Philip Scrutton

Philip Furse Scrutton (1923 – 30 October 1958[1]) was an English amateur golfer. He played in the Walker Cup in 1955 and 1957. He was killed in a road traffic accident at the age of 35.

Philip Scrutton
Personal information
Full namePhilip Furse Scrutton
Born1923
England
Died30 October 1958 (aged 35)
Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, England
Nationality England
Career
StatusAmateur
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 1958

Golf career

Scrutton remains one the few amateur golfers to have won the Brabazon and Berkshire Trophies in the same year, the others being Guy Wolstenholme (1960), Michael Bonallack (1968, 1971), Peter Hedges (1976), Sandy Lyle (1977) and Jeremy Robinson (1987). He is also one of the few amateurs to have won the Brabazon Trophy outright on at least three separate occasions, the others being Michael Bonallack and Ronnie Shade.

At Woodhall Spa in 1954, in a gale of wind and rain, Scrutton produced a brilliant final round to win the Brabazon Trophy.[2] He was seven strokes behind with 9 holes to play. In a thrilling finish he birdied three of the last four holes to win by a stroke. Walton Heath professional Harry Busson,[3] braving the weather, followed Scrutton and said afterwards that it was the greatest round of golf he ever witnessed.[4]

Scrutton reached the semi-final of the Amateur Championship in 1955, losing 5 and 4 to the eventual winner Joe Conrad.[5][6] The renowned golfing commentator Herbert Warren Wind wrote the following about Scrutton after watching his quarter final match at Royal Lytham:

“The more you see of Scrutton, the more he strikes you as a person you expect to bump into only in fiction, so much "in character" are the highly individual manners and mannerisms of this wealthy young man who owns about eight cars and, in pursuit of a first-class golf game, spent the winter of 1951 on the winter circuit in America. Scrutton's woods, just as you would expect, are encased in leopard-skin covers. During his match with Patton he wore an off-yellow sweater with a matching beret and, in addition to his caddy, employed a retainer to carry a folding chair on which he could sit when Patton was shooting. But Scrutton, mechanical as is the delivery of his swing, can play golf, and he ran clear away from Billy Joe, losing the first and then winning eight of the next nine holes and, in due course, the match, 7 and 6.” [7]

Scrutton was a member at several golf clubs including The Royal & Ancient, Sunningdale and The Addington.

Death

Scrutton died in a road traffic accident on 30 October 1958 aged 35. He was driving a car in which John Pritchett, a leading professional golfer, was a passenger, when they were hit by an army lorry on the A30, just west of Blackbushe Airport, Hampshire. Pritchett was also killed.[8][9] Scrutton and Pritchett had played together in the 1958 Wentworth Foursomes, losing in the final.[10]

Scrutton was twice married, to Elizabeth Ann Todhunter in 1952 and to Audrey Mary Dubery in 1957. Scrutton was chairman of a firm of stevedores and master porters and an underwriting member of Lloyd's of London.[11] He was a wealthy individual. In 1958 his estate was valued in excess of £600,000 at a time when average annual earnings in the UK were approximately £400.

Philip Scrutton Jug

In 1959 Scrutton's mother and his widow donated the "Philip Scrutton Jug" which is awarded to the player with the lowest combined aggregate over the Brabazon and Berkshire Trophies.[12]

Doug Sewell was the first winner in 1959. He came close to winning the Berkshire Trophy in April, finishing a stroke behind Joe Carr after making a bogey at the final hole.[13] In June Sewell won his second Brabazon Trophy after a playoff with Michael Bonallack. His aggregate score of 580 made him the first winner.[14]

Tournament wins

Other notable results:

  • 1949 Runner-up in the French Open Amateur Championship[16]
  • 1957 Runner-up in the Silver Medal (The R&A Spring Meeting)

Results in major championships
Tournament 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958
The Amateur Championship R128 R128 R64 R64 R512 SF R32 R16 R16
The Open Championship CUT
U.S. Amateur R128

Note: Scrutton only played in the Amateur Championship, the Open Championship and the U.S. Amateur.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = Missed the cut
R512, R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play

Team appearances
gollark: Rust GOOD.
gollark: Rust, yes.
gollark: I don't know what the prediction was.
gollark: Checking...
gollark: ++initiate five apioform

References
  1. https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=scrutton&yearOfDeath=1959#calendar
  2. "Brabazon Trophy retained". The Glasgow Herald. 13 September 1954. p. 11.
  3. The Legend of Harry Busson http://scoregolf.com/blog/rick-young/the-legend-of-harry-busson/
  4. Allen, Peter (1973). Play The Best Courses. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-0917504-9-7
  5. "British Open invites warm memories for S.A.'s Conrad". San Antonio Express News. 18 July 2012.
  6. "Amateur Golf Championship (1955)".
  7. Wind, Herbert Warren (13 June 1995). "Golf: From Cold, Windy St. Anne's SI's Golf Man Tells a Warm Story of how Smoky Joe Won the 60th British Amateur". Sports Illustrated. pp. 41–43.
  8. "Noted British golfers die in car crash". The Glasgow Herald. 31 October 1958. p. 1.
  9. "Army driver sent for trial". The Glasgow Herald. 10 December 1958. p. 7.
  10. "Mills and Slark win at Wentworth". The Glasgow Herald. 17 March 1958. p. 11.
  11. "Latest Wills". The Times. 28 April 1959. p. 12.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. "Exciting finish to Berkshire Trophy". The Glasgow Herald. 6 April 1959. p. 9.
  14. "Sewell beats Bonallack in Brabazon Play-off". The Glasgow Herald. 22 June 1959. p. 4.
  15. "Golf trailblazer with unmatched powers of concentration". The Irish Times. 16 May 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  16. "French title retained". The Glasgow Herald. 6 June 1949. p. 6.
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