Edward Blackwell

Edward Blackwell
Blackwell (center), Freddie Tait (left), and Old Tom Morris (right), at St Andrews, Scotland, playing in the 1899 R&A Order of Play Medal Match
Personal information
Full name	Edward Baird Hay Blackwell
Born	(1866-07-21)21 July 1866 St Andrews, Scotland
Died	22 June 1945(1945-06-22) (aged 78) St Andrews, Scotland
Height	6 ft (183 cm)
Weight	196 lb (89 kg)
Nationality	Scotland
Career
Status	Amateur
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP
The Open Championship	T13: 1892
PGA Championship	DNP
British Amateur	2nd: 1904

Edward Baird Hay Blackwell (21 July 1866 – 22 June 1945) was a Scottish amateur golfer who played in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was a member of the R&A and finished in second place in the 1904 Amateur Championship contested at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Although playing fine golf throughout, he eventually lost the final match to Walter Travis by the score of 4 and 3. He was known as a long hitter of the ball, often outdriving opponents by 50 yards or more. In 1898, Blackwell was described as probably the most consistently long driver the world had ever seen. As a result, his name became a household word among golfers.

His brothers—Sir Ernley Blackwell and Walter Blackwell—were also useful golfers, playing on several occasions in the Amateur Championship.

Born in 1866—the son of Surgeon-Major James Hay Blackwell, H.E.I.C.S., and his wife, Eliza Jane Robertson—he began to play as soon as he could walk and the advantage of this early commencement was seen in his excellent playing style: a full, free swing, characterized by commanding power. His early boyhood was spent in St Andrews where he attended Dr. Browning's School. Before he left at age 13, he had won a prize with the score of 104. As a young man Blackwell had grown to a height of 6 feet, weighed 14 st (200 lb; 89 kg), and had powerful forearms and wrists. Being a tall man, he preferred heavy clubs with long hickory shafts. His cleek was once described as "a weaver's beam with an old boot at the end of it".

In the 1904 Amateur Championship, contested at Royal St George’s Golf Club, Blackwell played well throughout the tournament but lost the final match 4 and 3 to the American player Walter Travis.

The sky was overcast with occasional flurries of rain and a stiff, raw wind from the northeast greatly affected both Travis's and Blackwell's driving. The match was over 36 holes of golf.