Great Nations Golf Prize – Truths and Myths

During my research for this article, I uncovered a profusion of truths, half-truths, myths, contradictions, red herrings and interpretations…and thus found myself in a state of absolute bewilderment on how best to chronicle the events leading up to, during and after the Great Nations Golf Prize, one of the most documented and unbelievable golf tournaments and first prizes of all time.

I was then reminded of a quotation that is widely attributed to Oscar Wilde…

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken”

Thus the article that follows has been written from the viewpoint of not worrying about what has been written before and simply narrate the story based on material culled from a patchwork of sources… assimilating several of the truths and myths along the way.

Hope you enjoy

Games of the XI Olympiad

Golfing Herald’s recounting of this astonishing story starts all the way back in 1930 when…

Fourteen cities announced their intention to bid to host the 1936 Summer Olympic Games, but by the time of the deciding vote (26th April 1931) only two cities remained…Barcelona and Berlin, with the vote actually conducted in Barcelona!! It was the first time that the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) cast votes for their preferred host city…and the last time the IOC convened to vote in a city bidding to host the Olympic Games!!

The vote was held less than two weeks after the Second Spanish Republic was declared (the government in Spain from 1931 to 1939) and this political upheaval in Spain was thought to be the primary reason why Berlin easily defeated Barcelona by 43 votes to 16 votes to host the Games…but a couple of years later in Germany the Weimar Republic ended, replaced by the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

Controversial

Adolf Hitler viewed the Olympics as the perfect platform to extract as much propaganda as possible against the backdrop of several countries starting to question the morality of proceeding with the Games in a country whose abhorrent regime was to promote racial supremacy and antisemitism.

The IOC held various meetings to investigate how they could change their decision and move the Games to another city such as Rome…but following assurances that Jewish athletes would be allowed to compete in the Games, the 11th Summer Olympiad went ahead in Berlin from the 1st August 1936 to 16th August 1936.

David Wallechinsky, who is the current President of the International Society of Olympic Historians,  commented that for Adolf Hitler “these were his Games and he wanted to be glorified”…this glorification starting with the opening ceremony and then through the expected domination of German athletes across the various Olympic events and disciplines.

Despite Germany comfortably winning most medals (Gold, Silver and Bronze) the Games are best remembered for the incredible achievement of the American athlete James Cleveland ‘Jesse’ Owens who won 4 gold medals (100m, 200m, Long Jump and 4x100m relay)…most commentators credited Jesse Owens with crushing Adolf Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy.

International Sporting Meeting

Golf was excluded from the Berlin Olympics due to a peculiar edict that had been introduced by the IOC after the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp…

“For a sport to participate in the Olympics it must have an international governing body and be played in at least 40 countries” 

Three years before the Berlin Olympics, Adolf Hitler appointed Hans von Tschammer und Osten as the Reichssportführer, and all sports in Germany were placed under his control. In conjunction with the Olympics, he wished to promote a variety of non-Olympic sports and thus the idea of an International Sporting Meeting to commence a few days after the Olympics was conceived…and of course, this would provide yet another vehicle to use sport as an integral component of the overall Nazi propaganda.

The beautiful spa town of Baden-Baden was chosen to host the Meeting and the non-Olympic sports selected were Horse Riding, Tennis and…Golf.

Golfclub Baden-Baden

Founded in 1901 Baden-Baden Golf Club is the 3rd oldest golf club in Germany. In the late 1920s, a new course was established to the west of Baden-Baden at the foot of the Fremersberg (a hill measuring circa. 500m)…since when the layout has undergone regular improvements without impacting the beauty, variety, subtleties and finesse presented by the 18 hole course, which today is a Par 64 measuring 4260m.

For the non-Olympic Golf Tournament, the course measured slightly shorter at 4128m with a Par of 68 (though some newspapers and periodicals at the time quoted a Par of 65 and others a Par of 69!!). Whatever the Par, Baden-Baden afforded a demanding championship challenge.

Tournament

The golf tournament was played over five days and comprised of two events…but for the purposes of narrative expediency, I have only provided very high-level abridged information about the first event.

Event 1 (August 23rd 1936 to August 25th 1936) – a triangular tournament between Holland, France and Germany. Holland lost both of their matches whilst France narrowly defeated Germany to win the deciding match.

Event 2 (August 26th 1936 to August 27th 1936) – contested by teams of two representing their country playing 72 holes of stroke play with the aggregate score of the two-man team determining the winner…an original format which formed the basis for the Canada Cup which later became the World Cup of Golf which is still played to this day.

Global Invitation

An invitation was sent by Karl Henkell, the President of the Deutscher Golf Verband (German Golf Association), to 36 countries to participate in the two-man International team event…many countries were vehemently against entering a team due to the ongoing political situation and in the end, only seven countries participated…

Germany, France, Holland, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Hungary, England

(Sweden and Switzerland initially entered but a few days before the event started withdrew their respective teams) 

Golfpreis Der Nationen

Emil Lettré, a gold and silversmith based in Berlin, was commissioned by Karl Henkell to produce an Objet d’art prize for the winning team which was to be donated by Adolf Hitler, who was by now the German Führer and Reichskanzler (Leader and Chancellor).

What resulted was an absolutely stunning Silver-Gilt Salver measuring 14 inches in diameter, inlaid with eight 2&1/2 inch decorative Baltic amber stones, chosen due to their association with the Nordic races and Nordic myths!!

England Team

The 9th Walker Cup Match between the United States and Great Britain & Ireland was played the week after the Great Nations Golf Prize and this no doubt influenced the selection of the team to represent England in Germany.

The English Golf Union (EGU) selected Arnold Bentley and Francis Francis, with Tom Thirsk and Brigadier-General Alfred Critchley as reserves…but then, about a week before the Tournament, Francis Francis was replaced by Tom Thirsk.

Millionaire Francis Francis was a fine amateur golfer from Sunningdale Golf Club who had a distinguished army career as a Captain in the Guards. But in 1929 he married Solveig ‘Sunshine’ Jarman, an American actress, at which point he had to relinquish his army career in accordance with the tradition that an officer of the Guards could not marry an actress!! This ‘tradition’ dated back to when ‘ladies of the stage’ were not viewed favourably in society!!

(I was unable to uncover any explanation that could be x-referenced and validated on why Francis Francis was replaced at the 11th hour…my unsubstantiated theory is that his second son Peter, who had been born in May of that year, maybe developed some health issues and he did not want to spend time away from his wife and young family)

Arnold Bentley (up to Baden-Baden)

Born in 1911, Arnold Bentley was a lifelong member of Hesketh Golf Club. In 1928 he represented England in a Boys International and in the same year he won the illustrious Ashton Trophy at St Annes Old Links.

A couple of years later Arnold made his first appearance for the Lancashire County Team and the following year he won the Squire Gates Trophy played at Blackpool Golf Club (one of several courses where he held the course record). Then just before the tournament in Baden-Baden, Arnold made his debut for England in an international match against France.

Up to Baden-Baden, Arnold’s golfing achievements were at times overshadowed by those of his older brother Harry who played in 3 Walker Cup matches against the United States and in 1936 won the English Amateur Championship at Royal Cinque Ports where he defeated John Langley 5&4 in the final.

But as John Stanton Fleming Morrison (winner of the 1935 and 1936 Sunningdale Foursomes in partnership with the incomparable Joyce Wethered) highlighted in one of his published magazine articles there was very little to choose in terms of golfing ability between the ‘Bentley Brothers’.

Outside of golf, Arnold and Harry ran a printing company (H. G. Bentley Ltd) out of London where they had a flat in Park Lane and a permanently reserved table at the nearby 5-star Dorchester Hotel!!

Tom Thirsk (up to Baden-Baden)

Born in 1900, Tom Thirsk was a natural sportsman excelling in several sports. After leaving school he became a director of the family mill business and developed into a very accomplished amateur golfer.

Tom (or Tommy as he was sometimes known) was a great supporter of club golf and as such was a member of Ganton, Bridlington and Hull Golf Clubs. In national and international golf tournaments, he always represented Bridlington as that was where he lived and he possibly hoped to promote and support the seaside town’s tourism.

He won the Yorkshire County Championship in 1932 despite finding himself 5 down after 5 in the 36-hole final!! The following year he led Hull Golf Club to secure the prestigious Yorkshire County Team Championship. In the same year, he played in an international match against Ireland at Royal County Down when news reached him that his wife had given birth to twins…he immediately withdrew from the match to return home to be with his wife and twin sons!!

At the 1934 English Amateur Championship played at Formby Golf Club he reached the semi-finals, where he eventually lost a thrilling match by 1 hole to eventual champion Stanley Lunt. He was subsequently overlooked for the 1934 Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team even though many commentators thought he had done more than enough to be selected.

In the 1936 British Amateur Championship, he came up against Scottish International Gordon Peters in what effectively doubled up as a playoff match to be selected for the 1936 Walker Cup…Gordon Peters won the match by 1 hole and was selected. They say that everything in life happens for a reason…so losing this match and the very late withdrawal of Francis Francis was (always) meant to be for Tom Thirsk.

Favourites

And so (Lancastrian) Arnold Bentley and (Yorkshireman) Tom Thirsk left London for Baden-Baden on 22nd August 1936…but this golfing adventure would be no War of the Roses!! After arriving in Germany, they quickly familiarised themselves with the challenges and nuances of the Baden-Baden golf course, in particular the tricky greens…after which Tom Thirsk sent a letter home in which he wrote…

“The Baden-Baden golf course has some of the most peculiar holes I have ever seen”

Despite their respective golfing accomplishments and experience in the years leading up to this tournament, the England pairing were not favourites to triumph in this unique team event.

Their success in the triangular tournament cemented the view that France, represented by Michel Carlhian and Jacques Léglise, was the team to beat.

(Today, Jacques Léglise is better known for the Trophy named in his honour following his tenure as the President of the French Golf Federation and the European Golf Association. The Jacques Léglise Trophy has been played annually since 1977 between U18 teams from Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe…many juniors who have played in this event have gone on to have incredibly successful careers as Professional golfers such as Justin Rose, Luke Donald, Sergio García, Tommy Fleetwood and José María Olazábal)

Opening Day

Despite their relatively good showing in the proceeding Triangular tournament, Germany was very much a newcomer to the global golfing arena…having said that, Adolf Hitler, who had donated the first prize, would have been hoping/expecting a German victory to further advance Nazi propaganda.

But then…on the first morning, 19-year-old Leonard von Beckerath shot an impressive 68. Ably supported by his compatriot Carl Alexander ‘C A’ Hellmers who shot a 75, Germany posted an opening-round total of 143.

This was matched by England with Tom Thirsk posting a creditable 70 and Arnold Bentley a 73. France were 5 shots off the pace following rounds of 72 by Michel Carlhian and 76 by Jacques Léglise.

And then…in the afternoon, Leonard von Beckerath bettered his morning score with a scintillating 67. C A Hellmers shot a 72, leaving Germany with a combined score of 282 at the halfway stage.

Tom Thirsk matched his morning score with another 70 and Arnold Bentley returned a 74…a quite remarkable score considering he took 9 on the 13th and 6 on the 14th!! England’s aggregate score of 287 left them 5 shots behind the host nation. France improved slightly in the afternoon to finish with a total score of 292.

Truth or Myth (1)

Adolf Hitler did not attend the Baden-Baden Tournament in person but instead was represented by Joachim von Ribbentrop who had just been appointed (by Hitler) as the Ambassador to the UK, with the specific remit of negotiating an Anglo-German alliance!! A couple of years later he became the Minister of Foreign Affairs and was a devoted Hitler sycophant…he was also the brother-in-law of Karl Henkell.

At the conclusion of the opening day’s play, Joachim von Ribbentrop contacted Adolf Hitler to appraise him of the possibility of a famous German victory and that he may wish to consider travelling to Baden-Baden to award the first prize in person to the German team.

Truth or Myth (2)

Unsurprisingly Adolf Hitler’s whereabouts when he was contacted (probably via a phone call) by Joachim von Ribbentrop are not known. More than likely he was still in Berlin following the conclusion of the Olympics.

Baden-Baden is circa. 730 km (450 miles) to the southwest of Berlin and even today would take nearly 7 hours to drive on a good day and so would have taken much longer back in 1936.

Would Adolf Hitler have…

• cancelled all of his diary commitments at such short notice to travel to Baden-Baden?
• entertained setting off very early on such a long journey, albeit chauffeur-driven, to present the trophy to the German team?
• considered any outcome other than a victory for the host nation?

Much has been written about what happened next by referencing historical artefacts and framed by an array of hypotheses…on the balance of probability, I believe that Adolf Hitler could not resist the opportunity to further promote Nazi propaganda through sporting excellence and thus he set off for Baden-Baden before the commencement of the penultimate round.

Third Round

There is no evidence that Leonard von Beckerath and C A Hellmers had been briefed that their Führer was on his way to Baden-Baden…but if they had been appraised of his imminent arrival then that ‘pressure’ and/or their relative inexperience could explain why their respective games crumbled in the third round.

In fairness, both players recovered well after very poor starts with von Beckerath recording a 72 and Hellmers a 76 leaving Germany with a combined (3-round) total of 430.

France started to display the form that had seen them installed as pre-event favourites with Michel Carlhian and Jacques Léglise posting 68 and 69 respectively for a combined score of 429, one shot ahead of the hosts.

But…England upped their game to another level with Arnold Bentley shooting 70 (his best round of the tournament) and Tom Thirsk breaking the course record with an astonishing round of 65…for an aggregate score of 422…an incredible turnaround of fortunes.

Truth or Myth (3)

Joachim von Ribbentrop now faced an almost impossible quandary. A victory for Germany was looking increasingly unlikely and thus he had to decide whether to see how the final round unfolded and ‘hope beyond hope’ that von Beckerath and Hellmers could overcome the 8 shot deficit or get a message to Adolf Hitler who was still en-route to present the prizes and advise him of the situation…in reality, there was only one option…very much Hobson’s Choice.

Nobody knows whether von Ribbentrop personally intercepted Hitler’s cavalcade or delegated it to a subordinate…either way one can barely imagine the furious reaction of the Führer. What is certain is that Adolf Hitler never arrived at Baden-Baden Golf Club and that von Ribbentrop left (his brother-in-law) Karl Henkell to present the prizes after the concluding round.

Did Adolf Hitler actually turn around? Assuming he set off for Baden-Baden, as outlined in Truth or Myth (2), then the answer is an unequivocal yes.

Final Round

Joachim von Ribbentrop made the right call. Despite their best efforts over the closing 18 holes (von Beckerath a 71 and Hellmers a 73), the German team were unable to close the gap on the French or English pairings, finishing the tournament in 3rd place on 574.

The French team continued their fine form from the 3rd round with the French champion Carlhian plotting his way around for a brilliant 66 and Léglise returning a steady 71 for a final team score of 566. This meant that England required a combined score of 143 or better to triumph.

Arnold Bentley returned a 75 so all eyes were now on his partner…but as he had done in the 3rd round, Tom Thirsk shot a remarkable 65, equalling his own course record!! England finished on 562 and secured victory by 4 shots…and (at the time) Tom Thirsk’s 270 was one of the best ever aggregate scores for a 72 hole championship.

Magnanimous

With the departure of Joachim von Ribbentrop and the ‘no show’ of Adolf Hitler, the prize-giving ceremony was conducted by Karl Henkell in his role as President of the German Golf Association.

He was magnanimous throughout the tournament and when presenting the prizes to Arnold Bentley and Tom Thirsk…and a few days later the following correspondence was received by the EGU…

Dear Sirs

We wish to send you our heartiest congratulations on your Team’s success in the Grosser Golfpreis der Nationen.

We were delighted to have Mr Bentley and Mr Thirsk with us in Baden-Baden and were greatly
impressed by the quality of the golf they played.

Through their win, the Grosser Golfpreis which was given by our Fuhrer and Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler becomes the property of your Union and we sincerely hope that it will further the connections of friendship and sportsmanship between English and German Golfers.

With kindest regards,

We remain,

Yours sincerely,

KARL HENKELL,

President

(In direct contrast to the acknowledgement by Karl Henkell of the fine performance by the England team, no records have so far been uncovered within the German Archives of the Baden-Baden Tournament!!)

The Hitler Tree

For the best individual score, Tom Thirsk was presented with a pair of Vases. In addition to receiving the Grosser Golfpreis (on behalf of the EGU) for winning the International Team event, both players received a commemorative medal and a small potted fir tree from the Black Forest!!

Tom Thirsk’s fir tree was planted in the Bridlington Town Hall gardens but was inexplicably removed following a request by the council!! It was replanted next to the air-raid shelter at his home in Bridlington where sadly it did not survive.

Arnold Bentley donated his fir tree to Hesketh Golf Club who planted it in front of the clubhouse and it became known as the Hitler Tree and continues to flourish to this day…maybe due to the stories that during the Second World War members of the club were reputed to have used the Hitler Tree during blackouts as a sort of outdoor urinal…thus helping to fertilise the soil and enhance the ecosystem!!

Arnold Bentley (after Baden-Baden)

Arnold Bentley gained further representative honours for England in International matches against France but the pinnacle of his golfing achievements occurred about three years after the tournament in Baden-Baden when in 1939 he won the English Amateur Golf Championship, defeating Bill Sutton (champion in 1929 and runner up in 1931) 5&4 at Birkdale Golf Club.

Several respected commentators believed that Arnold would have won many more titles and possibly matched if not bettered the record of his brother Harry if it had not been for all championships being cancelled throughout the duration of the Second World War.

Arnold and Harry played numerous exhibition matches to raise funds for a variety of good causes, in particular, the Red Cross…and their reputation within golfing circles enabled them to attract the best professionals to play in these matches such as Henry Cotton (Open Champion in 1934, 37 & 48) and Richard Burton (Open Champion in 1939).

In addition to becoming an honorary life member of Hesketh Golf Club, Arnold was a proud member of the Royal & Ancient. Arnold was also an Honorary Life Member of the Senior Golfers’ Society and in 1966 he was made a Freeman of the City of London.

Arnold Bentley died in 1998.

Tom Thirsk (after Baden-Baden)

Tom Thirsk continued to represent England, winning his 40th and final cap in 1946 but after Baden-Baden, he combined playing with golf administration.

He was a Great Britain & Ireland selector for the 1938 Walker Cup match against the United States, played on the Old Course, St Andrews. Along with his co-selectors, Tom Thirsk travelled to numerous tournaments before picking a team (including Harry Bentley) which they hoped would be the first to defeat the Americans (the first 9 Walker Cup matches had all been won by the United States)…their sterling efforts were rewarded when Great Britain & Ireland won by 7&1/2 points to 4&1/2 points…Great Britain & Ireland had to wait another 33 years to secure their second victory in the Walker Cup!!

In 1949, Tom Thirsk was a referee in the Ryder Cup match played at Ganton Golf Club…a contest where spectators witnessed the United States team fight back during the singles to eventually win the biennial match by 7 points to 5 points.

Tom Thirsk was made an honorary life member of Bridlington and Ganton Golf Clubs and from 1972 to 1975 he served as the President of Ganton Golf Club.

Tom Thirsk died in 1979.

Twists and Turns

But that is certainly not the end of this story as there has been an assortment of twists and turns associated with the actual Great Nations Golf Prize.

Arnold Bentley and Tom Thirsk had represented the EGU at the Tournament and so when they returned to England they gave the Salver to the EGU whose property it effectively became. All was quiet until…

Unique Exhibition

September 1949, when Moortown Golf Club hosted the 3rd Daily Telegraph Foursomes Tournament, a prestigious knockout match play event in which 32 leading professionals and 32 leading amateurs were invited and drawn into professional/amateur pairs. In parallel with this tournament, Moortown hosted a unique exhibition that told the story of golf over five centuries. Various treasures were loaned to the Exhibition from Golf Clubs, Societies and individual collections.

One of the star attractions was the Great Nations Golf Prize which had never previously been on public display. After this Exhibition, all was quiet until…

The Golfer’s Club

February 1955, when at a social dinner, the President of the EGU presented the Salver to The Golfer’s Club…a private gentleman’s club where golfers could meet that was established in London towards the end of the nineteenth century.

But why did the EGU relinquish ownership of the Salver? The explanation that would appear to have the most merit is that a couple of years earlier the EGU had been searching for new accommodation to hold their meetings and they approached The Golfer’s Club…and that the subsequent presentation of the Salver was to recognise The Golfer’s Club support for the EGU to use rooms in their London premises.

After this presentation, all was quiet until…

Leonard Sculthorp

In the late 1970s, after many years of declining membership and rising costs, The Golfer’s Club was bought out by a company run by Leonard Sculthorp which meant his company now possessed the Salver along with a host of other trophies and golfing memorabilia previously owned by The Golfer’s Club.

Despite various attempts to restore the fortunes of The Golfer’s Club, including relocating to a much smaller property at Dron Court in St Andrews, the decision was made in 1996 to close down The Golfer’s Club.

Over the next few years, much intrigue and speculation ensued about the possible whereabouts of the Salver until March 2004 when an article appeared in the Daily Telegraph revealing that the Salver had turned up…it transpired that since the demise of The Golfer’s Club the Salver had been safely looked after by Leonard Sculthorp at his family home in Glasgow!!

After the publication of this article, all was quiet until…

Spiritual Home

2012, when Leonard Sculthorp decided to sell the Salver. The auction was to be conducted by Bonhams, with a valuation range of £10,000 to £20,000.

Derek Holden, the President of Hesketh Golf Club, had previously written and published a booklet titled ‘Adolf, Arnold & Tommy – Golf and the 1936 Berlin Olympics’ which generated an awareness of the story for the members. So when Hesketh Golf Club became aware that the Salver was to be auctioned they commenced exploring the possibility of acquiring this unique golfing artefact.

Cutting a very long story short…both Hesketh and Ganton Golf Clubs started respective appeals to raise funds to purchase the Salver. Various ownership options were discussed between the two Clubs but in the end, Hesketh Golf Club and not Ganton Golf Club attended the auction to bid for the Salver.

At the auction on 29th May 2012, two interested parties participated in the bidding process…Hesketh Golf Club and a ‘Commission Bid’. The bidding started at £9,000 but when the bid price reached £15,000 (adjusted to £18,750 for commission and VAT), the ‘Commission Bid’ dropped out leaving Hesketh Golf Club as the new owners of the Great Nations Golf Prize, nearly 80 years after Arnold Bentley and Tom Thirsk had triumphed in Germany.

(Records later showed that the ‘Commission Bid’ was from the German Golf Archives!!)

Bentley and Thirsk Rooms

Arnold Bentley and Tom Thirsk’s golfing legacies will never be forgotten, in particular, by virtue of the respective clubhouse lounges at Hesketh and Ganton Golf Clubs being named in their honour.

At Hesketh, the Bentley Room contains golfing memorabilia and trophies pertaining to Arnold and Harry Bentley, whilst the Great Nations Golf Prize and Arnold Bentley’s commemorative medal have pride of place in the Club’s Mixed Lounge…and of course not forgetting the Hitler Tree.

At Ganton, the Thirsk Room has a montage (as compiled by Archivist Ian Douglas) telling the story of the 1936 Baden-Baden tournament along with a display of artefacts….this room also contains photographs commemorating the Ryder Cup, Curtis Cup and Walker Cup contests played at Ganton…and the pair of Vases donated by the Thirsk family are displayed in the Club’s Trophy cabinet.

So the first (or next) time you have the opportunity to play at or visit either of these beautiful and historic golf courses, then please make sure you visit the respective clubhouse lounges and pay homage to Arnold Bentley and Tom Thirsk who won a golf tournament the like of which (before, during and afterwards) will never be repeated.

Acknowledgements

And finally…a massive thanks to the following without whom this article would not have been possible:

• Derek Holden ~ Club President, Hesketh Golf Club
• Ian Douglas ~ Archivist, Ganton Golf Club
• Anthony Howarth ~ Head Professional, Bridlington Golf Club
• Hamish Wilson ~ Senior Valuer, Bonhams
• Margaret McLaren ~ Historian, Rivermead Golf Club
• Martin Edge ~ Secretary Manager, Hesketh Golf Club
• Emma Brown ~ Assistant Secretary, Ganton Golf Club
• Alan Fraser ~ Author of “The Hitler Trophy: Golf and the Olympic Games”

If you wish to read more about this true story then Alan Fraser’s book is available at https://www.floodlitdreams.com/product/the-hitler-trophy/