The England–Scotland Amateur Match was an annual men's amateur golf competition organized by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, contested by teams representing England and Scotland, with the winners being presented with the Walker Cup. It was played from 1902 to 1931, although the match lapsed between 1913 and 1921. It was played in connection with The Amateur Championship, on the Saturday either before or after the championship.

The match continued after 1931 but was organised by the national golf unions as part of the Men's Home Internationals, in which Ireland and Wales also competed.

History The 1902 match was decided by holes. After the morning round Scotland led in 5 matches, England in 4 with one level. At that point Scotland led by just one hole 14–13. In the afternoon rounds Scotland led in 6 matches, England in 3 with one level. In the afternoon matches alone Scotland won by 6 holes, 18–12. Over the 36 holes Scotland had won 6 of the 10 matches, England winning the other 4, Scotland winning by 28 holes in their 6 wins, England by 21 in their 4 wins. Some sources give the result as 32–25, the sum of the morning and afternoon results, while others give 28–21. Either way, Scotland won by 7 holes.

The event lapsed after 1912. A match was planned for 1921 but was cancelled because a match between Britain and America had been arranged, the forerunner of the Walker Cup matches.

Starting in 1927 Scotland and Ireland had played an annual match. In 1927 and 1929 this was held in Ireland, before the Irish Amateur Open Championship, while in 1928 and 1930 it was held in Scotland, just before the England–Scotland match.

The 1931 Amateur Championship was held at Royal North Devon. On the previous occasions that it had been held there, there were far fewer Scottish entries than normal and as a consequence the Scottish team was not fully representative. It was therefore decided to hold the England–Scotland match at a different time and on a different venue, being played at Royal Liverpool in August. In addition it was decided to play a match between England and Ireland on the day before. Ireland and Scotland had already decided to hold their match in Ireland in September. It was later arranged that a Welsh team should attend, playing matches against Scotland and Ireland on the days when England were playing Ireland and Scotland. England beat Ireland 10–4 while Wales lost 2–12 to Scotland and 2–11 to Ireland. England did not play Wales. With Scotland winning both their matches and then beating Ireland the following month, they were the unofficial champion country.

The Men's Home Internationals, in which all four countries play each other, started in 1932. In 1952 Raymond Oppenheimer, an ex-England and Walker Cup captain, presented a trophy for the tournament, known as the Raymond Trophy.

Format The 1902 match had teams of 10, who played singles matches over 36 holes. All 36 holes were played and the overall result was decided by holes won. From 1903 the teams were reduced to 9-a-side and the result was decided by matches. Extra holes were played if necessary to achieve a result. The format was changed for 1912, the main consisting of 5 foursomes matches rather than 9 singles.

When the event was revived in 1922 the format was changed. There were teams of 10 playing 5 foursomes matches in the morning and 10 singles in the afternoon. Matches were over 18 holes with halved matches not counting.

Results Year Date Venue Winners Score Ref 1902 26 April Royal Liverpool Scotland 28–21 1903 23 May Muirfield England 5–4 1904 28 May Royal St George's Scotland 6–3 1905 20 May Prestwick Scotland 6–3 1906 19 May Royal Liverpool Scotland 7–2 1907 25 May St Andrews Scotland 8–1 1908 23 May Royal St George's Scotland 5–4 1909 22 May Muirfield Scotland 7–2 1910 28 May Royal Liverpool England 5–4 1911 27 May Prestwick Scotland 5–4 1912 1 June Royal North Devon Scotland 3–2 1913–1921: Not held 1922 20 May Prestwick Scotland 10–4 1923 5 May Royal Cinque Ports Scotland 7–5 1924 24 May St Andrews England 9–6 1925 23 May Royal North Devon England 8–5 1926 22 May Muirfield England 9–5 1927 21 May Royal Liverpool Tie 7–7 1928 19 May Prestwick England 12–1 1929 8 June Royal St George's Tie 7–7 1930 24 May St Andrews England 8–4 1931 8 August Royal Liverpool Scotland 7–6

The 1902 match was decided by holes.

Appearances The following are those who played in at least one of the matches.

England 1902–1912 Colin Aylmer 1911 John Ball 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912 Herbert Barker 1907 Gordon Barry 1906, 1907 Johnnie Bramston 1902 Frank Carr 1911 Horace Castle 1903, 1904 Harry Colt 1908 Bernard Darwin 1902, 1904, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1910 Reymond de Montmorency 1908 Herman de Zoete 1903, 1904, 1906, 1907 Humphrey Ellis 1902, 1912 William Herbert Fowler 1903, 1904, 1905 Sidney Fry 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1909 Harold Gillies 1908 Angus Hambro 1908, 1909, 1910 Harold Hambro 1905 Harold Hilton 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912 Charles Hooman 1910 Charles Hutchings 1902 Horace Hutchinson 1902, 1903, 1904, 1906, 1907, 1909 Edward Lassen 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912 Alan Lincoln 1907 Abe Mitchell 1910, 1911, 1912 Frank Mitchell 1906, 1907, 1908 Chales Palmer 1909 Beaumont Pease 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906 Vivian Pollock 1908 Michael Scott 1911, 1912 Osmund Scott 1902, 1905, 1906 Edward Scratton 1912 Everard Martin Smith 1908, 1909, 1910, 1912 George Smith 1902, 1903 Leicester Stevens 1912 Herbert Taylor 1911 Frank Woolley 1910, 1911, 1912 James Worthington 1905

1922–1931 Colin Aylmer 1922, 1923, 1924 John Beck 1926, 1930 John Beddard 1927, 1928, 1929 Harry Bentley 1931 Dale Bourn 1930 Carl Bretherton 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925 Leonard Crawley 1931 Bernard Darwin 1923, 1924 John de Forest 1931 Froes Ellison 1922, 1925, 1926, 1927 Eric Fiddian 1929, 1930, 1931 Harold Gillies 1925, 1926, 1927 Angus Hambro 1922 Ronald Hardman 1927, 1928 Rex Hartley 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931 Lister Hartley 1927, 1931 Ernest Hassall 1923 Cecil Hayward 1925 Charles Hodgson 1924 Ernest Holderness 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1928 Charles Hooman 1922 Geoffrey Illingworth 1929 Noel Layton 1922, 1923, 1926 Gustav Mellin 1922 Raymond Oppenheimer 1930 Philip Perkins 1927, 1928, 1929 W Powell 1923, 1924 Samuel Robinson 1925 Sidney Roper 1931 Michael Scott 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926 Eric Martin Smith 1931 Eustace Storey 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930 Bill Stout 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931 Bill Sutton 1929, 1931 William Tweddell 1928, 1929, 1930 Cyril Tolley 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930 Roger Wethered 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930

In their match against Ireland in 1931 England had the same team that played against Scotland the following day.

Scotland 1902–1912 Archibald Aitken 1906, 1907, 1908 Robert Andrew 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910 Leslie Balfour-Melville 1902, 1903 Harold Beveridge 1908 Edward Blackwell 1902, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1912 Arnold Blyth 1904 Guy Campbell 1909, 1910, 1911 Charles Dick 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1909, 1912 Walter Fairlie 1912 Samuel Mure Fergusson 1902, 1903, 1904 John Gairdner 1902 John Graham Jr. 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911 Robert Harris 1905, 1908, 1910, 1911, 1912 Norman Hunter 1903, 1912 Cecil Hutchison 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912 James Jenkins 1908, 1912 Johnny Laidlay 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911 Gordon Lockhart 1911, 1912 John L. Low 1904 Charles Macfarlane 1912 Fred Mackenzie 1902, 1903 Robert Maxwell 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1909, 1910 James Robb 1902, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1907 James Robertson-Durham 1911 Frank Scroggie 1910 Gordon Simpson 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1911, 1912 George Wilkie 1911

1922–1931 Alex Armour 1922 Edward Blackwell 1923, 1924, 1925 Jack Bookless 1930, 1931 Harry Braid 1922, 1923 Tom Burrell 1924 William Campbell 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931 John Caven 1926 James Dawson 1930, 1931 Robert Denholm 1931 Charles Gibb 1927 Allan Graham 1925 William Guild 1925, 1927, 1928 Robert Harris 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928 William Hope 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929 Willie Hunter 1922 Andrew Jamieson Jr. 1927, 1928, 1931 James Jenkins 1922, 1924, 1926, 1928 Dennis Kyle 1924, 1930 Edward Kyle 1925 Jack Lang 1929, 1931 Willis Mackenzie 1923, 1926, 1927, 1929 Gilbert Manford 1922, 1923 Archibald McCallum 1929 Sam McKinlay 1929, 1930, 1931 Eric McRuvie 1929, 1930, 1931 Alex Menzies 1925 William Murray 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927 Thomas Osgood 1925 Robert Scott Jr. 1924, 1928 Fred Simpson 1927 Gordon Simpson 1922, 1924, 1926 John Nelson Smith 1929, 1930, 1931 Keith Thorburn 1928 Tony Torrance 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1929, 1930 William Breck Torrance 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1930 William Tulloch 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931 John Wilson 1922, 1923, 1924, 1926

In their match against Wales in 1931 Scotland had the same team that played against England the following day.

References