The Leeds Cup

Since launching Golfing Herald back in December 2018, I have been incredibly lucky with the unconditional input and support provided by the global golfing community. None more so than when I had the pleasure of spending time in the company of former European and Challenge Tour player Ben Mason for an article for our ‘Meet the Professional’ series. During our chat, we talked about the Leeds Cup and how in 2014 he realised one of his golfing ambitions by winning this historic trophy.

At the time I thought the Leeds Cup would be a really interesting topic for an article in the ‘History of Golf’ series. Little did I know that the more I investigated the more I would uncover about the history, the characters, the stories, the anecdotes and so on.

Thus, my initial curiosity and interest accelerated into an addictive thirst for knowledge, wanting to learn so much more about:

‘The oldest trophy in professional golf that is still played for anywhere in the world’

I hope you enjoy the article.

Tooting Bec Cup

If golfing history had turned a different corner, then this article would have actually been titled the ‘Tooting Bec Cup’!! Why?

Organised by the London and Counties Professional Golfers Association, the inaugural Tooting Bec Cup was played on 15th October 1901, thus predating the Leeds Cup which was contested for the first time the following year.

Originally played as a 36-hole competition, golfing greats such as J.H. Taylor, James Braid and Harry Vardon won this prestigious event. However, in 1924, the Tooting Bec Cup ceased to be a standalone, competitive tournament. Instead, the Tooting Bec Cup (which is actually a medal rather than a cup!!) is awarded to the PGA Member born in, or with parents born in, the UK or the Republic of Ireland who returns the lowest single round during the Open Championship. Recipients of this medal include Peter Alliss (low score of 67 in 1959), Colin Montgomerie (low score of 64 in 2002) and Ian Poulter (low score of 67 in 2013).

The Leeds Cup is Born

On 2nd December 1901, the above mentioned London and Counties Professional Golfers Association changed its name to the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA).

On 9th January 1902, a meeting was held in Leeds where the Northern Counties Professional Golfers Association was formed. At a meeting of this Association a couple of months later, it was agreed to amalgamate with the (London based) PGA and thus become the northern section of the PGA. At the same meeting, an offer was made from Leeds Golf Club to host a Professional Tournament on 6th May 1902. The prize was presented to the PGA by Alderman Penrose-Green, who was the Lord Mayor of Leeds and President of Leeds Golf Club…and thus the Leeds Cup was born.

Back in 1902, the life of an elite golf professional was far removed from that of today’s superstars such as Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood. In an attempt to earn a living they would invariably be attached to a Golf Club and fulfil duties such as making clubs, making balls, greenkeeping, teaching…and playing in Tournaments.

A total of 26 professionals entered the inaugural Leeds Cup, including:

• John Henry ‘J.H.’ Taylor (Mid-Surrey Golf Club), who by 1902 had won the Open Championship 3 times (1894, 1895 and 1900).
• Harry Vardon (Ganton Golf Club), who by 1902 had also won the Open Championship 3 times (1896, 1898 and 1899) and the US Open (1900).
• Alexander ‘Sandy’ Herd (Huddersfield Golf Club), who won the Open Championship at Hoylake just 4 weeks after the inaugural Leeds Cup.

Despite being played in the month of May, the very changeable British weather inevitably played its part…cold, windy and the occasional hailstone storm, punctuated by sunny intervals. Despite the challenging conditions, Harry Vardon was victorious with a winning score of 149 (76+73), with Taylor and Herd finishing T2, 4 shots behind Vardon…for the record Sandy Herd went on to win the Leeds Cup in 1904 and 1905.

On the day before his 15th birthday, Bertie Snowball (Bradford Golf Club) won the prize for best apprentice (or assistant professional in today’s world)…he went on to enjoy a short, distinguished golfing career but he was sadly killed in action in Flanders in 1915.

Venue

The Leeds Golf Club is rightly considered as the spiritual home of the Leeds Cup. But when you examine the records, many clubs have had the honour to host this annual 36-hole event. In the early years, it tended to be played on an alternative basis between the English counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire. Historic UK courses such as Ganton, Wallasey, Alwoodley and Lytham & St Annes all hosted the Leeds Cup during this period.

Eclectic Format

Since the early 1950s, the Leeds Cup has been played as a 36 hole strokeplay event, very much in the spirit of the 1902 event, although today it is played over consecutive days. However, in years gone by, in conjunction with the ‘Main Event’:

• The 1904 & 1905 renewals doubled up as the PGA Northern section qualifying events for the News of World Matchplay Tournament.
• From 1911 to 1914 the Cup was awarded to the winner of the PGA Northern section qualifying competition for the Sphere & Tatler Foursomes Tournament.
• From 1920 to 1927 and from 1948 to 1950 the Cup was awarded to the winner of the PGA Northern section qualifying competition for the Daily Mail Tournament.
• From 1930 to 1939 and in 1946 & 1947 the Cup was awarded to the winner of the northern section qualifying competition for the News of World Matchplay Tournament.

(If you wish to find out much more about the News of the World Matchplay, Sphere & Tatler Foursomes and Daily Mail Tournaments, all of which are no longer contested, then just lose yourself in the labyrinth known as the worldwide web…and/or back editions of the Glasgow Herald!!)

Engraver’s Blushes Spared!!

Edward Rivers John ‘Ted’ Ray was a British Professional Golfer. He was one of the leading players of his generation, winning the Open Championship in 1912 and the US Open in 1920.

He won the Leeds Cup on five occasions, with the most ‘humourous’ being in 1911. At that time he was attached to Ganton Golf Club, having succeeded Harry Vardon in this prestigious role. Having won the Leeds Cup in 1910, the trophy was kept at Ganton Golf Club but when he arrived at Roundhay Golf Club for the 1911 renewal, it was noticed that the trophy had already been engraved with his name as the 1911 Champion!!

Thankfully, Ted Ray saved the blushes of all, in particular, the engraver by winning with a score of 147 (72+75).

The man atop the Ryder Cup?

Henry Abraham ‘Abe’ Mitchell won the Leeds Cup in 1929 with a score of 143, played at Blackpool North Shore Golf Club, pipping none other than Henry Cotton by a single shot.

In many ways, he was the Colin Montgomerie of his day…a distinguished amateur and professional career with many tournament victories but just falling short in the majors.

A few years before Abe Mitchell’s success in the Leeds Cup, the entrepreneur Samuel Ryder sponsored the ‘Heath and Heather’ professional golf tournament, which was named after his seed company (Samuel Ryder had originated the idea of selling garden seeds in packets!!). At this tournament, he struck up an immediate friendship with Abe Mitchell who from 1925 was hired as Samuel Ryder’s personal golf instructor at Verulam Golf Club, St Albans.

Samuel Ryder paid homage to his friend and coach by requesting that the golfer atop the lid of the Ryder Cup be modelled on Abe Mitchell.

As a further nice link/twist, Abe Mitchell shot a 68 in the 1933 Open Championship at St Andrews, the lowest single-round of the Championship and thus he was awarded the Tooting Bec Cup (Medal)!!

Gary Player

In the early 1930’s the rules for participation in the Leeds Cup were amended by the PGA North Region, in that they restricted entry to PGA Members of the North Region plus any Professional from overseas who was playing in the Northern qualifying section of the PGA Match Play Championship.

Very hard to imagine or even believe today, but back in 1955 a very young, fresh-faced Gary Player was playing in Britain for the first time and in that year he actually played in the Leeds Cup held at Huddersfield Golf Club…which apparently he should have won!!

By kind permission of Leeds Golf Club, I have reproduced his memories from that tournament which he kindly shared to celebrate the return of the Leeds Cup to Leeds (Cobble Hall) Golf Club in 2006.

“As I came to the last hole, I needed five to win the tournament. There was a stone wall on the 18th and I thought that I could bank my shot off the wall on to the green. I went for it… and the ball hit me in the jaw and knocked me down!!”

“They gave me some smelling salts. Dazed, I then chipped the ball on to the green. I thought, great… four shots. I then holed the putt for five and thought I’d won the tournament, only to find out I was given a two-shot penalty for hitting myself!!”

“I send my best wishes and wish the Leeds Cup much success”

Gary Player returned to play in the Leeds Cup on a few further occasions…a true gentleman and a golfing legend.

Youngest Winner

In England the year 1966 will forever be synonymous with the national team winning the Football World Cup and captain Bobby Moore proudly lifting the Jules Rimet Trophy.

In the same year, the Leeds Cup was played at Hopwood Park, Manchester Golf Club, attracting a very strong field including several European Tour and GB&I Ryder Cup players such as Dave Thomas, John Garner, Alex Caygill and Hedley Muscroft. However, they were all eclipsed by David Naylor, who triumphed with a score of 142 (69+73).

David was the Assistant Professional at Carlisle Golf Club and at 19 years and 3 months became the youngest winner of the oldest trophy.

Miscellany

Some further facts & figures:

• 4 Open Champions won the Leeds Cup (Harry Vardon, Ted Ray, Sandy Herd and George Duncan)
• Leeds Cup winners George Duncan, Abe Mitchell and Archie Compston represented Great Britain in the historic 1929 Ryder Cup match vs the USA, played at Moortown Golf Club, which GB won 7-5.
• A further 9 Leeds Cup winners, including Howard Clark and Gordon J Brand, have played in the biennial Ryder Cup.
• George Davies of Wallasey Golf Club, who won the Leeds Cup in 1939, buried the Trophy plus other silverware at the outbreak of WW2 for safekeeping…thankfully he remembered where they had been buried!!
• The 100th Staging of the Leeds Cup was played at Moortown Golf Club in 2015 and was won by Welsh Professional Golfer Garry Houston.

Gareth Davies

Rolling forward to 2019 and the 104th edition of the Leeds Cup which was played on 7th & 8th August at Leeds Golf Club.

Gareth Davies of Abbeydale Golf Club added his name to the roll of honour with a superb winning score of 135.

The cliché that ‘actions speak louder than words’ is not applicable when playing back Gareth’s winning speech, which beautifully encapsulates the history and the standing of the Leeds Cup within the professional golfing calendar.

“It’s a fantastic achievement and one I feel very proud to have accomplished, to have my name sit alongside some of the greats of the game is a truly surreal feeling”

“This is only my second time competing in the Leeds Cup and you get a sense of the history of the tournament at this fantastic venue, the changes in the course from 2018 are here for everyone to see and I look forward to coming back and trying to defend my title in 2020. The club has been fantastic and working alongside the PGA to reinvigorate this Championship is something I am looking forward to seeing and being a part of”

I have thoroughly enjoyed the process to try and produce an article about this historic golf event and hopefully do it justice. I acknowledge that I have only skimmed the surface to extract some of the key events and stories…if nothing else, I have uncovered limitless material for potential articles in this ‘History of Golf’ series.

Thanks

Finally, I just wanted to place on record a huge thanks to:

• Ben Mason ~ for sowing the seed for this article.
• Paul Mawman ~ the secretary of Leeds Golf Club, who so kindly shared an array of historical artefacts.
• David Naylor ~ for asking whether he is still the youngest winner of the oldest trophy!!