Cyril Tolley
Cyril Tolley | |
---|---|
![]() Tolley in 1930 | |
Personal information | |
Full name | Cyril James Hastings Tolley |
Born | Brockley, England [1] | 14 September 1895
Died | 18 May 1978 Eastbourne, England | (aged 82)
Sporting nationality | ![]() |
Career | |
Status | Amateur |
Professional wins | 2 |
Best results in major championships (wins: 2) | |
U.S. Open | DNP |
The Open Championship | T18: 1924, 1933 |
U.S. Amateur | DNQ: 1922 |
British Amateur | Won: 1920, 1929 |
Major Cyril James Hastings Tolley MC (14 September 1895 – 18 May 1978) was a British amateur golf champion and briefly a Liberal Party politician. He died in Eastbourne.[2]
Background
[edit]Tolley was the son of James T. Tolley and Christiana Mary Pascall. He was educated at University College, Oxford.[3] He won the Military Cross at Ypres during the First World War. In the Second World War, he commanded a company of the Royal Sussex Regiment and was a liaison officer with the United States Army.[4]
Professional career
[edit]Tolley was connected with the London Stock Exchange. He lived for a time in New York.[4]
Golfing career
[edit]Tolley twice won The Amateur Championship, in 1920 and 1929. In the 4th round in 1930 at St Andrews he lost to Bobby Jones on the 19th hole after Jones had laid a "horrid stymie" with Tolley within 4 feet of the hole.[5] Jones eventually won the tournament. He won the French Open in 1924 and 1928 and was the Welsh Open Amateur Championship in 1921 and 1923.[2][4] Tolley played in the first Walker Cup in 1922 and again in 1923, 1924, 1926, 1930, and 1934. He captained the team in 1924. He was captain of the R&A in 1948, being one of the few captains to play in the Amateur Championship during their year of office, losing in the third round to defending champion Willie Turnesa.[6][7]
In 1928, Tolley launched a libel action against J. S. Fry & Sons of Bristol, chocolate manufacturers. Frys had produced an advert in which Tolley was caricatured and which contained a limerick, published in two newspapers in June 1928. Tolley claimed that the advert suggested that he had made some financial gain and had been guilty of conduct unworthy of his status as an amateur golfer. In 1929, Tolley won £1,000 damages although this decision was set aside by the Court of Appeal. Tolley then took the case to the House of Lords where he was successful but it was decided that the damages were excessive. Eventually, in July 1931, he received £500 damages and costs.[8][9][10]
Tournament wins
[edit]- 1920 The Amateur Championship
- 1921 Welsh Open Amateur
- 1923 Golf Illustrated Gold Vase, Welsh Open Amateur
- 1924 French Open
- 1926 Golf Illustrated Gold Vase (tie with Tony Torrance)
- 1928 French Open, Golf Illustrated Gold Vase
- 1929 The Amateur Championship
Major championships
[edit]Amateur wins (2)
[edit]Year | Championship | Winning score | Runner-up |
---|---|---|---|
1920 | The Amateur Championship | 37 holes | ![]() |
1929 | The Amateur Championship | 4 & 3 | ![]() |
Results timeline
[edit]Tournament | 1920 | 1921 | 1922 | 1923 | 1924 | 1925 | 1926 | 1927 | 1928 | 1929 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Open Championship | T40 | T43 | T35 | T18 LA | T28 | CUT | T36 | T25 | ||
The Amateur Championship | 1 | R32 | R256 | QF | R16 | R64 | R64 | R64 | 1 | |
U.S. Amateur | DNQ |
Tournament | 1930 | 1931 | 1932 | 1933 | 1934 | 1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Open Championship | T52 | T18 | CUT | T28 | ||||||
The Amateur Championship | R32 | SF | R64 | R32 | QF | R64 | QF | R128 | ||
U.S. Amateur |
Tournament | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Open Championship | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | CUT | |||
The Amateur Championship | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | NT | R128 | R128 | R64 | |
U.S. Amateur | NT | NT | NT | NT |
Tournament | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The Open Championship | ||||||
The Amateur Championship | SF | R32 | R256 | R256 | ||
U.S. Amateur |
Note: Tolley only played in The Open Championship, the U.S. Amateur, and The Amateur Championship.
LA = Low amateur
NT = No tournament
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Team appearances
[edit]- Walker Cup (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 1922, 1923, 1924 (playing captain), 1926, 1930, 1934
- Great Britain vs USA (representing Great Britain): 1921
- England–Scotland Amateur Match (representing England): 1922, 1923, 1924 (winners), 1925 (winners), 1926 (winners), 1927 (tie), 1928 (winners), 1929 (tie), 1930 (winners)
Political career
[edit]On 3 December 1949, Tolley was adopted as the North Devon Liberal Association's prospective parliamentary candidate.[11] North Devon was a winnable seat, however, by 11 January 1950, he had been replaced as prospective candidate.[12] Instead he became Liberal candidate for the less winnable Hendon South division of Middlesex for the 1950 General Election;[13]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Sir Hugh Vere Huntly Duff Munro-Lucas-Tooth | 24,917 | 52.2 | ||
Labour | Thomas Sargant | 15,389 | 32.2 | ||
Liberal | Cyril James Hastings Tolley | 7,436 | 15.6 | ||
Majority | 9,528 | 20.0 | |||
Turnout | 83.6 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing |
He did not stand for parliament again.[15] He continued his activity in the Liberal Party, serving as Honorary Treasurer of the London Liberal Party from 1950 to 1951. By the end of the decade he had left the Liberals and joined the Conservative Party. He was elected to Eastbourne Borough Council in 1958 and served for one 4-year term.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ https://www.ancestry.co.uk/genealogy/records/cyril-james-hastings-tolley-24-8g8cg8 [bare URL]
- ^ a b "Obituary – Mr Cyril Tolley – Great golfer's long career at the summit". The Times. 20 May 1978. p. 16.
- ^ a b "Tolley, Major Cyril James Hastings". Who Was Who. Oxford University Press. 2014. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
- ^ a b c The Times House of Commons, 1950
- ^ "Golf – the Amateur Championship – a great match". The Times. 29 May 1930. p. 8.
- ^ "Golf – Micklem beaten at Sandwich". The Times. 27 May 1948. p. 2.
- ^ "William C Campbell". Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
- ^ "The Times diary/PHS – A bitter-sweet golfing story". The Times. 25 May 1978. p. 16.
- ^ "High Court of Justice – King's bench division – £500 damages for Mr. Cyril Tolley". The Times. 15 July 1931. p. 4.
- ^ "Tolley v J S Fry".
- ^ Western Morning News, Devon, 5 December 1949
- ^ Western Morning News, Devon, 12 January 1949
- ^ Who's Who of 475 Liberal Candidates fighting the 1950 General Election
- ^ "UK General Election results February 1950". Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
- ^ British parliamentary election results 1950–1973, Craig, F.W.S.
External links
[edit]- English male golfers
- Amateur golfers
- Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates
- Alumni of University College, Oxford
- British Army personnel of World War I
- British Army personnel of World War II
- Royal Sussex Regiment officers
- Military personnel from the London Borough of Lewisham
- People from Brockley
- 1895 births
- 1978 deaths