Golf Vacations in Ireland
All the Local Knowledge You Need!

Max Faulkner, R.I.P.

1st March 2005:
Max Faulkner, winner of the only British Open ever staged in Ireland, has died at the age of 88. He suffered a heart attack on Saturday.

Max Faulkner was renowned as much for his carefree, colourful character, equally colourful dress, his amiable disposition and his entertaining manner as for his considerable golfing skills.

Born in July 1916, Faulkner turned professional in 1933. He made five Ryder Cup appearances for Great Britain and Ireland including the historic 1957 match at Lindrick when the GB&I team won a rare victory for those days.

His major achievement was exactly that, the 1951 British Open which was played at Royal Portrush Golf Club in County Antrim. Having declared after the second round, when he led by two shots, that 'Nobody can catch me now", Max then produced a third round full of great shotmaking and wonderful putting to open a six shot advantage. Before the final round he famously signed an autograph 'Max Faulkner - 1951 Open Champion'!

After 15 holes of the final round this was cut to four. At the long par-4 16th where he pulled the ball so badly it was within a few inches of the out-of-bounds fence. Faced with a choice of chipping out and trying to save bogey or starting the ball over the fence and fading it back, Faulkner reached for his 3-Wood and smashed the ball over the fence. As the gallery and playing partner Frank Stranahan watched spellbound, the ball dutifully turned right, came back into play and reached the green. Stranahan said "It was the greatest shot I've ever seen".

He never won another major but declared "It was all I ever wanted. The Open meant everything to me. When I was handed the trophy I looked at the names on it - Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Henry Cotton - and thought 'Wow!'"

"In fact it meant so much that it sapped my will. I remember I had a putt at the second hole at Lytham the following year, from about four feet, and I missed. My immediate thought was 'That's it, I'll never win the Open again'."

Said to have rarely used a full set of 14 conventional clubs, Faulkner continually experimented with modified clubs. He is credited with being the first golfer to shape lofted approaches to the green. But the search for putting perfection was his goal, and he is said to have amassed a collection of over 300 putters.

Max Faulkner was honoured with an OBE in 2001 for his services to the game. Ar dheis De go raibh se.

MORE NEWS ARTICLES...