Joe Carr

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Joe Carr
Personal information
Full nameJoseph Benedict Carr
Born(1922-02-22)22 February 1922
Inchicore, Ireland
Died3 June 2004(2004-06-03) (aged 82)
Dublin, Ireland
Sporting nationality Ireland
Career
StatusAmateur
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament52nd: 1968
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenCUT: 1967
The Open Championship8th: 1960
U.S. AmateurT3: 1961
British AmateurWon: 1953, 1958, 1960
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame2007 (member page)
Bob Jones Award1961

Joseph Benedict Carr (22 February 1922 – 3 June 2004) was an Irish amateur golfer.[1]

Carr was born in Inchicore, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, to George and Margaret Mary "Missie" Waters (the fifth of seven children). At 10 days old, he was adopted by his maternal aunt, Kathleen, and her husband, James Carr, who were childless and had recently returned home from India. The Carrs had just been appointed steward and stewardess of the Portmarnock Golf Club, allowing young Joe to play golf from a very early age.[2]

Carr won his first major tournament, the East of Ireland Amateur, at the age of 19 in 1941, which started one of Ireland's greatest golfing careers. He went on to win twelve East of Ireland titles, twelve West of Ireland titles, six Irish Amateur Close Championships, four Irish Amateur Opens, and three South of Ireland titles.

Carr won The Amateur Championship three times, in 1953, 1958, and 1960, and was runner-up in 1968. He was a semi-finalist at the U.S. Amateur in 1961, and was low amateur at The Open Championship in both 1956 and 1958 (and finished 8th overall in 1960).

In 1967, he became the first Irishman to play in the Masters Tournament. He made three Masters appearances, surviving the cut in 1967 and 1968. He later became the first Irishman to be a member of the Augusta National Golf Club.[3]

Carr received the Bob Jones Award in 1961, the USGA's highest honour, which is given for "distinguished sportsmanship in golf". He was the first non-American to win the award.

Internationally, Carr represented Ireland in numerous amateur golfing events. He was a member of a record eleven Walker Cup teams from 1947 to 1967, including non-playing captain in 1965 and playing captain in 1967, amassing a record of 5–14–1. After several years of playing against the United States' top-ranked players, he was moved down in the order for the 1961 event—only to be paired against Jack Nicklaus (who won the match).

Carr was part of the first winning Irish team at the European Amateur Team Championship in 1965 and again when Ireland successfully defended the title in 1967. After a third and last appearance by Carr in 1969, his son Roddy was a member of the Irish team in 1971, as well as on the winning Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team. In 1983 Carr's younger son John was part of the Irish team winning a third title at the European Amateur Team Championship.[3]

Carr played and captained on multiple Eisenhower Trophy teams, and represented Ireland in the Men's Home Internationals every year from 1947 to 1969. Carr retired from competitive golf in 1971. In 1991, Carr was named Captain of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the first Irishman to hold the post. In July 2007, Carr was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in the Lifetime Achievement category, and was inducted in November 2007.

From 1992 until his death in 2004, Carr was president of Mount Juliet Golf Club in Kilkenny. Mount Juliet still hosts the annual J.B. Carr Trophy for its members. Two months before Carr's death, his son John became the third Irishman to be invited to join Augusta National Golf Club, after his father and Ian Webb.[3]

Amateur wins (42)

Major championships

Amateur wins (3)

Year Championship Winning Score Runner-up
1953 The Amateur Championship 2 up United States Harvie Ward
1958 The Amateur Championship 3 & 2 England Alan Thirlwell
1960 The Amateur Championship 8 & 7 United States Bob Cochran

Results timeline

Tournament 1948 1949
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship
U.S. Amateur R64
The Amateur Championship R64 R64
Tournament 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship T24 CUT T36 LA CUT 37 LA T38
U.S. Amateur R128 R256
The Amateur Championship QF SF SF 1 SF QF R128 R128 1 R16
Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
Masters Tournament 55 52 CUT
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship 8 CUT CUT CUT CUT T33 CUT
U.S. Amateur SF T38
The Amateur Championship 1 QF R32 R16 QF R32 R128 R32 2 R64
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open
The Open Championship CUT
U.S. Amateur
The Amateur Championship R256 R16 R32 R128
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

LA = low amateur
CUT = Missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
R256, R128, R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in match play

Sources: Masters,[4] U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur,[5] Open Championship,[6] 1948 British Amateur,[7] 1949 British Amateur,[8] 1950 British Amateur,[9] 1951 British Amateur,[10] 1952 British Amateur,[11] 1954 British Amateur,[12] 1955 British Amateur,[13] 1956 British Amateur,[14] 1957 British Amateur,[15] 1959 British Amateur[16]

Team appearances

Sources:[17][18][19][20][21][22]

References

  1. ^ Alliss, Peter (1983). The Who's Who of Golf. Orbis Publishing. p. 221. ISBN 0-85613-520-8.
  2. ^ "My name was Waters". Archived from the original on 5 February 2004.
  3. ^ a b c Gilleece, Dermot (4 April 2004). "John follows Joe Carr as a member of Augusta". independent.se. Irish Independent. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  4. ^ www.masters.com
  5. ^ USGA Championship Database
  6. ^ www.opengolf.com
  7. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 27, 1948, pg. 6.
  8. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1949, pg. 8.
  9. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 27, 1950, pg. 9.
  10. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 26, 1951, pg. 5.
  11. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 31, 1952, pg. 5.
  12. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 29, 1954, pg. 4.
  13. ^ The Glasgow Herald, June 4, 1955, pg. 9.
  14. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 30, 1956, pg. 4.
  15. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 29, 1957, pg. 4.
  16. ^ The Glasgow Herald, May 29, 1959, pg. 11.
  17. ^ "European Amateur Team Championship – European Golf Association". Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  18. ^ Jansson, Anders (1979). Golf - Den gröna sporten [Golf - The green sport] (in Swedish). Swedish Golf Federation. pp. 153–158. ISBN 9172603283.
  19. ^ "Anglosaxiskt storslam i stormigt EM" [British slam in windy European Championship]. Svensk Golf (in Swedish). No. 6. September 1965. pp. 2–5, 32. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  20. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (28 June 1965). "European title for Ireland, Decided on game points". The Glasgow Herald. p. 4. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  21. ^ Ward Thomas, P.A. (26 June 1967). "Ireland retain European Team Championship". The Glasgow Herald. p. 7. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  22. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (30 June 1969). "England beat Germany for European title". The Glasgow Herald. p. 4. Retrieved 19 March 2021.

Further reading

  • Gilleece, Dermot (2004). Breaking 80: The Life and Times of Joe Carr. ISBN 1-84223-153-7