Like myself, many of you will have read The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever by Mark Frost. For those of you who have not, and without recourse to a spoiler alert, this book vividly and suspensefully recalls how a bet between two millionaires resulted in an epic fourball better ball match, between the paring of legendary professionals Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson against the pairing of leading American amateurs Harvie Ward and Ken Venturi. This match is viewed as the greatest private match ever played.
Flicking through a selection of golf books, including The Match, searching for inspiration and ideas for new articles, I started to think … what has been the greatest match played at my home golf club … Beverley & East Riding Golf Club.
But where and how does one start? What criteria are used to define a great match? Maybe not such a good idea after all, especially as Beverley & East Riding Golf Club, the oldest inland golf club in Yorkshire, England, was formed in 1889 … so over 130 years of golfing history and records to assimilate, attempting to select a single match!
Undeterred, I tangentially revised my thinking to a question I partially knew the answer to, namely …
“What about a historic match played at my home golf club which featured one of the greatest amateur golfers”
The gaps in the answer were addressed by further research … and so, without further ado, the answer to the revised question is a match that was played on 16th December 1896, between Beverley & East Riding Golf Club and the Black Watch, with the visitors captained by …
Lieutenant Frederick Guthrie Tait
I hope you enjoy this article, which primarily bookends the match with an abridged before and afterwards bio of the incomparable Freddie Tait.
Slow Start
Born on 11th January 1870 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Freddie Tait first played golf at the age of seven on the links at St Andrews, the home of golf.
The following year, he started to take the sport seriously, but it was not until 1882 that he achieved a modicum of success. He played in a 9-hole competition on the famous links at Musselburgh, for Edinburgh Academy schoolboys under the age of 15 … Freddie finished runner-up with a score of 54. In the same competition the following year he finished down the field with a score of 61 … absolutely no inkling of the golfing heights he would eventually scale!
Letters Home
In 1883 he left Edinburgh Academy and completed his secondary education as a boarder at Sedbergh School. Whilst at Sedbergh, in one of the many letters he wrote home to his mother, Freddie expressed a passion and desire to join up, saying …
“I wish I was about four years older, and I could easily get into the Army, now that there is going to be a war with Russia”
That war never materialised, and Freddie would have to wait several more years before his wish to join the Army was realised.
Golfing Diary
Freddie Tait was meticulous by nature. At the age of 14 he started to capture details of every round of golf he played … not just his scores and the result of a match, but the date, the course, the conditions, and remarks on how he and his opponent played. Over the years, some of his remarks were searingly honest, such as …
“All played badly. Greens in horrible condition. Not worth Playing On”
“Played very badly in the morning, having left St Andrews without breakfast”
“A capital match all through, and won by a very lucky putt”
“F. G. T. very bad; suffering from a fall from a bicycle”
He continued completing his golfing diary up to and including the very last match he played … more on this match later.
Marked Improvement
The Tait family spent the summer holidays in St Andrews, where Freddie could practice and play almost daily, from dawn until dusk. Proof of his steady improvement was evidenced in the matches he played against Allan Macfie, a fine Scottish amateur golfer, who in 1885 won the inaugural Amateur Championship.
In 1886, Freddie Tait twice defeated Allan Macfie on the same day, albeit in receipt of six strokes. Two years later, and this time in receipt of no strokes from Allan Macfie, he halved the morning match and won by 1 hole in the afternoon. Freddie Tait was now ready to compete at a higher level … possibly the Amateur Championship and The Open Championship, but foremost was his yearning to join the British Army.
Sandhurst
Freddie Tait’s best, and possibly only avenue, to fulfil his dream of becoming an officer in the British Army, was to enter Sandhurst (the Royal Military Academy where all officers in the British Army are trained), as a University candidate, and so upon leaving Sedbergh School in 1886, he enrolled at the University of Edinburgh.
In August 1889, Freddie Tait received notice that he had successfully passed the entry examination, and the following month started training as an officer cadet at Sandhurst. Back then, golf was unknown at Sandhurst, and so Freddie Tait configured a short course for his fellow cadets and ‘attempted’ to teach them all about golf!
Highland Regiment
After passing out from Sandhurst with special honours in riding and military administration, Freddie Tait joined the 2nd battalion
of the Leinster Regiment, the 109th Foot. But he was desperate to be on active service rather than ceremonial duties and administration … to that end, the following is extracted from a letter to his father …
“I know very well that the only way to get on now is to see some fighting, and you will no doubt have noticed that whenever there is any fighting to be done, and there is a Highland regiment anywhere near, it is invariably sent”
Thus, in 1894, after much difficulty, he joined the 2nd battalion of the Black Watch. This highland regiment was based in Edinburgh Castle and then in October 1896, moved to be stationed at the Infantry Barracks, York. This move attracted much attention amongst Yorkshire golfers and Yorkshire golf clubs, including Beverley & East Riding Golf Club (located circa. 30 miles from the city of York).
Amateur Champion
But why so much attention for a serving Lieutenant in the British Army?
Simple … a few months earlier, Freddie Tait had won the Amateur Championship in stunning style. In the quarter-finals, he defeated John Ball Jr. (who eventually won this Championship 8 times, a record that will never be surpassed) 5&4. In the semi-finals, he closed out the match against (previous champion) Horace Hutchinson on the 16th.
And then in the 36-hole final, he played phenomenal golf to beat Harold Hilton (who won this championship four times, The Open twice and the U.S. Amateur Championship) 8&7.
He had also finished in a tie for 3rd, and was the leading amateur, in that year’s Open Championship played at Muirfield, with the final round captured in his golfing diary with typical Freddie succinctness …
“Started, knowing that 74 was required, and would have done it but for bad luck at the 6th hole. Played a splendid game from start to finish, but the long putts would not go in”
For the Record (1891 to 1896)
Despite being a serving officer, Freddie Tait had leave and other time off to play golf, in particular competing in the Amateur Championship and The Open. For the record …
Amateur Championship
- 1891 ~ Did Not Play
- 1892 ~ Round of 32
- 1893 ~ Semi-Finalist
- 1894 ~ Semi-Finalist
- 1895 ~ Semi-Finalist
- 1896 ~ Champion
The Open Championship
- 1891 ~ T30th
- 1892 ~ T21st
- 1893 ~ Did Not Play
- 1894 ~ 9th (and leading amateur)
- 1895 ~ T15th
- 1896 ~ T3rd (and leading amateur)
Golfing Lieutenants
Freddie Tait captained the Black Watch (4-man) team in the match against Beverley & East Riding Golf Club. Joining him were fellow Lieutenants Macfarlan, Harvey and Wauchope.
William ‘Anak’ Macfarlan was Freddie Tait’s best friend in the Black Watch. Commentators viewed Macfarlan as a ‘beautiful’ player who only required more practice to reach the upper echelons of amateur golf. Freddie Tait thought he was an excellent golfer and one of the finest drivers he ever saw.
John Harvey and Arthur Wauchope were both fine golfers, who during their time in the Black Watch, partnered Freddie Tait in several foursomes and better ball matches.
Fraser Medal
Dr J. Joyner Fraser was one of the founding fathers and the first captain of Beverley & East Riding Golf Club. The Fraser Medal, the member’s prestigious scratch competition at that time, was named in his honour.
Although there is no evidence to back up my theory, the Fraser Medal, held a month before the match, was effectively a trial to select the best four Beverley golfers to face the Black Watch. Mr George Ford won the medal with a score of 86. Mr Joseph Hobson was runner-up with a score of 89, with Major Steele and Major Swanton finishing 3rd and 4th respectively.
George Ford was a bank cashier who acted as auditor for the first set of financial accounts for the golf club. Joseph Hobson was the Borough Treasurer and the Manager of Beverley Bank. Major Steele presided over court-martials at the Victoria Barracks, Beverley, whilst Major Swanton served as an officer in the Royal Marine Light Infantry.
Majuba Hill
As mentioned in the introduction, Beverley & East Riding Golf Club was formed in 1889. The course initially comprised 9 holes, extending to 18 holes in 1895. A further change, to the 18-hole layout, occurred in 1896. No accurate records exist, but based on records from the early 20th century, the par would have been about 75 or 76.
One hole that exists to this day is the dog-leg par 5 15th, Majuba Hill (though when the match was played it was the 13th). Many holes in the UK are named after battles in the Boer Wars, usually when the topology of the hole includes a large and/or steep hill to ‘navigate’ between the Tee and the Green. The battle of Majuba Hill was the final and decisive battle of the First Boer War and was a resounding victory for the Boers … historians view this battle as one of the most humiliating defeats for the British Army.
The naming of this hole is a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by all Armed Forces and no doubt Freddie Tait and his fellow lieutenants who played in this match at Beverley would have known all about the history of Majuba Hill … but they would not have known about the similar sacrifices and tragedies that would unfold a few years hence for them all.
Format
The match comprised 4 head-2-head singles matches played over 18 holes, with each singles encounter being decided by the nett number of holes won. For example …
Game 1 ~ Home Player #1 won 4 holes, Away Player #1 won 8 holes, and the other 6 holes were halved … the result would be recorded as Home Player #1 0, Away Player #1 4
Game 2 ~ Home Player #2 won 7 holes, Away Player #2 won 2 holes, and the other 9 holes were halved … the result would be recorded as Home Player #2 5, Away Player #2 0
The result of the match is determined by adding the number of holes won in each game … so in the above example, the home team won the overall match by 5 holes to 4.
The Match
A day or two before the match, Freddie Tait and John Harvey played a practice round to familiarise themselves with the unique nuances of the golf course … though in December, there would have been no cattle grazing on the course!
The players received a warm welcome from the captain of the club, Arthur B Reckitt, a director of Reckitt & Sons, a company that today trades as Reckitt, a multinational consumer goods organisation.
The course was heavily frost-bound and there were no glimmers of winter sun to burn away the frost. As today’s membership will no doubt testify, playing golf at Beverley during the winter months on a frosty course is a tough challenge … so one can only imagine how much harder the course was to play in 1896 using hickory clubs and gutta-percha golf balls!
A large crowd watched the top game between Freddie Tait and Joseph Hobson, witnessing an unbelievable level of golf from the Amateur Champion. The first two holes were halved before the champion golfer started to show his superiority, reaching the turn 4 holes to the good. On the back nine, he won all the holes apart from the 12th and the 18th … a victory by 11 holes to 0.
Lieutenant Freddie Tait’s scorecard was as follows …
563 544 635 = 41 Out … 533 634 464 = 38 In … a round of 79, in conditions which the local press described as ‘very difficult, in particular on the greens which hindered accurate putting!’.
I have been unable to uncover details of the other 3 games apart from the number of holes won …
- Game #2 ~ Lieutenant Macfarlan 6 vs. Major Steele 0
- Game #3 ~ Lieutenant Harvey 4 vs. Major Swanton 0
- Game #4 ~ Lieutenant Wauchope 4 vs. George Ford 0
The Beverley team struggled gamely against the quality golf played by the Black Watch team … but this match was never about the result of 25 holes to 0 in favour of the Black Watch … it was very much about enhancing golfing camaraderie … and all the spectators could say …
“I was there when the Amateur Champion graced the links at Beverley & East Riding Golf Club”
Office Based
Freddie Tait remained at the Infantry Barracks, York until the end of 1897. He then moved to Aldershot, where he underwent 6 months of gymnastic training to qualify for a staff appointment. Reading between the lines, he had accepted that he was now unlikely to see ‘active service’, and maybe reluctantly settled for an office-based ‘9 to 5’ role, enabling him to play golf at the weekends and during leave.
After Aldershot, he moved to Glasgow, where he was appointed to the Scottish District as the Inspector of Gymnasia.
(Research artefacts were scarce at this juncture, but it looked as if Freddie Tait might have left the Black Watch … or maybe transferred to a ‘non-active service’ division of the Black Watch).
Style of Play
In the words of John L. Low, author of F.G.Tait – A Record …
“Though many did desire earnestly to imitate Freddie Tait, none were able to do so”
“Freddie Tait’s game displayed absolute grace of movement and a complete evenness of style. It was very noticeable in his driving (his forte) and it showed even more in his iron play”
“He played strokes outside the power of ordinary men and invariably produced a magnificent shot, and it was this natural brilliance, combined with his pleasant personality, that attracted the gallery wherever he played”
For the Record (1897 to 1899)
The concluding 3 years of the 19th Century were arguably his best from a golfing perspective. Although only progressing to the Round of 32 when attempting to defend the Amateur Championship, he immediately bounced back to finish T3rd in The Open, matching his best finish in this major championship. The following year he played sublime golf throughout the Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool and was crowned champion for a second time.
In 1899, the 36-hole final of the Amateur Championship was contested between Freddie Tait and John Ball Jr. Commentators at the time, and since, viewed this final as one of the greatest ever match play games, which John Ball Jr. eventually won at the first hole of sudden death.
For the record …
Amateur Championship
- 1897 ~ Round of 32
- 1898 ~ Champion
- 1899 ~ Runner Up
The Open Championship
- 1897 ~ T3rd
- 1898 ~ 5th
- 1899 ~ T7th (and leading amateur)
One Last Time
Freddie Tait and John Ball Jr. were two of the greatest ever golfers and they had great admiration and respect for one another. After their titanic battle in the final of the Amateur Championship, they agreed to play two 36-hole matches at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club on the 1st and 2nd of October 1899.
Once again, the golf on both days was of the highest quality. Incredibly, the first match was halved and the second match was all square after 35 holes … but at the final hole, Freddie Tait took advantage of a rare mistake by his opponent, and secured victory on the final green.
This transpired to be the final match they ever played against each other, as a few days later war was declared between the Boer Republics (South African and the Orange Free State) and the British Empire … this was the Second Boer War.
Freddie Tait, with support from his friends, influenced the powers that be, so that he could resign his staff appointment and rejoin the Black Watch. His resignation was sanctioned by the middle of October and a week later he set sail to South Africa, along with the golfing lieutenants … Macfarlan (now a Captain), Harvey and Wauchope.
Magersfontein
The reconnaissance undertaken by the British Army was completely inadequate in preparation for advancing on the Boers, who were entrenched at the foot of the hills at Magersfontein. Consequently, the British Army suffered a dreadful loss of life, with the Black Watch battalion suffering the worst, with over 350 men killed or wounded on 11th December 1899.
As for the Black Watch golfers who played at Beverley & East Riding …
- Captain Macfarlan – Killed in action
- Lieutenant Harvey – Severely wounded, hospitalised before eventually returning home
- Lieutenant Wauchope – Severely wounded, hospitalised before eventually returning home
- Lieutenant Tait – Wounded, hospitalised
Before being shot in the left thigh, Freddie Tait witnessed his best friend, Captain Macfarlan, being killed whilst defending his men against the Boers.
After treatment in the hospital, Freddie Tait was sent to Cape Town to convalesce. He made light of his injury, comparing the shot that wounded him to a golfing slice, as the bullet went around the bone! An indication of his standing within the golfing and wider community back home in Britain, the following column inches appeared in the national newspapers a few days after he was wounded …
“Golfers will be interested to learn that a telegram has been received from Cape Town to the effect that Lieutenant F.G.Tait, 2nd Battalion Black Watch, ex-amateur golf champion, is progressing satisfactorily towards recovery. Lieutenant Tait received a gunshot wound in the left thigh at the Battle of Magersfontein”
Koodoosberg
On the 11th of January 1900 (his 30th birthday), and now recovered from the wound he received at the Battle of Magersfontein, Freddie Tait travelled by train to rejoin the Black Watch battalion.
Tait and his Black Watch Company were immediately assigned to reconnaissance duties. In early February, the Black Watch moved westward towards Koodoosberg Drift, and then on 7th February 1900, as chronicled in a letter written by Pioneer Sergeant Howden, 2nd
battalion Black Watch (one of many letters capturing the horror that occurred that fateful day) …
“It was in the afternoon that poor Lieutenant Tait was killed. He was in command of H Company. He had just made a rush forward with the
company, about 50 yards, to get closer to the Boer position. He was in the act of lying down to get under cover when he was shot, pretty high upon the breast. He exclaimed, “I am afraid I am badly hit,” and dropped down and died. He was carried back to camp, and was buried the next day on the bank of the Riet River; a very pretty place close to the drift, surrounded by South African plants and trees. The men put a small wooden cross, with his name on it, on the grave. Lieutenant Tait was thought an awful lot of by both officers and men; he treated men as men, and not as dogs. He will be greatly missed in the regiment.”
Rumours
During the Second Boer War, the War Office received more enquiries about the well-being of Freddie Tait than any other officer. Enquiries started when rumours of his death first surfaced in London on 12th February 1900, following a telegram from the correspondent of the Morning Post.
As the War Office had not officially received news about Freddie Tait, they saw no reason whatsoever to give credit to the rumours. As the hours ticked away, and still no official news, hope began to grow that there was no substance or truth to the rumours.
But on 14th February 1900, all hope was extinguished when his father, Professor Tait, received an unsigned telegram from a hospital in Cape Town. The telegram read …
“Freddie killed instantaneously”
It later transpired that Freddie’s friend, the severely wounded Lieutenant Arthur Wauchope, had sent the telegram.
Deepest Sympathy
A letter written by Alexander Milne, the Honorary Secretary of the St Andrews Golf Club, to Professor Tait, beautifully captured the thoughts and prayers of golfers in Scotland, England, Ireland, and Wales …
“The Members of the St. Andrews Golf Club desire, through me, to respectfully tender yourself, Mrs. Tait, and your family, their sincere sympathy in this time of sorrow. We are but humble working men of dear old St. Andrews to whom Freddie Tait was something apart from all other men. Not alone by his golfing abilities was he so, for of no other golfer of this generation could it ever be said that they possessed the love and hero-worship which was so readily given to your soldier son.”
Bequeathment
Deliberately not mentioned in this article until now, but Freddie Tait was regarded as the finest putter of his generation. So, it was no real surprise that in his will, his wish was that his putter should be given to the closest golf club to where he died!
However, it was nearly four decades after his death, when the executors of his will finally decided that his putter should be bequeathed to Kimberley Golf Club, the nearest golf club to the battlefield at Koodoosberg. The putter was presented to Kimberley by none other than J. H. Taylor, five times winner of The Open, and one of the pioneers of the modern game of golf.
Apart from a few years, the Freddie Tait putter competition has been contested annually by the members of Kimberley Golf Club, and in 1990, to celebrate their centenary, the club proudly opened the Frederick Guthrie Tait Golf Museum.
And though not specific to Kimberley Golf Club, he is also remembered via the Freddie Tait Cup, which is awarded annually to the leading amateur in the South African Open.
Illuminated the Soul
The closing chapter begins in the world of academia!
In 1895, the year before the match at Beverley & East Riding Golf Club, Lord Acton (John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton) was appointed to the Regius Professorship of Modern History at the University of Cambridge. During the early months of his seven-year tenure, he delivered a series of lectures on Modern History, from which one of his famous quotes emanated …
“Universal History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul”
Applied to the universal history of golf, Freddie Tait illuminated the soul of …
- Spectators who admired his elegance, sportsmanship and attacking style of play
- Opponents he played against … win, lose or draw
- Fellow officers and soldiers, and adored by those he commanded
His memory and achievements will live on within the annals of golf, as well as his leadership and bravery on the battlefield, serving his Queen and Country.
Over to you
I hope you have enjoyed this article … and it would be great to hear about details of a match (excluding Ryder Cup, Walker Cup, Curtis Cup, etc.) played at your golf club, where one of the participants was a pantheon of the game, amateur or professional … so please feel free to use the comments section below.
Acknowledgements
And finally, a massive thanks to …
- Rod Shimwell, a fellow member at Beverley & East Riding Golf Club, for kindly gifting me a copy of a souvenir brochure for the Frederick Guthrie Tait Golf Museum, Kimberley Golf Club, South Africa.
- Margaret McLaren, Historian at Rivermead Golf Club, Ottawa, Canada, for kindly sending me a copy of the book F.G.Tait – A Record, by J. L. Low (first published in 1901, all profits from this book were donated to the Black Watch Widows’ and Orphan Fund).
- Mark Eley, whose Golf Bible website provides an unparalleled source of information about amateur golf.
- Beverley & East Riding Golf Club, for kindly permitting me to use a photograph of the 15th hole, Majuba Hill and for their continued support of Golfing Herald.
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