James Douglas Edgar – A Bonny Lad, An Unsolved Death

I had the pleasure of playing a round of golf with John Pearson at York Golf Club, a beautiful and challenging heathland course situated 2-3 miles north of the historic city of York, England.

John is Secretary (and a Trustee) of the Women Golfers’ Museum and for many years he was the Editor of the British Golf Collectors Society magazine ‘Through The Green’…and thus someone like myself who loves the history and traditions of golf.

Towards the end of our round, John started talking about James Douglas Edgar and asked whether I had ever considered writing an article about his life story…I responded by saying that my knowledge about ‘a fellow Novocastrian’ was at best ‘sketchy’ but that I would certainly undertake some initial research to see whether an article was possible…famous last words or what?!!

Over several weeks my ‘virtual research’ into James Douglas Edgar took me around England, Scotland, France, United States and Canada.

A variation of the Russian Doll Principle, developed by Peter Clough and Cathy Nutbrown, was certainly in play as I uncovered so much raw and at times inaccurate and contradictory information, which I have attempted to distil into an entertaining and informative article about his astonishing life, achievements and legacy.

I hope you enjoy reading ‘James Douglas Edgar – A Bonny Lad, An Unsolved Death’.

(‘A Bonny Lad‘ is an informal term of endearment prevalent in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England) 

Resting Place

After careful deliberation, I settled on starting at his ‘resting place’.

Westview Cemetry in Atlanta, Georgia is located on the protected part of the battlefield from the ‘Battle of Ezra Church’, a conflict in 1864 during the American Civil War. There are over 100,000 graves in this cemetery including the grave of James Douglas Edgar.

What do the above inscriptions (possibly) tell us about James Douglas Edgar?

• Born in England
• Opted to use his middle name instead of his first name (as I have done in this article)
• Commemorated as one of the great golfers of the early 20th century
• Died at a very young age

The last possible clue about James Douglas Edgar is incredibly sad…not only because he died so young but based on historical artefacts (England & Wales Civil Registration Birth Index and UK Census Records inter alia) the burial inscription is incorrect as he was actually born on 30th September 1884.

So many unanswered questions, in particular…

“What were his golfing achievements so that he would be forever remembered as one of the greats?”

To answer this question and more, I must turn the clock back to 1884 and narrate James Douglas Edgar’s extraordinary story as it chronologically unfolded.

Heaton

James Douglas Edgar was born on 30th September 1884 in Heaton, a suburb in the east end of Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. His parents were John and Ann Edgar (née Douglass)…interestingly, Douglas’ registered middle name on the Birth Index is Douglass!!

Douglas’ father John was a Land Drainage Foreman working on the estate of Christoper Laycock in Heaton. His sister Margaret was a (self-employed) Dressmaker working from their parents home whilst his older brother John worked as an assistant Cricket groundsman before following in his father’s footsteps and working as a land drainer.

In the UK, the 19th century witnessed the rapid expansion of the railways including the East Coast Main Line between Edinburgh and London which passed through Heaton and the establishment of the major Heaton Rail Depot. In 1889, the world-renowned engineer Sir Charles Algernon Parsons founded C. A. Parsons and Company in Heaton for the production of turbine generators.

Despite these and more, such as the Ringtons Tea business (which even today provides door-to-door service to over a 1/4 million customers in the UK), employment opportunities for a (supposedly uneducated) boy such as Douglas who left school aged ‘about 14′ were very limited apart from working on the land or down in the coal mines.

However, in the North East of England, there was an outlet which although very much in its infancy at the end of the 19th century would change Douglas’ life forever…and that outlet was GOLF.

Club Attendant

The ‘Town Moor’ in Newcastle Upon Tyne is common land which covers an area larger than that of Central Park in New York!! Towards the end of 1891, a course was laid out on the ‘Town Moor’ by Old Tom Morris and by the summer of the following year this course was shared by the City of Newcastle Golf Club and the Newcastle United Workmen’s Golf Club.

In 1898, a splinter group of over 100 members left the City of Newcastle Golf Club to establish Northumberland Golf Club in High Gosforth Park, about six miles north of Newcastle.

After leaving school, Douglas urgently needed to find paid employment to enable him to contribute to the Edgar families meagre income and thus he secured the role of ‘Club Attendant’ at the newly formed Northumberland Golf Club, where his primary duty was to caddy for the members.

(For completeness…in 1907 the City of Newcastle Golf Club moved to its current home about 3 miles north of Newcastle. The Newcastle United Workmen’s Golf Club was renamed Newcastle United Golf Club, though there is no formal connection with the Football Club!! And in 1973 they moved the short distance to their current home on Nuns Moor)

Apprenticeship

In October 1898, the renowned clubmaker John S Caird became the professional at the City of Newcastle Golf Club. The following year, Douglas left his role as Club Attendant to commence a 4-year apprenticeship as an assistant professional and clubmaker under the mentorship of Caird.

Based on several Newspaper articles, Douglas then started to play golf at the Newcastle United Workmen’s Golf Club and within 2 to 3 years he was playing off a handicap of +2!!

The Colonel

After serving his apprenticeship he returned to Northumberland Golf Club to take up the position of Head Professional.

At the time, most provincial newspapers in the UK such as the Newcastle Daily Chronicle dedicated numerous column inches to golf. There was a section titled ‘Golf Notes by The Colonel’ and on the 16th January 1904 his preview of the golfing year ahead included the following snippet:

“Young Douglas Edgar, the smart professional at Northumberland Golf Club, has been doing singularly small scores recently…I venture to prophesy that Douglas will be heard of shortly in some of the open professional competitions”

The Colonels narrative style was certainly in vogue at that time!! But with the benefit of hindsight I have no doubt he would have written:

“I venture to prophesy that in time Douglas will be heard of around the world”

Upwards Trajectory

Douglas was one of the youngest professionals (at only 19 years of age) who entered the 1904 Open Championship which was held at Royal St George’s Golf Club. Although he missed the cut in his first major championship with rounds of 89 and 88, it was most definitely the origin of his sustained year-on-year continuous improvement trajectory as a golfer in professional tournaments (36 and 72 holes).

The following year he once again missed the cut at The Open but in 1906 at Muirfield and in 1907 at Royal Liverpool he finished 43rd and T50 respectively. At Royal Liverpool in particular, his battling qualities were noted as he played in the worst of the inclement weather to make the cut.

Marriage

Early in 1907, James Douglas Edgar married Margaret Coulson…more on their relationship as Douglas’ story evolves.

Course Records Part 1 (1903-1908)

Douglas exhibited on several occasions his ability to post low scores (as ‘The Colonel’ alluded to earlier!!) in one-off 18 hole rounds. In 1903 at Northumberland Golf Club, his home course, he equalled the course record of 72. Every time the course was altered/lengthened he established a new course record with the most remarkable being in 1906 when he shot a stunning 65 (1×2, 6×3, 10×4, 1×5)!! The following year the course was altered once again but a 68 reclaimed the course record.

In 1908 at Goswick (a golf course which today hosts Open qualifying) he shot an incredible 69…it was the first time he had played on these historic links and according to reports ‘the gale was blowing from a very unfavourable direction’.

Artist

In 1908, Douglas did not play in The Open but he did play in a prestigious open tournament at Manchester Golf Club. This 36 hole stroke play event ended in a tie on 143 between (eventual major winners) Ted Ray and George Duncan…Douglas finished only 3 strokes behind on 146 (73-73).

In the subsequent match-play competition which was contested by the top qualifiers from the stroke play, George Duncan beat Douglas Edgar 2&1 in the final. After the final, a respected golf commentator reported that:

“Douglas Edgar uses his irons like an artist…the ability is there and experience alone is required to increase his skill”

Slowly but surely, Douglas was gaining the requisite experience to hopefully one day break into the elite echelon.

Additional Income

I uncovered in an edition of ‘The Westminster Gazette’ from 1909 what can only be described as a classified advertisement and maybe one of the first examples where Douglas attempted to generate ‘extracurricular’ income aligned with his undoubted belief in his golfing ability.

In the brief article/advert, Douglas promoted the Pentland Golf Ball which he had used whilst equalling his course record at Goswick (69) and setting new course records at Newbiggin Golf Club (72) and the City of Newcastle Golf Club (74)…and all three were achieved in a Calendar Month!!

Open Championship (1909-1913)

Douglas returned to The Open in 1909 at Royal Cinque Ports and finished T26. Although never in contention, he finished strongly by posting his best scores in the 3rd and 4th rounds (a feature of his tournament play that would occur in several future tournaments).

He then finished T38 (St Andrews) and T49 (Royal St George’s) in 1910 and 1911 respectively.

And then…in 1912 at Muirfield, qualifying was re-introduced due to the number of entries (the Top 20 and ties qualified from each of three sectional events). Douglas finished 3rd in his qualifier and although in The Open itself he never threatened the leaders he achieved his best finish up to that point (T20).

The following year at Royal Liverpool, Douglas had a disastrous 2nd round and just made the cut, but recovered well to eventually finish T39.

Course Records Part 2 (1910-1913)

Golf reporters consistently highlighted Douglas’ putting as his bête noire and possibly the reason why he was unable to string 4 rounds together during a 72 hole tournament such as The Open. Conversely, it could also explain why on his day his phenomenal ability enabled him to continue breaking so many course records…including:

1910 ~ City of Newcastle Golf Club (71), beating his own record by 3 shots.

1913 ~ Warkworth Golf Club (71).

1913 ~ Northumberland Golf Club…(68)…course altered again!!

1913 ~ Goswick Golf Club (66), beating his own record by 3 shots with an outward half of 35 and an incredible inward half of 31…for those (myself included) who have had the pleasure of playing this championship links course, will know what a superlative round that must have been, even more so when one considers it was more than a century ago.

The above course records set in 1913 were accomplished in just less than five weeks!!

Head-2-Head

To further his golfing education and experience, Douglas played several matches against the best players of the day, including the following head-2-head contests at Northumberland Golf Club against 2 of the ‘Great Triumvirate’.

In 1912 vs. J. H. Taylor…the golf and scoring over 36 holes of match play were of the highest quality. Douglas was 1 up after the morning round but in the afternoon a 3-3-3 finish saw Taylor secure victory by 2 holes.

In 1914 vs. Harry Vardon…played a few weeks before The Open at Prestwick (where Vardon would secure his record-breaking 6th Open Championship), Douglas narrowly lost both the morning’s match play and the afternoon singles, but the large gallery observed a maturity, sureness and accuracy with his putting…could this be the breakthrough moment…only time would tell?

At the end of the match, Douglas Edgar said something along the lines of:

“I don’t care what anybody else says…as far as I am concerned Harry Vardon is the best player ever”

Unorthodox

For several years, Douglas had been struggling with a deteriorating hip which impacted his ability to turn freely. Thus he assimilated his observations and learnings from the swings of his contemporaries with the restrictions of his impaired movement to establish a modified swing.

The modification resulted in him shortening his backswing and reducing his hip turn…and through constant ‘trial and success’ practice he established a swing that was repeatable, more powerful and more controlled.

Some of his other drills were perceived to be unorthodox such as hitting hundreds of balls between railway lines to improve the straightness of his shots and playing hundreds of practice shots close to the running rails at Newcastle Racecourse to simulate differing and challenging approaches (to a green).

1914 Open Championship

Douglas carried the confidence gained from his match with Harry Vardon into the Open Championship. For the first time, he was prominent on the leaderboard and after 36 holes he was T5, only 4 shots behind (the eventual champion) Vardon.

After a disappointing 3rd round and a recovering final round, Douglas finished T14…this would turn out to be his best-ever finish at The Open.

Dix-neuf quatorze Open de France

Douglas Edgar was not even sure that his entry form for the 1914 French Open at Le Touquet had been posted in time, so he travelled to France with much ‘uncertainty’ to join one of the strongest ever fields assembled for a professional tournament…Harry Vardon, J. H. Taylor, James Braid, Ted Ray and Arnaud Massy to name but five.

Played over 2 days, the first morning saw Harry Vardon and Douglas Edgar lead after they both shot 71, a new professional course record…in the afternoon, Vardon struggled with his putting and fell off the pace slightly leaving Douglas (71-74) and J. H. Taylor (72-73) leading on 145.

In the 3rd round, Douglas bettered the course record with a 70 to be 5 shots ahead of the field…but could he hang on and secure a historic wire-to-wire success? In the words of the inimitable Bernard Darwin of The Times:

“In the final round, he continued to play wonderfully fine golf, long straight-driving iron shots, straight on the pin, and putting that had no luck to help…indeed it is hard to imagine anything better”

Douglas Edgar shot a final round of 73 for a winning aggregate score of 288, six shots ahead of Harry Vardon…an incredible performance for which he won a medal and 1250 French Francs (about £50).

Northumberland Golf Club honoured his success by presenting Douglas with a half-hunter watch and a cheque from the members.

Michael Moran

A couple of weeks after returning home as the newly crowned French Open Champion, Douglas Edgar was victorious in a 36 hole Exhibition Match at Seaham Harbour Golf Club played against George Duncan (who would go on to win the 1920 Open) and Micheal Moran the professional at Seaham who was the best Irish Professional of his generation and had finished T3 at the previous years Open.

One week later, which was a month after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia…the start of the Great War.

Douglas Edgar answered the call to service and enlisted with the RAMC (Royal Army Medical Corps) Territorial Force.

Michael Moran joined the South Irish Horse, a special reserve cavalry regiment…in April 1918 he was critically wounded and died…aged only 31.

War Funds

In addition to his duties with the RAMC, Douglas played in several Exhibition Matches (locally and nationally) to raise funds for the war effort, such as for the Red Cross, St. John Ambulance and the purchase of tobacco and cigarettes for the local troops at the front…all artefacts such as the scorecards and the golf balls used were auctioned as part of the fundraising.

Possibly the most eagerly anticipated Exhibition Match was organised by the West Bradford Golf Club for the Bradford Lord Mayor’s (who himself was an ardent golfer) War Relief Fund….an 18 hole Foursomes contest to be played by Harry Vardon (1914 Open Champion) and Ivo Whitton (1913 Australian Open Champion) vs. Ted Ray (1912 Open Champion) and Douglas Edgar (1914 French Open Champion)!!

(This photograph appeared in the ‘BRADFORD WEEKLY TELEGRAPH’ on Friday, January 22, 1915. Newspaper image © The British Library Board. All rights reserved. With thanks to The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

The match attracted a very large crowd…unfortunately, the calmness of the winter morning sunshine that greeted the players quickly gave way to diabolical weather of hail and strong winds!! All 4 players gallantly played on but after 9 holes, with Edgar (playing in khaki) and Ray 1up, there was no alternative but to abandon the match.

Despite this, about £70 was realised for the War Relief Fund, which included the £12 for Vardon’s Ball during the auction that followed.

Discharge

In March 1918, Douglas Edgar was discharged from the RAMC during the period of embodiment as he was declared no longer physically fit for war service, due to suffering from adhesions of the tissues of the left hip.

New Beginning

For over fifteen years Douglas Edgar had been the Professional at Northumberland Golf Club where his ability to coach professionals, elite amateurs and members of all playing levels was widely recognised as ‘second to none’.

However, behind the scenes, all was not well… it was an open secret that he was a little too popular with some of the lady members, gambled more than he could afford and had a liking for a drink. As a consequence, he found himself in trouble on occasions with the (Golf Club) committee and inevitably there was a parting of the ways.

As Britain started the long and painful process to rebuild following the end of WW1, a number of professional golfers emigrated to the United States where golf was starting to grow in popularity. With his employment at Northumberland Golf Club at an end, James Douglas Edgar, lured by the ‘golfing dollar’ decided that his future life and golfing career would be best served by emigrating across the Atlantic…but no one, especially Douglas, could have ever foreseen the extraordinary events that would unfold, both on and off the golf course, over the next 3 years.

Druid Hills

Douglas Edgar set sail to New York in March 1919 (his wife Margaret and their 2 children stayed behind in the UK though they joined him a few months later). Almost immediately he secured the position of Head Professional at Druid Hills Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia.

Druid Hills, established in 1912, was initially designed by English Professional golfer and golf course architect Herbert Haydn Barker. His design philosophy was to create more challenging golf course layouts that would elevate the game in the United States and this he certainly achieved at Druid Hills.

Douglas was a popular Head Professional who proudly represented Druid Hills in Tournaments, and his coaching services were much in demand…one of his high profile clients was Asa Griggs Candler, the founder of The Coca-Cola Company!!

Located about 3 miles to the south-east of Druid Hills is East Lake Golf Club, which was the home course of Bobby Jones (possibly the greatest golfer of all time) and Alexa Stirling (whose achievements including winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur on three occasions)…both of whom were coached by East Lake professional Stewart Maiden.

Bobby Jones was a veritable prodigy and was only 17 years of age when he first met Douglas Edgar…they played many 36-hole practise rounds together and Jones solicited additional advice and coaching from Douglas who in turn informed anybody who would listen that one day Bobby Jones would create a surprise in the golfing world…a bit of an understatement!!

In 1920 he also started to give golf lessons to Alexa Stirling after which she continued to be one the great Amateur Champions.

U.S. Open and PGA

In June 1919 Douglas played in his first U.S. Open at the Brae Burn Country Club, Massachusetts where he finished T21. In September of that year, he successfully came through the sectional qualifiers to play in the PGA Championship at the Engineers Country Club, New York. In those days the PGA was a knockout match play tournament contested over 5 (36-hole) rounds and in 1919 Douglas reached the Quarter-Finals.

1919 Canadian Open

In between the U.S. Open and PGA championships, Douglas travelled to the Hamilton Golf and Country Club, Ontario to play in his first Canadian Open. No championships were played in Britain and France following the immediate aftermath of WW1 and so the Canadian Open assembled an entry list comparable with any tournament that year…Jim Barnes, Leo Diegel, Francis Ouimet and Bobby Jones inter alia.

At the end of the first round Bobby Jones (who as commented earlier was only 17 years of age in 1919) was leading with a score of 71, one shot ahead of Douglas Edgar…but then, and using today’s parlance, Douglas effectively ‘blew the field away’!!

He continued to play better and better with subsequent rounds of 71, 69 and 66 to win by a staggering 16 shots from Bobby Jones, Jim Barnes and defending champion Karl Keffer who finished T2.

After the championship, Bobby Jones shared his views on Douglas’ course record 66:

“What a round that 66 was. I watched most of it and Douglas was playing tricks with the ball, bending it out of bounds to make it come in with a great run toward the green on a dog-leg hole…that sort of thing. His approach shots were so good that only on one green did he have a putt of more than a dozen feet. That was at the 300 yard 12th where he drove the green and just missed a long putt for an eagle 2”

His aggregate score of 278 was a world record for a 72-hole Championship, beating the 279 posted by Harry Vardon when he won the German Open in 1911…this record would last until the mid-1930s when eventually broken by Bryon Nelson.

His winning margin of 16 shots remains as the longest unbroken record in PGA golfing history…and it is hard to imagine it ever being broken.

(For completeness, Douglas Edgar’s winner’s share of the overall purse was $200…one hundred years later, Rory McIlroy’s winner’s share of the overall purse was $1.368m)

1920 PGA Championship

A very congested schedule resulted in the 1920 U.S. Open, PGA Championship and Canadian Open being played over 3 consecutive weeks!!

Douglas finished T20 in the U.S. Open played at the Inverness Club, Ohio which was slightly disappointing considering he shot 73 in the first round to be handily placed T3.

The following week, the PGA Championship was played at Flossmoor Country Club, Illinois. Back in the day, the PGA was only open to professionals resident in the United States and was viewed as the toughest of all the championships to win.

On route to the final Douglas won his knockout (36-hole) matches by 1up, 11&9, 5&4 and 8&7. In the final, he was up against Jock Hutchison…born in St. Andrews, Jock had become a naturalised American citizen and was rated as the top American professional at that time. Even though Hutchison had finished T2 in the previous weeks U.S. Open, Douglas was the overwhelming favourite (based on the amount of money wagered on him at the course!!).

After the morning 18 holes, Hutchinson narrowly led by 1 hole and then in the afternoon he won the 7th, 8th and 10th to be 4up with 8 holes remaining…looking ‘down and out’, Douglas staged an incredible rally to win the 11th, 14th and 15th to reduce the gap to 1 hole with 3 to play. But then…Hutchinson played a miraculous recovery shot to win the 16th to be dormie 2…somehow, Douglas won the 17th and so the protagonists headed up the 36th and final hole. Hutchison played defensive and Douglas had no option but to play aggressive…but the hole was eventually halved in fives and Jock Hutchison was crowned champion, with Douglas a gallant losing finalist.

This was the closest Douglas Edgar ever came to winning a major…

1920 Canadian Open

The following week, Douglas teed off as the defending champion in the 1920 Canadian Open played at the beautiful Rivermead Golf Club, Ottawa.

The tournament was played over 2 days and at the end of the first day, Douglas was T6 on 151 (76-75), 4 shots behind the leader. Others in contention after 36 holes were Tommy Armour from Edinburgh (who had not as yet turned professional) and Albert Murray who had already won the Canadian Open on two previous occasions.

The following day, Douglas’ gradual improvement and strong finish were to the fore once again and rounds of 74-73 saw him finish on 298 and secure a 3-way tie with Armour and Murray.

The 18 hole playoff was contested the following afternoon and despite the best efforts of Armour and Murray, Douglas successfully retained his Canadian Open title with a score of 73 (for the record Murray shot a 74 and Armour a 75).

At the 1919 Canadian Open Douglas had demonstrated the ability to win from the front and this time the ability to win from behind…but to a champion golfer such as Douglas the position at the winning post is what really matters!!

(Tommy Armour would eventually win 3 major championships and at times was coached by none other than James Douglas Edgar!!)

1920 Southern States Open

The previous year, the 1-2-3 at the Southern States Open was Jim Barnes, Bobby Jones and Douglas Edgar respectively.

In 1920, the event was played at East Lake Golf Club and the same three players contested the title. This time though, with his trademark strong finish, Douglas shot a final round 70 to pip Bobby Jones yet again with Jim Barnes in third…Douglas never won another tournament!!

The Gate to Golf

In 1920, a book titled ‘The Gate to Golf’ was published and the author was James Douglas Edgar.

Douglas’ views on the coaching of golf are beautifully captured in this slim volume. Each book came with an ‘India rubber contrivance’ known as ‘The Gate’ whose purpose was to help club golfers whatever their ability to secure the correct movement* of the club.

(* The manner in which the clubhead meets the ball is the essential part of the golf swing…the 2 or 3 feet before and after impact is what Douglas meant by movement)

When published it had an immediate and significant impact on golf instruction and his theories still persist to this day. His thoughts were very much based on his swing which had been modified as a consequence of his ailing hip, with the emphasis on left-side dominance and the importance of hitting the golf ball from ‘inside to out’.

I attempted to obtain permission to use a diagram of ‘The Gate’ from his book but hitherto I have not received a reply from the organisation who I believe now hold the copyright…thus the diagram below is a pseudo-bespoke (Golfing Herald) illustration!!

‘The Gate’ consisted of a Long Arm and a Short Arm positioned about 5 to 6 inches apart, with the ball on a small rubber tee and the direction of shot and path of the clubhead indicated accordingly…for slices and hooks with a wooden club and for all iron shots ‘The Gate’ and path of the clubhead are re-positioned accordingly.

(If you are interested, the book is available in Hardcover, Paperback and eBook though unfortunately when I searched without the physical ‘Gate’…IMHO a fascinating, brilliant read)

Hit and Run

Douglas returned to the UK in December 1920 to be with his wife and children (who had earlier sailed back to the UK) with the intention of returning to the United States early in 1921…but for reason(s) that I have been unable to cross-reference and validate he changed his plans and stayed in the UK up to and including The Open at St Andrews where he finished down the field T26…the winner was Jock Hutchison, his nemesis from the PGA Championship!!

After The Open, Douglas returned (late June / early July) to the United States to resume his duties as Head Professional at Druid Hills Golf Club. The Royal Candian Golf Association fully expected him to play at Toronto Golf Club in an attempt to win the Canadian Open for the third time…but he never showed.

Not long afterwards, at about 23:30 on 8th August 1921, James Douglas Edgar was found in a pool of blood on West Peachtree Street, Atlanta…which was very close to his home. Only 36 years of age, Douglas died in hospital in the early hours of 9th August 1921…and his tragic death was believed to have been caused by a ‘hit and run’.

Police Investigation

Lamar Poole, Chief of Detectives, co-ordinated the police force to examine hundreds of local automobiles in an attempt to find one with a broken fender or no fender at all…they drew a blank.

But then…at the Coroner’s inquest, it was ascertained that all of Douglas’ injuries were on the lower part of his body. His right hip was bruised and the skin slightly grazed but nothing consistent with being struck and killed by an automobile. The Coroner’s jury decided that Douglas died by bleeding from a severed femoral artery and that the wound was a narrow, deep stab on the inner side of the left leg from which he bled to death…it could not have been caused by being hit by an automobile.

Douglas’ death was now a murder investigation. Over the next couple of years or so, Lamar Poole and his team worked diligently to find his killer(s) but sadly to no avail and the police investigation was eventually closed.

In October 1924, just over 3 years after his death, his widow Margaret finally received his effects, which totalled £355.

The death of James Douglas Edgar remains unsolved.

Theories

There were several lines of enquiry explored by the police during the murder investigation, but none were ever proven, including:

• He refused to bow to gangland threats to throw the 1920 Southern States Open…large bets had been placed on (the eventual runner up) Bobby Jones.
• He was having an affair with a Japanese lady who was the wife of Japanese florist William Abbey (real name unknown)…Abbey had previously been tried and acquitted of shooting someone…and a Japanese lady was seen visiting Douglas’ grave soon after his burial.
• He refused to throw a match with a golfer from Atlanta on which a lot of money had been wagered.

Obituary

To finish…thoughts and quotes, opening with a quote (extracted from the preface in ‘The Gate to Golf’) by the great man himself:

“We are born into this world, not for ourselves, but for others”

Harry Vardon, who was normally quite reserved said “This is the man who will one day be the greatest of us all”

In 1960, Tommy Armour credited the genius of Douglas Edgar for the secret to his success and praised him as the father of the modern-day golf swing saying “He is one of the many great players I took lessons from, but he was undoubtedly the greatest of them all and taught me the most”

Bobby Jones considered Douglas Edgar as the man responsible for inventing the inside-out swing and felt that if Edgar’s life hadn’t been cut short, he would have “continued to develop innovative golfing ideas”

In 1947, Joe Williams, who was one of America’s top sport’s writers wrote “When the mood was on him, he could tear apart any golf course that was ever built”

On your day you were unbeatable and so from one proud Geordie to another…

“Ah hope yas alreet Bonny Lad”

Acknowledgements

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

• John Pearson ~ Secretary/Trustee, Women Golfers’ Museum
• Margaret McLaren ~ ‘Self-appointed’ Historian, Club de golf Rivermead
• Damian Connearn ~ Business Development Manager, West Bradford Golf Club
• Rory Davidson ~ Secretary, Goswick Golf Club
• Bruce Chalmers ~ Collector of Golf History (@TheGolfDivoTee™)
• Julie Stephenson ~ Administrator, Northumberland Golf Club
• Joey Wheeler ~ General Manager, Druid Hills Golf Club
• Jean Leduc ~ Directeur, Golf et Opérations, Club de golf Rivermead
• Arthur Andrews ~ Researcher & Committee Member, Heaton History Group
• Joe Stoner ~ Member of ‘Find a Grave’
• British Newspaper Archives
• Sky Vantage Productions