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Arthur Lacey
Personal information
Full name	Arthur James Lacey
Born	(1904-05-20)20 May 1904 Burnham, Buckinghamshire, England
Died	6 August 1979(1979-08-06) (aged 75) Pinehurst, North Carolina, U.S.
Sporting nationality	England
Career
Status	Professional
Professional wins	6
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP
The Open Championship	T7: 1932, 1937

Arthur James Lacey (20 May 1904 – 6 August 1979) was an English professional golfer who finished in the top ten of The Open Championship on four occasions in the 1930s. He also played in the 1933 and 1937 Ryder Cup matches, and was then selected as non-playing captain of the Great Britain and Ireland side for those matches in 1951. He was chairman of the PGA from 1949 to 1951.

Early life

Lacey was the son of another Arthur Lacey, the greenkeeper at Burnham Beeches Golf Club in Buckinghamshire. Arthur, senior was also a golfer, winning the first competition of the Golf Greenkeepers' Association at Bushey Hall Golf Club in 1912 with scores of 80 and 79. Arthur senior later moved to Ifield, West Sussex. Lacey had a younger brother Charles who was also a successful golfer.

Golf career

Lacey's most notable victories as a player came in the Belgian Open of 1931 and 1932, and the French Open in 1932, and he continued to be a regular high finisher in British professional events in the 1930s. 1937 was his most successful year winning the Yorkshire Evening News and Dunlop-Metropolitan tournaments and finishing seventh in The Open Championship, behind winner Henry Cotton but ahead of several of that year's American Ryder Cup side, including major champions Horton Smith, Ralph Guldahl, Sam Snead and Denny Shute.

Lacey was professional at The Berkshire Golf Club in Ascot, Berkshire from 1934 to 1952 having previously been at Selsdon Park (1928 to 1933), Leighton Buzzard Golf Club (1927 to 1928) and an assistant at Gerrards Cross Golf Club.

Lacey also served as a rules official, and in that capacity was involved in a controversial ruling during the final round of the 1958 Masters Tournament. He allowed Arnold Palmer, who was in strong contention, to play two balls when Palmer's tee shot plugged in wet turf on the 12th hole. Palmer's original attempt from the plugged lie gave him a double bogey, while he made a par with his second ball after taking a free drop, which he had had to argue with Lacey to obtain. Palmer's actual score on the hole would be decided after further discussion. Bobby Jones ruled half an hour later that Palmer's par would count, and Palmer went on to win, ahead of a bitter Ken Venturi, who as Palmer's playing partner lost his composure when Palmer received the favourable ruling. The incident has been debated heavily in golf circles ever since.

Tournament wins

this list may be incomplete

• 1931 Belgian Open
• 1932 Belgian Open, French Open
• 1933 Yorkshire Evening News Tournament
• 1937 Yorkshire Evening News Tournament, Dunlop-Metropolitan Tournament

Results in major championships

Note: Lacey only played in The Open Championship.

NT = No tournament
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Team appearances

• Ryder Cup (representing Great Britain): 1933 (winners), 1937, 1951 (non-playing captain)
• Seniors vs Juniors (representing the Juniors): 1928
• England–Scotland Professional Match (representing England): 1932 (winners), 1933 (winners), 1934 (winners), 1936 (winners), 1937 (winners), 1938 (winners)
• England–Ireland Professional Match (representing England): 1932 (winners), 1933 (winners)
• Coronation Match (representing the Ladies and Professionals): 1937
• Llandudno International Golf Trophy (representing England): 1938 (winners)
• Great Britain–Argentina Professional Match (representing Great Britain): 1939 (winners, captain)

References

1. "FamilySearch.org". Retrieved 18 June 2023.
2. "Past PGA Chairmen". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
3. "Club History : Burnham Beeches Golf Club in Buckinghamshire - CLUB View". Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
4. "Golf Greenkeepers' Association". The Times. 24 May 1912. p. 60.
5. Arnie and Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf's Greatest Rivalry, by Ian O'Connor, 2008

• Alliss, Peter: "The Who's Who of Golf", (1983), Orbis Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-85613-520-8

Arthur Lacey in the Ryder Cup

v t e European Ryder Cup captains Great Britain 1927 Ted Ray 1929 George Duncan 1931 Charles Whitcombe 1933 John Henry Taylor 1935 Charles Whitcombe 1937 Charles Whitcombe 1947 Henry Cotton 1949 Charles Whitcombe 1951 Arthur Lacey 1953 Henry Cotton 1955 Dai Rees 1957 Dai Rees 1959 Dai Rees 1961 Dai Rees 1963 John Fallon 1965 Harry Weetman 1967 Dai Rees 1969 Eric Brown 1971 Eric Brown Great Britain & Ireland 1973 Bernard Hunt 1975 Bernard Hunt 1977 Brian Huggett Europe 1979 John Jacobs 1981 John Jacobs 1983 Tony Jacklin 1985 Tony Jacklin 1987 Tony Jacklin 1989 Tony Jacklin 1991 Bernard Gallacher 1993 Bernard Gallacher 1995 Bernard Gallacher 1997 Seve Ballesteros 1999 Mark James 2002 Sam Torrance 2004 Bernhard Langer 2006 Ian Woosnam 2008 Nick Faldo 2010 Colin Montgomerie 2012 José María Olazábal 2014 Paul McGinley 2016 Darren Clarke 2018 Thomas Bjørn 2021 Pádraig Harrington 2023 Luke Donald v t e Great Britain Ryder Cup team – 1933 Percy Alliss Allan Dailey Bill Davies Syd Easterbrook Arthur Havers Arthur Lacey Abe Mitchell Alf Padgham Alf Perry Charles Whitcombe J.H. Taylor (non-playing captain) Won: 6.5 – 5.5 v t e Great Britain Ryder Cup team – 1937 Percy Alliss Dick Burton Henry Cotton Bill Cox Sam King Arthur Lacey Dai Rees Alf Padgham Alf Perry Charles Whitcombe (playing captain) Lost: 4 – 8 v t e Great Britain Ryder Cup team – 1951 Jimmy Adams Ken Bousfield Fred Daly Max Faulkner Jack Hargreaves Arthur Lees John Panton Dai Rees Charlie Ward Harry Weetman Arthur Lacey (non-playing captain) Lost: 2.5 – 9.5

• English male golfers
• Ryder Cup competitors for Europe
• People from Burnham, Buckinghamshire
• 1904 births
• 1979 deaths
• 20th-century English sportsmen