Bill Laidlaw

William Laidlaw (1914 – 20 October 1941) was a Scottish professional golfer. He finished tied for 7th place in the 1937 Open Championship and won the 1938 Daily Mirror Assistants' Tournament. He was killed during an RAF bombing raid on Bremen, aged 27.

Bill Laidlaw
Personal information
Born1914
Perth, Scotland
Died20 October 1941 (aged 27)
Bremen, Nazi Germany
Sporting nationality Scotland
Career
Turned professional1932
Professional wins1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT7: 1937

Golf career

Laidlaw was an assistant professional at Gleneagles Hotel (from 1932) and Malden (from 1934) and then with Henry Cotton at Ashridge Golf Club from the start of 1937. He became full professional at West Herts Golf Club in early 1939.

Laidlaw's big win was in the 1938 Daily Mirror Assistants' Tournament at Blackpool North Shore. He scored 289 for the 72 holes and won by 9 strokes from Alan Waters and Geoff White.[1] Later in 1938 he was second in the Czechoslovak Open, although 11 strokes behind the winner, Henry Cotton.[2]

Death

Pilot Officer Laidlaw was killed during an RAF raid on the night of 20/21 October 1941. Laidlaw was in No. 50 Squadron RAF and was involved in a raid on Bremen. He had left RAF Swinderby in a Handley Page Hampden.[3][4][5]

Laidlaw married Pamela Mary Tanner, a singer, in 1940. They had a son, William, who was born in 1942.

Tournament wins

Results in major championships
Tournament 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938
The Open Championship T35 T18 T7 CUT

Note: Laidlaw only played in The Open Championship.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

References
  1. "Scot clear of the field". The Glasgow Herald. 29 July 1938. p. 19.
  2. "Golf – Czechoslovak Championship". The Times. 27 August 1938. p. 3.
  3. "Laidlaw, William". cwgc.org. Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  4. "RAF Bomber Command Operational Losses Database". Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  5. "Scottish golfer missing". The Glasgow Herald. 24 October 1941. p. 4.
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