Golf history is full of amazing stories of pros and amateurs alike.

If you’re into golf, you probably already know the most common stories of great players and their most memorable moments. In the second half of the last century to today, most of the folklore is of the professional kind. Professional golfers have the press with them nearly everywhere they go, so we get to read more about them. But if we dig a little deeper, there are some really cool stories of lesser-known players, especially near the turn of last century when professionals weren’t the most admired golfers.

Here is one of the stories golf fans might not have hear before, which I’m sharing in honor of the  Open Championship at Muirfield this week.

Now, a majority of you that read the headline are probably asking who Harold Hilton was. I was asking myself that when I started excavating the data of past champions. So who was Harold Hilton?

Hilton was born in 1862 in West Kirby, England, and died in 1942, but those numbers obviously don’t tell the story. He is one of only three amateurs to win multiple Open titles, along with Bobby Jones and John Ball — some pretty hefty company to keep. Hilton won the first Open Championship in 1892 held at Muirfield with score of 305, 21-over. He repeated this feat again in 1897 at Royal Liverpool. In 1911, Hilton became the first Brit to win the British and U.S. Amateur titles in the same year.

The win in 1897 was spectacular. Hilton, who was only 5-feet, 5-inches tall, had posted a 314 and was in the clubhouse at Liverpool waiting for the outcome. But he wasn’t sitting doing nothing — he was playing pool, probably with some money on the games. When he heard that James Braid was coming to No. 18 needing birdie to tie, Hilton went out to watch. Braid struck a cleek (a type of club) and nearly holed out for eagle to win. After the shot was struck everyone was thinking, including Harold, that there would be playoff, but Braid missed his putt, giving the win to Hilton and a second win at the Open Championship and the prize of 30 pounds.

Above: Hilton’s swing was not something of beauty. Robert Harris once wrote this about Hilton’s swing:

“His cap used to fall of his head at the end of full swings, as if jerked off, but this did not indicate if the swing was pure if unduly forceful. He was a small man with a powerful physique; it was exhilarating to watch his perky walk between shots. His assiduity was his greatness.”

List of Tournaments Won by Harold Hilton

• 1889 Royal Liverpool Summer Lubbock Gold Medal, Royal Liverpool Autumn Kennard Gold Medal, Royal Liverpool St. Andrew’s Gold Cross Medal, West Lancashire Golf Club Challenge Gold Medal, West Lancashire Golf Club Mayor’s Prize, West Lancashire Golf Club St. Andrew’s Challenge Gold Cross Medal
• 1891 Royal Liverpool Spring Club Gold Medal, Royal Liverpool Summer Lubbock Gold Medal, Birkdale Golf Club Crowther Cup
• 1892 The Open Championship (Muirfield)
• 1893 St. George’s Challenge Cup
• 1894 St. George’s Challenge Cup
• 1897 The Open Championship (Royal Liverpool)
• 1900 The Amateur (British Amateur) Championship, Irish Amateur
• 1901 The Amateur (British Amateur) Championship, Irish Amateur
• 1902 Irish Amateur
• 1911 The Amateur Championship, U.S. Amateur Championship
• 1913 The Amateur Championship

More than playing accomplishments, Harold went on to design one of the top-100 course in England, Ferndown Golf Club, which holds an Open Championship qualifier.

After retiring from competitive golf in 1913, he became a golf writer working with Golf Illustrated and Golf Monthly as their first editor, and wrote books on this great game. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1978.

His win at the 1911 U.S. Amateur at Apawamis really set off American golf, with American players seething about losing their amateur title to a Brit and having him take the coveted trophy across the pond. It has been said that the win was one of the key factors in America becoming the golfing giant it is today.

So we all owe a bit of thanks to his fine play and the punch to the face to American golf. Without Hilton, golf might not have taken off as fast in the U.S.