Bernard "Ben" Sayers was one of the most successful early professional golfers. He became a distinguished golf teacher, golf course designer and manufacturer of golf clubs and equipment.

Playing career

After moving to Haddington

Haddington, East Lothian

The Royal Burgh of Haddington is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian, which was known officially as Haddingtonshire before 1921. It lies about east of Edinburgh. The name Haddington is Anglo-Saxon, dating from the 6th...

 with his family at the age of 12, Sayers began to play golf after being given a club by his uncle. He was short at 5 in 3 in (1.6 m) but strong, and on the verge of becoming a professional acrobat when he began to take golf seriously. He moved to North Berwick and after enjoying success in competitions at Dunbar

Dunbar

Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....

, Hoylake

Hoylake

Hoylake is a seaside town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, on Merseyside, England. It is located at the north western corner of the Wirral Peninsula, near to the town of West Kirby and where the River Dee estuary meets the Irish Sea...

 and other courses he took up ballmaking, and also began to enter The Open Championship

The Open Championship

The Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...

. He came second in The Open on two occasions, but although he won 24 top-level tournaments he never lifted the "Old Claret Jug".

Instructor and golf architect

Sayers was a golf instructor to royalty, nobility and fellow professionals. In his day he taught Her Majesty Queen Alexandra, George, Prince of Wales

George, Prince of Wales

George, Prince of Wales may refer to:*George II of Great Britain, from his creation as Prince of Wales in 1714 to his accession to the throne in 1727...

 (later King George V), Princess Victoria

Princess Victoria

Princess Victoria may refer to:Living persons:*Princess Victoria Marina Cecilie of Prussia , daughter of Prince Frederick of Prussia *Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden In United Kingdom Royal Family history:...

, the Duchess of Connaught and Princess Patricia of Connaught

Princess Patricia of Connaught

Princess Patricia of Connaught was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria...

. He also instructed the great lady champion Dorothy Campbell

Dorothy Campbell

Dorothy Iona Campbell was the first internationally dominant female golfer. She was also known in her lifetime as Dorothy Hurd, Mrs. J.V. Hurd and as Dorothy Howe...

 (a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame

World Golf Hall of Fame

The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site serves both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 golf organizations from all over the world.The Hall of...

) and Frenchman Arnaud Massy

Arnaud Massy

Arnaud Massy was one of France's most successful professional golfers.Massy was born in Biarritz, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France...

, who became the first overseas player to win the British Open.

His course designing credits include the East course at North Berwick, Moffat, Rothesay, Craigielaw Links, Adare Manor, West Monmouthshire, the Spey Bay Golf Club in Banffshire

Banffshire

The County of Banff is a registration county for property, and Banffshire is a Lieutenancy area of Scotland.The County of Banff, also known as Banffshire, was a local government county of Scotland with its own county council between 1890 and 1975. The county town was Banff although the largest...

, and the Ballathie Hotel course in Perthshire

Perthshire

Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...

.

Ben Sayers & Son

The Ben Sayers & Son factory in North Berwick has been responsible for creating several revolutionary pieces of golf equipment, from gutta-percha balls and the "Benny" putter (the first to have a square-edged handgrip) to, in later years, the first set of carbon-shafted clubs and a specially commissioned putter for Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus

Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...

. Ben Sayers Jnr. also designed the first "oversized" driver. After operating from the Ben Sayers factory in North Berwick for 126 years, production was moved to China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

in 2003.

External links

• Ben Sayers career profile at north-berwick.co.uk
• Ben Sayers official website at BenSayers.com