Olympic Golf Chaos

‘Olympic Golf Chaos’ is the third and final article in our ‘Golf at the Olympiad’ trilogy. If you have not read one or both of the first two articles of this trilogy and you wish to do so, please click on …

• Tournoi Olympique de Golf, which chronicles the golf events contested at the Summer Olympics of 1900 in Paris, France when golf made its Olympic debut.
• Olympic Golf Marathon, which narrates the festival of golf at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, United States … the like of which we will never again witness.

The final chapters of our trilogy depict the events, at times unduly chaotic, up to and including the abandonment of the golf tournament at the 1908 London Olympics. These events were underpinned and ultimately overshadowed by the sporting battle of wills between the modern Olympic movement and the Edwardian gentleman amateur.

But the melodrama actually begins in the Bay of Naples …

Hope you enjoy

Mount Vesuvius

Bids were received from Berlin, London, Milan and Rome to stage the Games of the IV Olympiad in 1908 and the Italian capital was selected by the International Olympic Committee.

Preparations for the Rome Olympics were well underway when disaster struck. In April 1906 the active volcano Mount Vesuvius violently erupted and more than 100 people were tragically killed. The city of Naples and surrounding municipalities were desolated.

The Italian authorities immediately diverted funds from the Olympics to support the restoration of the historic city of Naples. This meant that Rome could no longer host the 1908 Olympics and a new city had to be found as a matter of urgency … and that city was London.

White City

With only two years to prepare for the 1908 Olympics, the organising committee decided to hold the Games in parallel with the Franco-British Exhibition which was celebrating the Entente Cordiale, a series of agreements intended to improve relations between the United Kingdom and the French Republic.

The Franco-British Exhibition had already acquired an area of land in Shepherd’s Bush, a district of West London, where an artificial lake surrounded by a network of white-painted buildings had been constructed … not surprisingly this area became known as White City.

The White City Stadium, with a capacity of 68,000, was built in only ten months! This iconic athletics stadium hosted about half of the Olympic sports including a tug of war tournament in which Great Britain won gold, silver and bronze through the endeavours of 3 eight-man teams from the City of London Police, Liverpool Police and the Metropolitan Police respectively!

Various other venues such as the Henley Royal Regatta and the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club hosted an array of sporting disciplines … and three historic golf clubs were chosen to host the Olympic golf, namely Royal Cinque Ports, Prince’s and Royal St. George’s Golf Clubs.

Olympic Golf Programme

In January 1908 the finalised golf programme, consisting of a men’s individual medal competition and a men’s team competition, was released by the British Olympic Association.

An individual medal was to be played the week after the 1908 Amateur Championship (played at Royal St. George’s), scheduled as follows …

• Monday 1st June – 36 Holes at Royal St. George’s
• Tuesday 2nd June – 36 Holes at Prince’s
• Wednesday 3rd June – 36 Holes at Royal Cinque Ports

The competition was limited to a maximum of 20 golfers from each country … and in the event of a tie, the competitors were to have a playoff at a date to be fixed by the British Olympic Council!

Details of the proposed team competition are at best sketchy! Each country was permitted to enter a maximum of 4 six-man teams, with the best 4 scores to count for each team (over how many rounds and at which course(s) are unknown to the author!).

Participation

Entries to play in the Olympic Golf had to be made through the respective Olympic Committees of each country. To participate, a golfer had to be a member of a golf club in their respective country and must have never …

• made golf balls, golf clubs or any other article connected with the game of golf for the purposes of selling.
• received any form of payment whilst caddying after reaching the age of 15.
• received any form of payment whilst caddying during the period 1st June 1902 to 31st May 1908.
• received any consideration for playing in a match, or for giving lessons in the game.
• received prize money in any open golf competition for a period of five years prior to 1st September 1886.

George Lyon

One of the first golfers to confirm their participation was Canadian George Lyon, who had prevailed four years earlier in St. Louis to be crowned Olympic Champion.

After winning the gold medal he won the Canadian Amateur Championship in 1905, 1906 and 1907 (bringing his total of Canadian Amateur Championships at that time to six) and was runner up at the 1906 U.S. Amateur Championship, losing narrowly by 2 holes in the 36-hole final to the American Ebenezer ‘Eben’ McBurney Byers.

Even though he was fast approaching his 50th birthday, George Lyon was considered one of the favourites for the 1908 Olympics … though not by all as highlighted in an article that first appeared in the ‘London Chronicle’ which included the following:

“It is quite likely that Mr Lyon will come over with the object of retaining his title … and a great deal more likely that he will go back without it”

In North America, George Lyon was ranked alongside such golfing greats as Chandler Egan and Walter J. Travis but British commentators were bluntly dismissive of his achievements.

Immediate Opposition

The ink had barely dried on the published Olympic Golf Programme when several leading amateur golfers from England and Scotland communicated their vehement opposition to the tournament … John Ball, Robert Maxwell, John Graham, Herbert Fowler and Harry Colt to name but five.

Speaking on behalf of the Royal Ancient Golf Club, John L. Low (who was viewed by several respected commentators as the permanent prime minister of the game) announced that golf was not an Olympic sport. In fact, he declared that the proposed Olympic competitions were against the spirit of the pastime! He then highlighted what he thought was an absurdity with the conditions of the team competition in that a country such as Belgium could enter 4 teams whilst Scotland could enter only 1 team (Great Britain could only enter 4 teams … 1 each from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland).

Herbert Fowler

Herbert Fowler was an English amateur cricketer, an eccentric but at times brilliant amateur golfer, and who was described by Bernard Darwin as perhaps the most daring and original of all golfing architects … and yet … he publicly stated that he could not understand what golf had to do with the ancient games of Greece and that golfers would have had enough by the time the Amateur Championship had been played!

When he received a wire from his long-time friend John L. Low asking him …

“Are you in favour of Olympic Golf?”

… he replied …

“No; all rot”

Letter Etiquette

Despite this protest, the honorary secretary of the British Olympic Association stated that the Olympic golf would, without doubt, proceed as planned. He also declared that he had a distinct recollection of writing to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1906 not long after London had been awarded the Olympics but as far as he could remember had never received a reply!

In response, John L. Low was of the belief that as the British Olympic Association had not asked for a reply or even intimated that their letter had never been acknowledged, then they were obviously not anxious to receive an answer from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club!

Horace Hutchinson

Throughout the next few months there was no cessation in the level of criticism of, and opposition to, golf in the Olympics … and yet there were some notable exceptions, in particular, Leslie Balfour-Melville (Amateur Champion in 1895) and Horace Hutchinson (a prolific writer and the Amateur Champion in 1886 and 1887).

At the beginning of May 1908, Horace Hutchinson wrote a marvellous article which was published in ‘The Westminster Gazette’. The tenor of his short essay was that if he was selected/qualified he would embrace the opportunity to try his luck amongst the Olympians!

Whilst he openly acknowledged the opposition from the cohort he labelled ‘conscientious abstainers’, he expected most if not all of them to forget their scruples and participate … and if they do not play then a much better chance of success for those that do play!

As it happened, Horace Hutchinson was not selected and did not qualify … and the rumblings of discontent continued to grow up to and throughout the Amateur Championship.

Expenses

Back in April 1908, George Lyon confirmed he was more than happy to represent Canada but that he could not afford to meet his own expenses … and then at the 11th hour, it was reported in the Canadian press that he was now refusing to travel to England to defend his Olympic title! Why? Because the Canadian Olympic Committee had sanctioned $400 (Canadian Dollars) to cover his expenses whilst George Lyon outlined why he required $600.

The expenses impasse must have been resolved as George Lyon set sail across the Atlantic to play in the Amateur Championship and then the Olympic Games.

Shocks Galore

An elite field of 197 amateur golfers started to descend on the town of Sandwich on the Kent coast a few days before the opening round of the 1908 Amateur Championship at Royal St. George’s … some choosing to practice whilst others played in the St. George’s Cup.

The field was headed by the defending champion John Ball and he was joined in the draw by a who’s who of British Edwardian gentlemen golfers … Harold Hilton, Samuel Mure Fergusson, John Graham, Harry Colt, Horace Hutchinson, Bernard Darwin and Leslie Balfour-Melville inter alia … as well as Canadian George Lyon.

The Amateur Championship began on Monday 25th May with all of the favourites safely negotiating the 1st round but then in the Rounds of 128 and 64 (the 2nd and 3rd rounds respectively) carnage ensued with several top golfers knocked out including John Ball who was defeated 6&4 in the 2nd round and Harold Hilton who was narrowly beaten by 1 hole in the 3rd round.

Acclimatisation

The tie of the Round of 32 (4th round) was between Harry Colt, at that time the secretary of Sunningdale Golf Club and very much against golf in the Olympics and George Lyon, the defending Olympic Champion … one would have thought there would be a degree of frostiness as a consequence of their polarised views on the Olympics, but by all accounts, they played the match in the spirit befitting of gentlemen golfers.

Everybody imagined the match would be a very close contest … but George Lyon really struggled with his short game and found himself 3 down at the turn. Harry Colt played steady golf throughout and eventually ran out an easy winner by 5&4.

Despite this defeat, George Lyon had readily acclimatised to links golf in preparation for defending his Olympic title the following week.

For the record, Edward Lassen was the surprise winner of the Amateur Championship, defeating fellow Englishman Herbert Taylor by 7&6.

Abandoned

But the following day, Saturday 30th May 1908, it came as absolutely no shock when it was officially announced that the Olympic golf tournament had been abandoned.

Though the explanation provided by the British Olympic Council, which I have paraphrased, for the abandonment less than 48 hours before the event was scheduled to start was something of a surprise …

“The entry forms received from all competitors bar one have been completed in a confusing manner leaving the Olympic Council in the unenviable position of having to return the forms requesting clarity … but regrettably the updated entry forms were never received”

According to the Olympic Council, the only competitor who completed the form correctly was the defending champion, George Lyon!

The question was then asked …

“Does this mean that George Lyon has effectively walked over and retained his Olympic title and thus will be awarded the gold medal?”

Indeed, George Lyon was approached by the Olympic Council to play a single round of golf and then be awarded the gold medal, but he graciously rejected the idea as he didn’t feel he could accept the gold medal without actually competing for it.

Return Home

George Lyon returned home to Toronto, Canada where he continued to promote golf and garner a glittering array of silverware, including …

• Canadian Amateur Champion – 1912 and 1914
• Royal Canadian Golf Association President – 1923
• Canadian Senior Amateur Champion – 1918 to 1923, 1925, 1926, 1928 and 1930
• United States / Canada Senior Champion – 1923, 1930 to 1932

After a short illness, George Lyon died in 1938 aged 79. In 1955 he was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and was one of six golfers inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame upon its inception in 1971.

Official Report

Theodore Andrea Cook was a writer and an art critic and was one of the British representatives on the International Olympic Committee for the 1908 London Olympics. Upon completion of the Olympic Games, he drew up the official report, a volume that runs to an astonishing 800 pages!

In this report, his adroit observation on why golf was abandoned, especially in the opening sentence, was as follows …

“In this country, at any rate, some of its chief votaries are not yet ready to acknowledge its fitness for Olympic competition. A code of rules was drawn up for the games of 1908, which appears in this volume; but owing to the loss of certain early correspondence in connection with the subject, addressed by the British Olympic Council to the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, it was found impossible to carry out the events originally planned”

The Nineteenth

To finish … attempting to draw various parallels, I think it is safe to assume that whatever the ebb and flow in the lead up to the men’s and women’s individual golf events at the next Olympics in 2024 to be played at Le Golf National in Paris …

• L’Équipe will not publish derogatory comments about the respective defending Olympic champions Nelly Korda and Xander Schauffele.
• La Fédération française de golf will work harmoniously with the International Olympic Committee.
• Golfers from all participating countries will be warmly welcomed and treated as equals.
• All entries will be legible and the events will not be abandoned less than 48 hours before the scheduled start!

Acknowledgements

And finally, a massive thanks to …

• Charles Molony ~ Assistant Secretary, Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club
• Robert McGuirk ~ General Manager, Prince’s Golf Club
• Ali McGuirk ~ Business Development Manager, Prince’s Golf Club
• Jason Livy ~ Golf Course Photographer

… for their input and support for this article.