Gus Faulkner

Gustavus Kirkham Faulkner (1893 – 6 August 1976) was an English professional golfer, best known as the father of Max Faulkner, the winner of the 1951 Open Championship. He won the Welsh Professional Championship in 1922 and was tied for 12th in the 1931 Open Championship.

Gus Faulkner
Personal information
Full nameGustavus Kirkham Faulkner
Born1893
Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, England
Died6 August 1976 (aged 82)
Chichester, West Sussex, England
Sporting nationality England
Career
StatusProfessional
Professional wins1
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open ChampionshipT12: 1931

Early life

Faulkner was born Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey in 1893.[1][2] He was brought up near Walton Heath Golf Club and was an assistant to James Braid before World War I.[3] He competed in the qualifying stage of the 1914 Perrier Water Assistant Professionals' Tournament, an event whose final stages were later cancelled because of the war.[4]

Golf career

After World War I, Faulkner took a position at Pennard Golf Club on the Gower Peninsula in south Wales.[5] Faulkner played regularly in domestic and national tournaments. He won the Welsh Professional Championship in 1922 at Rhos-on-Sea Golf Club. He had tied with James Horn on 292 for the 72 holes but won the 36-hole playoff the following day, scoring 148 to Horn's 151.[6][7] He tied again in 1923, this time with Jack Milner, but this time lost the 36-hole playoff by a single stroke, having been 6 behind at lunch.[8][9]

In 1926 Faulkner took a position at a golf facility in Regent's Park but the following year took a position at Bramley Golf Club where he remained until 1945.[5] After leaving Bramley, Faulkner was briefly at West Bay, Dorset and Worlebury Golf Club, Weston-super-Mare. In 1948, together with his son, Max, they bought Selsey Golf Club in Sussex. The purpose of this was to provide Max with practice facilities to help him win the Open Championship. They remained the owners until selling the lease in 1957.[10]

Personal life

Faulkner married Ellen Eliza Hussey in 1915.[5] They had three children, Max (1916–2005), who won the 1951 Open Championship, Reginald (born 1918) and Frank (1919–1941).[3] Frank was an assistant professional to his father at Bramley before World War II but was killed in a road traffic accident near Cambridge, while serving as a corporal in the Army, aged 21.[11]

Death

Faulkner died in West Sussex on 6 August 1976 aged 82.[12]

Professional wins (1)

Results in major championships
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931
The Open Championship WD T28 CUT T33 CUT T12

Note: Faulkner only played in The Open Championship.

  Did not play

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

References
  1. "FamilySearch.org". Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  2. "FamilySearch.org". Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  3. "Max Faulkner". Daily Telegraph. 2 March 2005. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  4. "Assistant Professionals' Golf Tournament". The Times. 23 July 1914. p. 14.
  5. Fisher, Richard. "Faulkner, (Herbert Gustavus) Max (1916–2005), golfer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/96610. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. "The Welsh Open Championship". The Times. 16 September 1922. p. 4.
  7. "The Welsh Open Championship". The Times. 18 September 1922. p. 6.
  8. "The Welsh Open Championship". The Times. 14 September 1923. p. 5.
  9. "The Welsh Open Championship". The Times. 15 September 1923. p. 4.
  10. "History".
  11. "Corpl. F. Faulkner". Surrey Advertiser. 27 September 1941. Retrieved 4 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "Find a will". probatesearch.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
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