Wally Smithers

Walter Douglas Smithers (25 August 1904[2] – 27 January 1993[3]) was an English professional golfer. He tied for 8th place in the 1949 Open Championship.

Wally Smithers
Personal information
Full nameWalter Douglas Smithers
Born(1904-08-25)25 August 1904
Chobham, Surrey, England [1]
Died27 January 1993(1993-01-27) (aged 88)
Long Ashton, Somerset, England
Nationality England
Career
StatusProfessional
Professional wins6
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT8: 1949

Golf career

Smithers was assistant professional at Royal Ottawa Golf Club from 1928 to 1935. Soon after arriving he won a one-off Canadian PGA Assistant's Championship in August 1928, winning by 7 strokes and beating the course record with a 70 in his afternoon round.[4] The Assistant's Championship was not played again until 1970.[5] In 1932, Smithers set a course record of 63 on the Royal Ottawa course.[6] He returned to England in 1935.[7]

On his return to England, Smithers worked as a teacher and caddie at Sunningdale Golf Club where he had been before leaving for Canada. He caused a surprise in the 1936 Open Championship where, as a virtual unknown, he was second in the qualifying behind Henry Cotton and finished tied for 15th place in the Championship itself.[8]

Smithers became the professional at Long Ashton Golf Club in 1948 where he remained until his retirement. After finishing tied for 8th place in the 1949 Open Championship he was in a short list of 20 for the 1949 Ryder Cup team but was not selected for the final 10. Paired with Irish amateur Jimmy Bruen he won the 1950 Daily Telegraph Foursomes Tournament at Formby.[9] Playing with John Fallon, he was also runner-up in the 1954 Goodwin (Sheffield) Foursomes Tournament.[10] In individual tournaments his best performance was joint runner-up in the 1951 Silver King Tournament where he finished two strokes behind Flory Van Donck.[11]

Tournament wins
  • 1928 Canadian PGA Assistant's Championship
  • 1949 West of England Professional Championship
  • 1950 Daily Telegraph Foursomes Tournament (with Jimmy Bruen)
  • 1951 West of England Professional Championship
  • 1952 West of England Professional Championship
  • 1959 West of England Professional Championship

Results in major championships
Tournament 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952
The Open Championship T15 CUT CUT CUT NT NT NT NT NT NT CUT T8 T12 T28 T17

Note: Smithers only played in The Open Championship.

  Top 10
  Did not play

NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

References
  1. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XW87-TVF
  2. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZZ-KMK6
  3. https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=smithers&yearOfDeath=1993&page=161#calendar
  4. "Royal Ottawa's assistant pro capture title – Walter Smithers wins 36-hole medal competition at Toronto with card of 146. Breaks course mark". The Ottawa Citizen. 17 August 1928. p. 18.
  5. http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1syzq/FlagstickGolfMagazin/resources/60.htm
  6. "Smellie: 162 holes - 79.4 average; Kaufman is: 18 holes - 62 strokes". The Ottawa Citizen. 15 June 1979. p. 19.
  7. "Wally Smithers goes to England". The Ottawa Citizen. 9 January 1935. p. 1.
  8. "Open golf bid by Cotton". The Glasgow Herald. 25 June 1936. p. 11.
  9. "Bruen's fine return". The Glasgow Herald. 9 October 1950. p. 6.
  10. "Hunt and Collins win". The Glasgow Herald. 6 September 1954. p. 9.
  11. ""Silver King" golf winner". The Glasgow Herald. 21 April 1951. p. 2.
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