What possesses a man to give up on a shot at the Claret Jug? To walk away when faced with a playoff against an opponent he knows he has the beating of?
Davie Strath — one of the best golfers of his generation — did just that at the 1876 Open. Within two and a half years Strath was dead from tuberculosis. The tragedy of his circumstances has added an air of mystery to his decision but that decision would also dictate how history would later recall him, which is to say, barely at all.
Whether it was a fit of pique, irritation at the R&A or purely Strath’s refusal to engage in what he suspected might be a futile exercise, it is a rhetorical question that occupies the minds of golf historians to this day.
A new book goes some way to shedding fresh light on Davie, who hailed from a family of St. Andrews golfers which included Andrew Strath, the first man not named Park or Morris to win the Open when he defeated Willie Park Sr. at Prestwick in 1865.
Written by the late Scottish golf historian David “Doc” Malcolm and Australian contemporary Noel Terry, the book – The Golfing Strath Family of St. Andrews – adds an important layer to an undertold story.
Strath was a contemporary of Young Tom Morris and Jamie Anderson, superstars who were such masterful exponents of the game in the Victorian era that they were christened The Three Kings of Golf and drew heaving crowds to watch their shootouts at courses throughout Scotland.
Morris and Anderson were both multiple winners of The Open – and yet, Strath himself would end up with none. It is a quirk of fate that his name does not have the same storied association with the famous old competition as that of his acolytes — not least because of his contribution to the evolution of the modern game.
A law office clerk from working-class stock, he was – as Malcolm notes – “clever, well-educated and . . . destined for a place in polite St Andrews society” but he showed his dogmatic streak in 1869 when he shocked friends by declaring that he was giving up on his career to become a professional golfer. It was not the done thing in those days but Davie Strath wasn’t just a good golfer, he was among the best in St Andrews. His stylish play was popular with the general public and he was every bit a match for Young Tom Morris – and was one who “propelled the game into national and eventually international popularity,” notes Malcolm.
“It was between him, Tommy and Jamie Anderson – they were…
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