Roger Wethered (1 Amateur, 5 Walker Cup's, 1 Walker Cup Captain)

1899 - 1983

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Roger Henry Wethered (3 January 1899 – 12 March 1983) was an English amateur golfer who was the brother of Joyce Wethered, one of the finest female golfers of the pre-war era.^[1]

Born in Surrey, Wethered was the only son of Herbert Newton Wethered and Marion Emmeline Lund. He was frequently ill as a child and this resulted in him being home-tutored. His father had authored numerous books about golf and this proved to be influential on Wethered as he took up golf from an early age.^[1]

Wethered was called up in 1918 to serve in the Royal Artillery in World War I. However, he was recalled from France some weeks later as peacetime was declared. Upon his return he enrolled at Christ Church at Oxford University. He joined the Oxford golf team with Cyril Tolley, a good friend of his, and both were successful young golfers. His game was defined by great power and technique with iron clubs. His driving was less accomplished but his ability to recover more than made up for this shortcoming.^[1]

He graduated from Oxford with a BA in English in 1921. Soon after this achievement came his finest hour as he narrowly lost The Open Championship to Jock Hutchison in the 1921 edition of the tournament. Had he won the competition he would have been the last British amateur to do so. Indeed, no other British amateur has come so close to victory in the tournament since Harold Hilton won the 1897 Open Championship. He followed this achievement with further successes: as he grew older his driving began to improve and he won his first Amateur Championship in 1923 at Deal, Kent. However, after these two events Wethered failed to repeat his earlier singles tournament successes but he continued to be an influential golfer, earning the respect of his peers for his modest demeanour.^[1]

Wethered was a runner up in the Amateur Championship twice (1928 and 1930) and won the President's Putter five times. Furthermore, he was capped by England numerous times in competition against Scotland and in the Walker Cup against the United States, emerging victorious with regularity. In singles competition he beat all-comers, losing only to American golfer Bobby Jones.^[1]

Wethered's abilities had begun to wane by the 1930s and his focus had turned to his full-time job as a stockbroker in London. He continued to be involved in golf, however, working with the committee at The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. He was elected captain of the club in 1939 and finally took office in 1946. He was successful as an investor and upon his retirement he returned to the golf courses to play out his remaining days. At the age of 74 he scored a remarkable round of 74 at the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club. He died at his home at Garnet House, Wimbledon.^[1]