Island Echo begins a new series of Isle of Wight Sporting Legends with the little-known Shanklin golfer, Horace Rawlins.
Rawlins’ main claim to fame is that he won the first ever United States Open Golf Tournament almost 130 years ago on 4th October 1895. It is worth noting that the only United States Open Tournament to have been won by an Isle of Wight native was held at Newport (Rhode Island).
Horace appears to have been a very modest man. Remarkably, he never appeared to have told his family about his golfing achievements.
His son Robert either did not hear about or was indifferent to his father’s fame as a golfer. It was only when his grandson Michael opened a safe deposit box in a bank and found his grandfather’s gold medal together with some old photographs that his family knew what he had done.
Horace Rawlins was born in Shanklin on 5th August 1874, the son of Thomas Horatio and Sarah Maria Rawlins. The pair had married in Bombay, India in 1871. Rawlins’ siblings – a brother and 2 sisters – were both born in India.
Rawlins’ mother was widowed and the family returned to the Isle of Wight. In 1891, the Rawlins were living in Brading, by which time Horace and his younger brother Harry had become golf caddies at the Royal Royal Isle of Wight Golf Club in St Helens. Several members of this club went on to become successful professional golfers, including Rowland Jones, the cousins Alfred and Walter Toogood, and Horace’s brother, Harry.
Rawlins became a professional at Mid-Herts Golf Club in 1893 and then at Raynes Park Golf Club. Rawlins’ brother Harry was a golf professional at Atlantic City Golf Club in the United States, and Horace travelled to America to join him. Once in the United States, he worked with professional Willie Dunn at Newport Golf Club on Rhode Island. It was here that the inaugural United States Open was held.
The first US Open was contested between 10 professionals and an amateur. Horace won with a score of 173 over 4 rounds of the 9-hole course, beating Willie Dunn by 2 strokes. His prize was $150 (around £4,500 in today’s values).
The Washington Star newspaper reported at the time:
“The play in the open golf championship tournament at Newport yesterday resulted in a grand surprise, the title being won by [Horace] Rawlins of the Newport Links, who defeated Dunn, Davis, Campbell and all the other cracks, leading his nearest competitor by 2 strokes, and his instructor, Davis, by five.
“Rawlins is a mere lad, who was scarcely considered as a probable winner. He is only [20] years old, of English birth, and until within two or three years was a caddie at Bembridge, Isle of Wight, later playing on several English links.”
He was runner-up at the Shinnecock Hills Open the following year, and he competed 13 times in US Open Tournaments over the next 18 years. Altogether, he spent around 19 years in the United States at many clubs. He was the first professional at the Springhaven Club in Philadelphia, which has held the Horace Rawlins Invitational Tournament in his honour for over 40 years.
In 1911, Horace Rawlins married Cicely Wright at St Saviour Church in Shanklin. The newly married couple travelled to the United States that year. However, their first child, Robert Cecil, was born in England in 1913.
When Horace’s mother died in 1914, he took over the family drapery business, after which he apparently had little time for golf. He died on 22nd January 1935 in Reading, aged 60, some 40 years after his US Open success. He is buried at the Church of St James at Barkham near Wokingham.
A statue of Horace Rawlins by sculptor Ben Twiston-Davies was unveiled at the front of the Mid-Herts clubhouse as part of its 125th Anniversary celebrations in 2017, to commemorate his success as the winner of the inaugural US Open Championship and his role as the first groundsman/professional to be employed by the club.
Who, in your opinion, are Isle of Wight Sporting legends? Let us know in the comments…
In the next edition of Isle of Wight Sporting Legends, we shall retell the story of Island-born England rugby international Professor Samuel Victor Perry.
Excellent article, keep them coming.