David Brown

David Brown, who was born in the year of the first Open, 1860, was a slater and plasterer by trade who only played in golf tournaments when they came to his home town of Musselburgh, or when trade was poor.

He had only played in two Musselburgh Opens when he won at the same venue in 1886. His steady play was decisive and he finished off each of his last two rounds of the nine-hole course in style, playing the last three holes in eight strokes in the third round and nine strokes in the last round.

He won by two strokes from another Musselburgh man, Willie Campbell, who would later become the professional at Prestwick.

Brown was persuaded to travel across the country to Prestwick to defend his title and finished ninth, while he was fourth on his next appearance at Musselburgh in 1889. He was often among the leading finishers in the 1890s but later went to America where he was seventh in the 1901 U.S Open.

Two years later at Baltusrol, he made up six shots in the final round to tie Willie Anderson but lost in a play-off. He was described as a “very painstaking player, brim-full of confidence, a long, powerful driver, and an extremely dextrous wielder of Park’s patent lofter”.

He enjoyed playing the stock market but lost much of his wealth in the Wall Street Crash and returned home to Musselburgh, where he died in 1930.