in 1904—shortly after his victories in the 1903 U.S. Amateur and 1904 British Amateur—said of Hutchinson:
All things considered, the golfer whom I most admired as a player was Horace Hutchinson. Over here we have read so many of his books and spoken of him so long as a veteran that one is surprised to find he is only forty-seven years old. He plays every shot for what it is worth and in perfect style, as free as any supple youth, and, all told, I pronounce him, to my mind, the ideal golfer.[4]
— Walter Travis
London: Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd, 1912. 361p. decorative boards contributors; May Hezlet, Bernard Darwin, James Sherlock, A.C.M. Croombe, C.K. Hutchinson. Part of the Percy Boomer golf library. More
London: Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd, 1912. 361p. decorative boards contributors; May Hezlet, Bernard Darwin, James Sherlock, A.C.M. Croombe, C.K. Hutchinson. Part of the Percy Boomer golf library. More
London: Methuen, 1907. 299 p. Illustrated with plates from 24 photographs, including a frontispiece portrait of Herd, Taylor, Braid and Vardon, together, with tissue-guard. original red cloth, lettered in gilt, gilt golfer vignette on spine. Very interesting book, autobiographical accounts of 34 golfers, the contributors are James Braid, Tom Morris..... More
London: Methuen, 1907. 299p. Red Cloth. Illustrated with plates from 24 photographs, including a frontispiece portrait of Herd, Taylor, Braid and Vardon, together, with tissue-guard. original red cloth, lettered in gilt, gilt golfer vignette on spine. Very interesting book, autobiographical accounts of 34 golfers, the contributors are James Braid, Tom..... More
London: Greening, 1907. 128p. illustrated linen wrappers. Hard to find, but satisfying when found title, insightful chapters. More
London: Greening, 1907. 128p. illustrated linen wrappers. Hard to find, but satisfying when found title, insightful chapters. Part of the Percy Boomer golf library. More
London: Geo. Newnes Limited, 1896. 140p. decorative cloth. Beautifully produced book, amongst other sports there are 18 entries of golf, mainly player biographies, but some courses, including Horace Hutchinson, J.H. Taylor, Harold H. Hilton, North Berwick Links. A worthy addition to a golf library. ; Ex-Murdoch library. More
London: Seeley, Service and Co. Limited, 1946. 251p, cloth. Highly underrated book, chapters by Horace G Hutchinson, Bernard Darwin, Roger and Joyce Wethered, a very nice chapter's on Architecture by Tim Simpson, with sketches as per The Architectural Side of Golf. D&J W10630. More
England: Grant Books, 1990. 69p. cloth, 175/600 limited edition of the 1920 classic. Contributions by Dr. A. MacKenzie, Horace G. Hutchinson, John L. Low, and others. Introduction and commentary by Geoffrey S. Cornish and Fred Hawtree. Illustrated from photographs, old original ads, and a few other reproductions. D&J C16870. More
London: Country Life, 1920. 64p. Cloth. Contributions by Dr. A. MacKenzie, Horace G. Hutchinson, John L. Low, and others. Published in the same year as MacKenzies Golf Architecture, these two books have become standard cornerstone books to and golf course architects library. Some Essays is seen less than the MacKenzie..... More
London: Country Life, 1920. 64p. Cloth. Contributions by Dr. A. MacKenzie, Horace G. Hutchinson, John L. Low, and others. Published in the same year as MacKenzies Golf Architecture, these two books have become standard cornerstone books to and golf course architects library. 'Some Essays' is less common than the MacKenzie's..... More
London: Country Life, 1920. 64p. Cloth. Contributions by Dr. A. MacKenzie, Horace G. Hutchinson, John L. Low, and others. Published in the same year as MacKenzies Golf Architecture, these two books have become standard cornerstone books to and golf course architects library. 'Some Essays' is less common than the MacKenzie's..... More
Edinburgh: W.H. White and Co., 1897. 99p. decorative cloth. Early treatment of those situations that the rules cannot specifically help, a forerunner to the inevitable decisions. Must have title for any rules enthusiast, and written by one of the days leading authorities having taken councu=il from the likes of Harold..... More
London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1926. Contributions from Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Sir Walter Scott, Horace Hutchinson, Sir Walter Simpson, John L. Low, Robert Louis Stevenson to name but a few in this classic title edited by Darwin. More
Edinburgh, Scotland: John Menzies & Co., 1897. 84p. Frontispiece drawing, and others within. 18x12.2 cm. (7¼x4¾") cloth-backed pictorial boards. 5th Edition. The first golf book to be successful in sales. Forgan founded a famous club-making firm in St Andrews and his old shop is still open as a museum for..... More
Edinburgh, Scotland: John Menzies & Co., 1897. 84p. Frontispiece drawing, and others within. 18x12.2 cm. (7¼x4¾") cloth-backed pictorial boards. 6th Edition. The first golf book to be successful in sales. Forgan founded a famous club-making firm in St Andrews and his old shop is still open as a museum for..... More
Philadelphia, PA. Penn. 1900. 179p. cloth illustrated boards. Illustrated. stated revised but we feel this is referring to the UK edition. U.S. title of "Golfing, The Oval Series of Games". This title, was revised in 1901 and again in 1908 & 1920. D&J H28480. More
London: George Routledge and Sons, Limited, 1893. 120p, 1/4 cloth illustrated boards. Illustrated. First Edition, first printing. Complete with fragile spine that is often lacking in this title, went into many printing's and hence was a popular book in a similar sense as his Hints on golf first printed in..... More
Bristol: J.W. Arrowsmith, 1900. Hutchinson's, rarest book. Aspects of golf is by far the hardest book to find from Hutchinson. More
Worcestershire: Grant & Wilson, 2015. 108p. cloth slipcase ltd ed 182/250 copies. Hutchinson's, rarest book, reprinted with additions and now sold out. At the age of sixteen in 1875 Horace Hutchinson was elected captain of the Royal North Devon Golf Club at Westward Ho! He won the Amateur Championship in..... More
London: J. S. Virtue and Co., 1897. 2], viii, 331 + v ad pp. Illustrated from numerous photographs and engravings throughout. 39.6x28.5 cm. (15½x11"), original cream coloured japon wrappers, titled in gilt, custom cream drop-back box. No. 75 of 250 copies. First Edition. The rare limited large paper edition with..... More
London: J. S. Virtue and Co., 1897. Hutchinson, Horace G. (editor) British Golf Links: A Short Account of the Leading Golf Links of the United Kingdom with Numerous Illustrations and Portraits. London, J.S. Virtue & Co. 1897 viii, 331 + v ad pp. Decorative Cloth. First Edition. Illustrated with numerous..... More
London: J. S. Virtue and Co., 1897. Hutchinson, Horace G. (editor) British Golf Links: A Short Account of the Leading Golf Links of the United Kingdom with Numerous Illustrations and Portraits. London, J.S. Virtue & Co. 1897 viii, 331 + v ad pp. Decorative Cloth. First Edition. Illustrated with numerous..... More
London: Country Life, 1919. 229p. cloth plus ads. Hutchinson's Autobiography of a very full and fascinating life in golf's early days. Hutchinson contested the first three Amateur Championship finals and the 1903 event winning two, the 1886 and 1887. He left a huge contribution to the literal world, various subjects..... More
London: Country Life, 1919. 229p. cloth plus ads. Hutchinson's Autobiography of a very full and fascinating life in golf's early days. Hutchinson contested the first three Amateur Championship finals and the 1903 event winning two, the 1886 and 1887. He left a huge contribution to the literal world, various subjects..... More