Henry Gullane

Henry Gullane (19 May 1874 – 2 May 1907) was a Scottish professional golfer. Gullane finished in eighth place in the 1899 U.S. Open, held 14–15 September 1899, at Baltimore Country Club in Baltimore, Maryland.

Early life Henry Gullane was born on 19 May 1874 at 4 Market Place, North Berwick, Scotland, to James Gullane, a fisherman, and his wife Janet Gullane née Taylor. Harry and his brother Andrew were granted their professional tickets on the West Links in April 1893. Gullane played in the Open Championship at Muirfield in 1896. This was the last Open that Old Tom Morris played in at the age of 75. Gullane emigrated to America, sailing from Liverpool on the SS Rhynland of the Red Star Line and arrived in Philadelphia on 20 January 1897. In 1898 he was appointed assistant pro and greenkeeper at the Philadelphia Country Club, where he also held the course record of 77 strokes. The day before the championship they held a driving contest and Gullane finished second with a drive of 264 yards 2 feet 9 inches. Willie Hoare had the winning drive which was 269 yards 7 feet 6 inches. The big drives were long by 19th century standards as the gutta-percha ball was still in use at that time. In 1900 Gullane was the professional at the Philadelphia Cricket Club (Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania). In April that year he partnered Willie Thompson of the Huntingdon Valley Country Club in an exhibition match against Harry Vardon at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. It was reported in The New York Times that Gullane outdrove Vardon by 10 to 15 yards. Vardon, however, won the match. Gullane entered the 1900 U.S. Open from Pittsburgh where he laid out the course for Pittsburgh Golf Club (Pennsylvania). He was 32 years old and his wife Margaret survived the incident.