Jimmy Hitchcock: Profile of English Golfer
Full name: James Hitchcock
Date of birth: July 1930
Place of birth: Bromley, Kent, England
Date and place of death: December 25, 2015, in Belgium
His Biggest Wins
- 1958 Martini Professional Foursomes, Southern Section (partnered by Dick Burton)
- 1960 Muswell Hill Professional Invitation
- 1960 British Masters
- 1961 East Rand Open
- 1965 Agfa-Gevaert Tournament
- 1965 Honda Foursomes (partnered by Bill Large)
In the Majors
Hitchcock didn't have much of a record in the major championships. He never played the U.S. Open or U.S. PGA Championship, and played The Masters only once (tying for 61st in 1966). He played the British Open every year but one from 1953 through 1970, but missed more cuts than he made. His best finish was a tie for 11th in the 1959 Open. He also had Top 25 finishes in 1957 (23rd) and 1966 (tied 16th).
More About Jimmy Hitchcock
If someone has insulted your golf swing, don't feel too bad about it. Even the pros sometimes have their swings insulted. Jimmy Hitchcock, for example, had "a short, flailing backswing" according to Peter Alliss. Yet he won tournaments and played in the Ryder Cup.Hitchcock's grandfather and father were greenskeepers. His father George was superintendent at a club in Waterloo, Belgium, in 1940, when the family had to flee back to Britain ahead of the Nazi invasion.
His father became greenskeeper at Coombe Hill Club in Surrey, England, where 1939 Open Championship winner Dick Burton was the head professional. Burton began teaching Jimmy, and Hitchcock eventually became one of Burton's assistant pros at the club.
Burton helped Hitchcock to his first significant pro tournament win, too: They were partners in winning the PGA Southern Section title in the 1958 Martini Professional Foursomes.
But Hitchcock was still a relative unknown looking for a signature win when he arrived at Sunningdale for the 1960 British Masters (then known as the Dunlop Masters). A few days later, he had what would remain, by far, the biggest win of his career.
Hitchcock was pro at Ashford Manor Golf Club in Shepperton, England, at the time (a position he held from 1956-65). After three rounds, he was one off the lead of Max Faulkner. And he had to battle tremendous nerves throughout the final round.
In 1983, in an article about courage in sports, Peter Dobereiner of the London Observer called Hitchcock's 1960 British Masters victory "the bravest performance" he'd ever seen on a golf course. Dobereiner explained:
"In the final round Hitchcock was scared witless. His hands trembled with marked spasms. His face was beaded with perspiration and at times he was incapable of speech. His tremor was so pronounced that his clubs rattled as he drew one from the bag, and (he) had to throttle the grip to keep the club steady at the address."Yet, with about six holes to go he was in position to challenge. Three far more prominent players, Faulkner, Bobby Locke and John Jacobs, had posted the leading score of 277. When Hitchcock arrived on the 18th tee, he heard an announcement on the public address speakers calling Faulker, Locke and Jacobs to the first tee for what was assumed to be a three-man playoff.
Yet Hitchcock needed only a par to win. And, overcoming his nerves, he struck an approach to nine feet from the cup. Then, he sank his birdie putt to win by two strokes.
He won another prominent tournament in 1965 at the Agfa-Gevaert. After leading by one at the end of the third round, Hitchcock won by six strokes. The victory boosted him into seventh place on the British PGA's Ryder Cup points list, with the Top 9 that year earning automatic selection.
Hitchcock's appearance on Team Great Britain & Ireland in that 1965 Ryder Cup was his only one, and he went 0-for-3 in his matches. But it wasn't because he played poorly, but rather because of the level of the competition. He lost two singles matches, first to Arnold Palmer, then to Julius Boros. When Boros closed him out, 2-and-1, in the last singles session, it provided the clinching point for Team USA.
He never won again on tour after 1965, but did have a few more close calls. Those included second-place finishes in the 1967 PGA Close Championship, the 1968 Agfacolor Film Tournament (save tournament, new name, as the Agfa-Gevaert he won earlier), the 1970 Western Province Open (in South Africa), and the 1970 Bowmaker Tournament.
In 1967 Hitchcock wrote the book Golf Master: An Autobriography (affiliate link), the title playing off his victory in the British Masters.
He continued working as a club pro after his tournament days ended. From 1983-93, he was head pro at Humewood Golf Club in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. When he retired, Hitchcock moved to Belgium and lived out his live there.
Sources:
(Book titles are affiliate links; commissions earned)
Alliss, Peter. The Who's Who of Golf, 1983, Orbis Publishing.
Brenner, Morgan. The Majors of Golf, Volume 2, 2009, McFarland and Company.
Dobereiner, Peter. "Fear is the spur for game heroes," The (London) Observer, October 30, 1983.
DP World Tour. "Jimmy Hitchcock obituary," https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/news/articles/detail/jimmy-hitchcock-obituary/.
Glasgow Herald. "Hitchcock's victory in Masters," September 19, 1960, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=53ZAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=b6MMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2958%2C2553437.
Glasgow Herald. "Hitchcock's easy victory in Agfa-Gevaert," May 17, 1965, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oGJAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jKMMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3255%2C2742422.
Muswell Hill Club. "History," https://www.muswellhillgolfclub.co.uk/heritage/history/.
The Professional Golfers Association. "Hitchcock passes away," https://www.pga.info/news/hitchcock-passes-away/.
Steel, Donald. "Hitchcock still playing his trade," The (London) Sunday Telegraph, February 12, 1989.
Steel, Donald, and Ryde, Peter. The Encyclopedia of Golf, 1975, The Viking Press.
