Wally Smithers

Wally Smithers
Personal information
Full name	Walter Douglas Smithers
Born	(1904-08-25)25 August 1904 Chobham, Surrey, England[1]
Died	27 January 1993(1993-01-27) (aged 88) Long Ashton, Somerset, England
Sporting nationality	England
Career
Status	Professional
Professional wins	6
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP
The Open Championship	T8: 1949

Walter Douglas Smithers (25 August 1904^[2] – 27 January 1993^[3]) was an English professional golfer. He tied for 8th place in the 1949 Open Championship.

Golf career

Smithers was assistant professional at Royal Ottawa Golf Club from 1928 to 1935. Soon after arriving he won the Canadian PGA Assistant's Championship in August 1928, winning by 7 strokes and beating the course record with a 70 in his afternoon round.^[4] In 1932, Smithers set a course record of 63 on the Royal Ottawa course.^[5] He returned to England in 1935.^[6]

On his return to England, Smithers worked as a teacher and caddie at Sunningdale Golf Club where he had been before leaving for Canada. He caused a surprise in the 1936 Open Championship where, as a virtual unknown, he was second in the qualifying behind Henry Cotton and finished tied for 15th place in the Championship itself.^[7]

Smithers became the professional at Long Ashton Golf Club in 1948 where he remained until his retirement. After finishing tied for 8th place in the 1949 Open Championship he was in a short list of 20 for the 1949 Ryder Cup team but was not selected for the final 10. Paired with Irish amateur Jimmy Bruen he won the 1950 Daily Telegraph Foursomes Tournament at Formby.^[8] Playing with John Fallon, he was also runner-up in the 1954 Goodwin (Sheffield) Foursomes Tournament.^[9] In individual tournaments his best performance was joint runner-up in the 1951 Silver King Tournament where he finished two strokes behind Flory Van Donck.^[10]

Tournament wins

• 1928 Canadian PGA Assistant's Championship
• 1949 West of England Professional Championship
• 1950 Daily Telegraph Foursomes Tournament (with Jimmy Bruen)
• 1951 West of England Professional Championship
• 1952 West of England Professional Championship
• 1959 West of England Professional Championship

Results in major championships

Tournament	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952
The Open Championship	T15	CUT	CUT	CUT	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	NT	CUT			T8	T12	T28	T17

Note: Smithers only played in The Open Championship.

  Top 10

  Did not play

NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

References

1. "FamilySearch.org". FamilySearch. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
2. "FamilySearch.org". FamilySearch. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
3. "Find a will | GOV.UK".
4. "Royal Ottawa's assistant pro capture title – Walter Smithers wins 36-hole medal competition at Toronto with card of 146. Breaks course mark". The Ottawa Citizen. 17 August 1928. p. 18.
5. "Smellie: 162 holes - 79.4 average; Kaufman is: 18 holes - 62 strokes". The Ottawa Citizen. 15 June 1979. p. 19.
6. "Wally Smithers goes to England". The Ottawa Citizen. 9 January 1935. p. 1.
7. "Open golf bid by Cotton". The Glasgow Herald. 25 June 1936. p. 11.
8. "Bruen's fine return". The Glasgow Herald. 9 October 1950. p. 6.
9. "Hunt and Collins win". The Glasgow Herald. 6 September 1954. p. 9.
10. ""Silver King" golf winner". The Glasgow Herald. 21 April 1951. p. 2.