Tom Boyd (golfer)

Boyd was born on 7 January 1888 in Armagh, Ireland. Little is known of his early life although like contemporaries from his era he likely first started as a caddie and progressed to a career as a professional golfer from there. He also learned, as did almost all pro golfers in the early 20th century, to make golf clubs from scratch.^[1]

Boyd emigrated to the United States in 1915. He served as the head professional of the Fox Hills Golf Club in Stapleton, New York.^[2] Boyd had several fine finishes in both the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. His best tournament was the 1921 PGA Championship when he reached the round of 16, eventually placing in a tie for 9th place. He defeated Eddie Towns in a first round match by default. He then lost in a second round match to Walter Hagen by the score of 6 and 5. He won once on the PGA Tour, in 1925.^[3]

Boyd was involved in a memorable match on October 6, 1918, at Fox Hills Golf Club when he was paired with Jerome Travers to win 1 up after an extra hole to break a tie. They defeated the opposing amateur pair of A. Lucien Walker Jr. and A. F. Kammer. The charity match raised $1,000 for the American Red Cross which used the funds to support the war effort during World War I.^[2]

In an even more high-profile match held on July 23, 1920, at Fox Hills, Boyd and George Fotheringham went up against Harry Vardon, then the 6-time Open Championship winner, and his partner Ted Ray. The touring British duo – who seldom lost matches – triumphed in this match as well.^[4] Ray was in particularly good form in 1920; just more than a month after the Boyd/Fotheringham match he won the U.S. Open at Inverness Club.^[5]