Bobby Cruickshank facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bobby Cruickshank
Personal information
Full name	Robert Allan Cruickshank
Born	(1894-11-16)16 November 1894 Grantown-on-Spey, Scotland
Died	27 August 1975(1975-08-27) (aged 80) Delray Beach, Florida
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Weight	165 lb (75 kg; 11.8 st)
Nationality	Scotland
Spouse	Helen "Nellie" Cruickshank
Children	Elsie
Career
Turned professional	1921
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	29
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	17
Other	12
Best results in Major Championships
The Masters Tournament	T4: 1936
U.S. Open	2nd/T2: 1923, 1932
The Open Championship	6th: 1929
PGA Championship	T3: 1922, 1923
British Amateur	T33: 1920

Robert Allan Cruickshank (16 November 1894 – 27 August 1975) was a prominent professional golfer from Scotland. He competed in the PGA of America circuit from the early 1920s to the mid-1930s, the forerunner of today's PGA Tour.

Early years

Born in Grantown-on-Spey in rural northern Scotland, Cruickshank learned his golf as a boy playing over the town’s course. As a teenager he also worked there as a caddie.

In that era country houses around Grantown-on-Spey were often rented to rich Edinburgh families for the summer. The wealthy widow Mrs Isabella Usher whose family fortune came from brewing made an offer to Bobby’s parents to provide an education for their two sons in Edinburgh. In the Autumn of 1909 Bobby and his younger brother John moved south. Mrs Usher became their legal guardian and they lived at her house in the city’s Murrayfield district. They were educated at the nearby Daniel Stewart’s College.

Although Bobby was not tall (5 ft 5in), he was a fine athlete, and in 1912 the year that he left school, he ran the 100 yards in a time of 10.4 seconds. This time wasn’t beaten until 1960 by the future Scotland international rugby player Sandy Hinshelwood.

He was also becoming an outstanding golfer and met and became firm friends with another rising local golfer Tommy Armour. Armour and Cruikshank played together regularly over the Braid Hills course. Armour would later become a three time major winner. Bobby also became a member of Turnhouse Golf Club on the west of the city.

Cruickshank served in the British Army in World War I. Captured in action by the Germans, he was a prisoner of war and later successfully escaped. <

On returning from the war Bobby won what was then Edinburgh’s top amateur competition (the Edinburgh Coronation Cup) in both 1919 and 1920. The tournament was played over the famous Braid Hills course which is still the city’s premier municipal course. Representing his old school’s former pupils (Stewart's FP Golf Club) Bobby was part of a team which won the famous Evening Dispatch Trophy. He also reached the final rounds of the British Amateur Championship played at Muirfield in the summer of 1920.

These successes encouraged Bobby to consider turning professional and moving to the USA with his wife Helen.

Career

Cruickshank turned professional in 1921 and moved to the United States, as suggested by his mentor and friend, Tommy Armour. He rose to prominence in the U.S. after reaching the last four of the USPGA in both 1922 and 1923. He lost both times to eventual champion Gene Sarazen. Cruickshank was also twice runner-up in the US Open. In 1923 he finished second to Bobby Jones down by two shots after an 18 hole play off at Inwood Country Club, New York. In 1932 he was beaten by Gene Sarazen at Fresh Meadow Country Club, New York.

Bobby came home to Scotland to play at Muirfield in the 1929 Open Championship. Despite only bringing two clubs with him and borrowing the rest from the Gullane professional he finished sixth. In a nod to his old school Bobby wore his Stewart’s College tie while playing in the second round of the championship. Bobby won £10 for sixth place while that years “Champion Golfer” Walter Hagen won £75.

Cruickshank won 17 tour events in his career and his greatest year was 1927, when he won the Los Angeles and Texas Opens and finished as the leading money winner for the year. His last victory on tour was in 1936 and he had 16 top-ten finishes in major championships.

After golf

Cruickshank was a club pro in Richmond, Virginia, in 1930s and 1940s, and later in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was also a winter pro in Florida. Cruickshank died after a brief illness at age 80 in Delray Beach, Florida. His wife Nellie (1895–1965) had died ten years earlier in Pittsburgh.

Professional wins (29)

PGA Tour wins (17)

• 1921 (2) St. Joseph Open (as an amateur), New York State Open
• 1924 (1) Colorado Open
• 1926 (2) North and South Open, Mid-South Pro-Am Bestball
• 1927 (5) Los Angeles Open, Texas Open, South Central Open, North and South Open, Westchester Open
• 1928 (1) Maryland Open
• 1929 (1) Westchester Open
• 1934 (3) National Capital Open, British Colonial Open, Pinehurst Fall Pro-Pro (with Tommy Armour)
• 1935 (1) Orlando Open
• 1936 (1) Virginia Open

Other wins (12)

this list may be incomplete

• 1925 Miami International Four-Ball (with Johnny Farrell)
• 1927 Miami International Four-Ball (with Tommy Armour)
• 1933 Virginia Open
• 1934 Virginia Open
• 1935 Virginia Open
• 1937 Virginia Open
• 1938 Mid South Pro/Pro (with Tommy Armour; tie with Henry Picard and Jack Grout)
• 1939 Virginia Open
• 1943 North and South Open
• 1945 Middle Atlantic PGA Championship
• 1949 Tri-State PGA Championship
• 1950 Tri-State PGA Championship

Results in major championships

     Top 10      Did not play NYF = tournament not yet founded
NT = no tournament
WD = withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Source: British Amateur