Harold Hilton

Harold Horsfall Hilton (12 January 1869 – 5 May 1942) was an English amateur golfer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He won The Open Championship twice, The Amateur Championship four times, and the U.S. Amateur Championship once.

Career

Hilton was born in West Kirby and attended West Buckland School in Devon. In 1892, he won The Open Championship at Muirfield, becoming the second amateur to do so. He won again in 1897 at his home club, Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake. The only other amateurs who have won the Open Championship are John Ball and Bobby Jones. Hilton's autobiography My Golfing Reminiscences was published in 1907.

Hilton also won The Amateur Championship on four occasions, including 1911, when he became the only British player to win the British and U.S. Amateurs in the same year. Hilton retired with a 99–29 record (77.3%) at The Amateur Championship.

From 1905 to 1915, Hilton was a member at Ashford Manor Golf Club in Middlesex (now Surrey), the club having been incorporated in 1902. In 1912, he played a major part in designing Ferndown Golf Club in Dorset which became an Open Championship qualifying course and one of the top 100 courses in the UK.

Personal life Hilton died on 5 May 1942 at Gloucestershire, England at the age 73.

Legacy Hilton was also a golf writer. He was the co-author in 1912 of The Royal and Ancient Game of Golf with Garden Smith. The Donovan and Jerris golf book bibliography says about the book, "Quite simply stated, Hilton and Smith's "The Royal and Ancient Game of Golf" is one of the most magnificent books in the library of golf. Well-illustrated and sweeping in content…" He was also the first editor of Golf Monthly and also the editor of Golf Illustrated.

Hilton also designed many courses. In addition, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978.