Who's who: George Duncan

  • Torrey Pines - South course, host of the Farmers Insurance Open
  • Prince's GC, England
  • Torrey Pines - South course, host of the Farmers Insurance Open
  • Terras da Comporta, Dunas
  • Monte Rei G&CC
  • Marco Simone GC (Italy); host of the Ryder Cup 2023
  • Pebble Beach host of the US Open; US Women's Open; Pebble Beach Pro-Am
  • Marco Simone GC

Who's who: George Duncan

  • Name:

    George Duncan
  • Country:

    Scotland
  • Lived:

    [1883-1964]. Born on Sept 16, 1883 in Methlick, Aberdeenshire. Died on Jan 15, 1964 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England (aged 80).
  • Original/Home Club:

  • Occupation:

    Professional golfer; golf course designer; golf instructor.
  • Turned Pro:

    c.1901

Roll of Honour

MAJORS (1): The Open (1920). European wins (6). Ryder Cup player (1927, 1929, 1931); Ryder Cup captain (1929).

Did you know?

Duncan was well known for his fast pace of play. He regarded practice swings as unnecessary and barely legal, akin to practising on the course.

Top tournaments won by George Duncan

Category

Europe

Winner (holder)

Duncan, George

Score

299

Prize money

Title sponsor

x

Played as the Open de France. Second-placed and defending champion Aubrey Boomer (Eng) finished 2 shots behind Duncan (Scot). [Saint Germain GC, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, nr Paris].

Category

Europe

Winner (holder)

Duncan, George

Score

312

Prize money

Title sponsor

x

The inaugural Irish Open Championship. Second-placed Henry Cotton (Eng) finished 1 shot behind Duncan (Scot), who triumphed on a final day played in brutal weather conditions. [Portmarnock GC, nr Dublin, Ireland].

Category

Europe

Winner (holder)

Duncan, George

Score

300

Prize money

£300

Title sponsor

Daily Mail

Played as the Daily Mail £1000 Tournament. Second-placed and defending champion Ted Ray (Jersey) finished 4 shots behind Duncan (Scot). [The Old Course, St Andrews, Fife].

Category

Majors

Winner (holder)

Duncan, George

Score

303

Prize money

£50

Title sponsor

R&A

The Open Championship (55th) (Jun 30-Jul 1). Second-placed Alex "Sandy" Herd (Scot) finished 2 shots behind Duncan (Scot). [Royal Cinque Ports GC, Deal, Kent].

Category

Europe

Winner (holder)

Duncan, George

Score

291

Prize money

£100

Title sponsor

Daily Mail

Played as the Daily Mail £580 Tournament (formerly called St Andrews Tournament). Second-placed Abe Mitchell (Eng) finished 7 shots behind defending champion Duncan (Scot). [Royal North Devon GC, Westward Ho!, Bideford, Devon].

Category

Europe

Winner (holder)

Duncan, George

Score

312

Prize money

£87 10s

Title sponsor

Daily Mail

Played as the St Andrews Tournament. George Duncan (Scot) and Abe Mitchell (Eng) finished in a tie for first place. They split the first place (£100) and second place (£75) prize money, receiving £87 10 shillings each. Harry Vardon was a shot further back in third place. [The Old Course, St Andrews, Fife].

1913
Europe
Chantilly (Veneuil)
304
x

Category

Europe

Winner (holder)

Duncan, George

Venue

Chantilly (Veneuil)

Score

304

Prize money

Title sponsor

x

Played as the Open de France. Second-placed James Braid (Scot) finished 3 shots behind Duncan (Scot). [Vineuil course, Golf de Chantilly, nr Paris].

1913
Europe
3 & 2
£100
News of the World

Category

Europe

Winner (holder)

Duncan, George

Score

3 & 2

Prize money

£100

Title sponsor

News of the World

Played as the News of the World Match Play (Oct 6-9). Duncan (Scot) beat James Braid (Scot) 3 and 2 in the 36-hole final. [Old course, Walton Heath GC, Walton on the Hill, Surrey].

Category

Europe

Winner (holder)

Duncan, George

Score

144

Prize money

Title sponsor

x

Played as the Belgian Open (July 5). Duncan (Scot) beat Ted Ray (Jersey) and Tom Ball (Eng) in an 18-hole playoff (Duncan 70, Ray 71, Ball 78). The 36 regulation holes and 18 extra holes were all played in the same day. [Zoute GC, Knokke-Heist, West Flanders, Belgium].

Find a course

Or

Tournaments

Ryder Cup: Rome plays host to the first ever Ryder Cup to be staged in Italy, with the USA defending golf’s greatest team trophy at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club (Sept 29-Oct 1).

Solheim Cup: also in September, also in southern Europe, the 18th Solheim Cup will be contested at Finca Cortesin on the Costa del Sol, with Europe defending after their surprise win in Toledo, Inverness Club (Ohio) in 2021 (Sept 22-24). 

Who's Who

Céline Boutier: with many successes as both an amateur and professional golfer, Boutier added a major championship title to her impressive résumé at this year’s Evian Championship.

Alex Cejka: buffeted by rain and high winds, especially on the high-scoring final day, Čejka prevailed over Pádraig Harrington in a playoff at Royal Porthcawl, to scoop the Senior Open Championship title.

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club

Marco Simone Golf & Country Club: With a clubhouse that might befit a Roman Emperor, and a golf course to match, you can be sure of a memorable outing at Rome's most talked about golf facility.

Jim Fazio's original layout was much changed to create a modern Ryder Cup course ... now one of the Eternal City's (and Italy's) most revered.

Prince's Golf Club, Kent (UK)

Here at Prince’s Golf Club you'll find 27 excellent holes of links golf. Just over the fence and sharing similar terrain is Royal St George’s; but Prince’s is far from overshadowed by its venerable neighbour. The three nine-hole loops at Prince's, laid out over gently undulating terrain, are sure to bring a smile of satisfaction to all lovers of links golf.

Stay&Play at Prince's: excellent onsite Lodge accommodation available

Popular videos

You can subscribe to the Where2Golf channel on YT if you like to see more video content. You'll find a "Subscribe" button on any of our YouTube videos. Or if you want a quick and direct access subscribe here. Once done, any new published videos will show up in your Subscriptions feed.

Hamburger GC - Falkenstein, Germany

WINSTONgolf - Links course

Littlestone Golf Club (Kent, UK)