Harry Vardon – A Golf Champion of Olden Times

Born: May 9, 1870
Died: March 20, 1937

Harry Vardon is a golf champion of olden times who played in the era of hickory golf club shafts. He is one of the greatest golfers of all time. Vardon’s record speaks as proof of this, he won seven total major championships. Vardon won The Open (British Open) a record six times, and the United States Open once. Over his golfing career from 1896 to 1920, he won 41 other tournaments.

Golf has fortunately been blessed at different times with three great golfers who reigned superior to all others in their era. Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, and Ben Hogan dominated their era, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus their era. Harry Vardon, John Henry Taylor, and James Braid were the three dominating golfers of their time. Vardon, Ray, and Braid are called the Great Triumvirate. As an indicator of their golf prominence, all of these nine golfers are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Harry Vardon had an advantage over many of the golfers he competed against. His swing was modern, powerful, consistent, and accurate while some of his competitors perhaps had more unconventional, wilder, and unreliable swings as compared to Vardon’s. Harry Vardon had a golf swing with similar fundamentals common to today’s top golfers. These modern swing components are readily visible in Vardon’s swing. Vardon’s swing was smooth and upright, and he repeated it time after time. Harry Vardon was known as a shotmaker when the hickory shaft was the state of the art in golf technology, and while the gutta-percha golf ball transitioned to the rubber core golf ball.

Vardon was able to play shots depending on the demands of the golf course and the particular shot required. Vardon could play his shots either high or low, with a fade or a draw, or straight, and with all of his golf clubs. Other top golfers of Vardon’s era had these skills too, but Vardon excelled with his ability when he played at the top of his game. If Vardon could come back and play golf in our time, he would adapt his swing to our modern shafted clubs of steel or graphite and to our golf balls. Vardon had the mind of a golfing champion and it would lead him to success.

Harry Vardon – British Pathe Video

Harry Vardon’s Overlapping Grip

A legacy of Harry Vardon is the Vardon Overlapping Grip. In this grip, the little finger of the right hand lies on top of the index finger of the left hand for a right-handed golfer. This grip unites the two hands into one strong unit. The Vardon Overlapping Grip is like a single big hand on the club instead of either the right or left hand taking over the other and diminishing the effectiveness of the swing. Although Vardon was not the first to use this method of gripping the club, his golfing success popularized the grip. The Vardon Overlapping Grip or a close adaptation of it is used by most golfers today.

Harry Vardon’s Record:

Seven Major Championships

The Open Championship (British Open)
1896 – Muirfield
1898 – Prestwick Golf Club
1899 – Royal Saint George’s Golf Club
1903 – Prestwick Golf Club
1911 – Royal Saint George’s Golf Club
1914 – Prestwick Golf Club

The United States Open
1900 – Chicago Golf Club

Forty One Non-Major Tournament Wins

1896
Pau Golf Club Invitational
Cleveland Golf Club Professional Tournament

1897
Wallasey Golf Club Open
Southport Golf Club Open

1898
Royal Musselburgh
Prestwick Professional Event
Windermere Golf Club Invitational
Norbury Golf Club Invitational
Carnoustie Golf Club Professional Event
Earlsferry & Elie Golf Club Professional Event
Royal County Down Professional Event
Barton-on-Sea Invitational
Royal Lytham & St Annes Professional Tournament

1899
Great North Scotland Rail
Mid-Surrey Professional Event

1901
Mid-Surrey Professional Event
Glamorgan Golf Club Invitational

1902
Lord Dudley Invitational
Leeds Cup
Edzell Golf Club Open

1903
Richmond Golf Club Invitational
Enfield Golf Club Invitational
Western Gailes Golf Club Invitational

1904
Irvine Golf Club Open

1905
Montrose Golf Links Open

1906
Musselburgh Tournament
Tooting Bec Challenge

1907
Blackpool Park Golf Club Invitational

1908
Nice Country Club International
Costebelle Course Invitational

1909
St Andrews Tournament

1911
Tooting Bec Challenge
Bramshot Challenge
German Open

1912
Cooden Beach Golf Club Open
News of the World Match Play Championship

1913
PGA Southern Section
United States Open Qualifying

1914
PGA Southern Section
Cruden Bay Golf Club Professional Tournament

1920
Bramshot Invitational

Note: Harry Vardon was an international tournament golfer. Countries where he won include: France, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Germany, and the United States of America.

“Relaxation, added to a few necessary fundamental principles, is the basis of this great game.”

…Harry Vardon