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Bobby Cruickshank

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Bobby Cruickshank
Bobby Cruickshank, Johnny Golden, Tommy Armour
Personal information
Full nameRobert Allan Cruickshank
Born(1894-11-16)16 November 1894
Grantown-on-Spey, Scotland
Died27 August 1975(1975-08-27) (aged 80)
Delray Beach, Florida
Height5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Weight165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st)
Sporting nationality Scotland
SpouseHelen "Nellie" Cruickshank[1][2][3]
ChildrenElsie
Career
Turned professional1921
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins29
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour17
Other12
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT4: 1936
PGA ChampionshipT3: 1922, 1923
U.S. Open2nd/T2: 1923, 1932
The Open Championship6th: 1929
British AmateurT33: 1920

Robert Allan Cruickshank (16 November 1894 – 27 August 1975) was a prominent professional golfer from Scotland. He competed in the PGA of America circuit in the 1920s and 1930s, the forerunner of the PGA Tour. He was twice runner-up at the U.S Open.

Early life

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Born in Grantown-on-Spey in rural northern Scotland,[2] Cruickshank learned his golf as a boy playing over the town's course. As a teenager he also worked there as a caddie.

In that era, country houses around Grantown-on-Spey were often rented to rich Edinburgh families for the summer. A wealthy widow named Mrs. Isabella Usher made an offer to Cruickshank's parents to provide an education for their two sons in Edinburgh. In the autumn of 1909, Cruickshank and his younger brother John moved south. Mrs. Usher became their legal guardian and they lived at her house in the city's Murrayfield district. They were educated at the nearby Daniel Stewart's College.

Although Cruickshank was not tall (5 ft 5in), he was a fine athlete, and in 1912 the year that he left school, he ran the 100 yards in a time of 10.4 seconds. This time wasn't beaten until 1960 by the future Scotland international rugby player Sandy Hinshelwood.

He was also becoming an outstanding golfer and met and became friends with another rising local golfer, Tommy Armour. Armour and Cruikshank played together regularly over the Braid Hills course. Bobby also became a member of Turnhouse Golf Club on the west of the city.[4]

Cruickshank served in the British Army in World War I. Captured in action by the Germans, he was a prisoner of war and later successfully escaped.[5]

On returning from the war, Cruickshank won what was then Edinburgh's top amateur competition (the Edinburgh Coronation Cup) in both 1919 and 1920. The tournament was played at Braid Hills course which is still the city's premier municipal course. Representing his old school's former pupils (Stewart's FP Golf Club) Cruickshank was part of a team which won the Evening Dispatch Trophy. He also reached the final rounds of the British Amateur Championship played at Muirfield in the summer of 1920.

These successes encouraged Cruickshank to consider turning professional and moved to the United States with his wife Helen.

Professional career

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Cruickshank turned professional in 1921 and moved to the United States,[1] as suggested by his mentor and friend, Tommy Armour.[5] He rose to prominence in the U.S. after reaching the last four of the PGA Championship in both 1922 and 1923. He lost both times to eventual champion Gene Sarazen. Cruickshank was also twice runner-up in the U.S. Open. In 1923, he finished second to Bobby Jones down by two shots after an 18 hole playoff at Inwood Country Club, New York. In 1932, he was beaten by Gene Sarazen at Fresh Meadow Country Club, New York.

Cruickshank came home to Scotland to play at Muirfield in the 1929 Open Championship. Despite only bringing two clubs with him and borrowing the rest from the Gullane professional, he finished sixth. In a nod to his old school, Cruickshank wore his Stewart's College tie while playing in the second round of the championship. He won £10 for sixth place while that years "Champion Golfer", Walter Hagen, won £75.

Cruickshank won 17 tour events in his career and his greatest year was 1927, when he won the Los Angeles and Texas Opens and finished as the leading money winner for the year. His last victory on tour was in 1936 and he had 16 top-10 finishes in major championships.

Cruickshank was a club pro in Richmond, Virginia, in 1930s and 1940s, and later in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[6] He was also a winter pro in Florida.

Personal life

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Cruickshank died after a brief illness at age 80 in Delray Beach, Florida.[5] His wife Nellie (1895–1965) died ten years earlier in Pittsburgh.[3]

Professional wins (29)

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PGA Tour wins (17)

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Other wins (12)

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this list may be incomplete

Results in major championships

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Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
U.S. Open T26 T28 2 T4 T49 T11 T42
The Open Championship 6
PGA Championship R16 SF SF R16 R16 R32 R32
The Amateur Championship R64
Tournament 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
Masters Tournament NYF NYF NYF NYF T28 T9 T4 17 T18
U.S. Open T36 T2 T43 T3 T14 CUT 3 T46 T25
The Open Championship T42
PGA Championship QF R16 R16
Tournament 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
Masters Tournament WD T15 NT NT NT
U.S. Open CUT NT NT NT NT T38 T42
The Open Championship NT NT NT NT NT NT T32
PGA Championship NT
Tournament 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open T25 CUT CUT CUT CUT
The Open Championship
PGA Championship R64
  Top 10
  Did not play

NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Source: British Amateur[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b ""Bobby" Cruickshank to become an American citizen". Glasgow Herald. 18 June 1929. p. 12.
  2. ^ a b "Bobby Cruickshank to become American citizen". San Jose Evening News. Associated Press. 18 June 1929. p. 11.
  3. ^ a b "Golf pro's wife dies in Pittsburgh". Reading Eagle. Associated Press. 11 July 1965. p. 49.
  4. ^ Turnhouse Golf Club, History by Willie Miller
  5. ^ a b c "Deaths: 'Bobby' Cruickshank". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Associated Press. 28 August 1975. p. 9-B – via Google News Archive.
  6. ^ "Bulla, Cruickshank sign with Pittsburgh clubs". News and Courier. Spartanburg, South Carolina. United Press. 19 December 1948. p. 3-D.
  7. ^ "Bob Cruickshank captures state open golf title". Buffalo Courier. 21 September 1921. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Amateur Golf". The Glasgow Herald. 9 June 1920. p. 11.
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