Scotland has over the years produced many fine amateur golfers but perhaps the most celebrated and loved of all was Freddie Tait. The golfing public was captivated by his personal charm, his considerable golfing successes and his career as a professional soldier.
Lieutenant FG Tait was a contemporary of English amateur greats John Ball, Harold Hilton and Horace Hutchison. Throughout the 1890’s he played some remarkable golf, winning the Amateur Championship in 1896 (at Sandwich) and 1898 (at Hoylake); was runner up in 1899 (at Prestwick) and was a beaten semi-finalist in 1893, 1894 and 1895.
A native of Edinburgh, from boyhood he spent his summers in St Andrews where he was known to rise very early and play up to five rounds a day, often in the company of his terrier Nails. He was a member of the R&A and had two fine golfing brothers.
He was a fine putter and exponent of the chip and run but it was his driving that really caught the eye. Most famously, he drove the frozen 341 yard 13th hole at the Old Course with a gutta percha ball! Intriguingly, his father was an eminent physician (and golf nut) who had calculated that 250 yards was the maximum possible distance a ball could be struck.
His life was tragically cut short at the age of 30 when he died leading his men of the Black Watch highland regiment in the Second Boer War in South Africa.
His memory lives on in JH Lorimer’s famous painting of him (pictured above) with a caddie and Nails which was commissioned by fellow members of the R&A and which hangs in the clubhouse still. The 16th hole of the Jubilee course at St Andrews and the 15th hole at Luffness New (where he was a founder member and where you can still see his golfing medals on display) being named in his honour. The Freddie Tait Cup is awarded annually to the leading amateur in the South African Open.
In 1900, John Low, a contemporary and very fine golfer in his own right wrote Tait’s biography. Although long out of print, FG Tait – A Record can still be found online and for golf nerds, it’s a cracking read.