J. H. Taylor
J. H. Taylor or John Henry Taylor (19 March 1871 - 10 February 1963) was an English professional golfer and one of the pioneers of the modern game of golf. Taylor is considered to be one of the best golfers of all time and was a significant golf course architect.
Taylor was born in Northam, Devon. He was a member of the fabled Great Triumvirate of the sport in his day, along with Harry Vardon and James Braid, and he won The Open Championship five times. Born into a working-class family, and orphaned as a boy, he became a professional golfer at 19.
In 1901, J. H. Taylor was a co-founder and the first chairman of the British Professional Golfers' Association. This was the first association for professional golfers in the world. Bernard Darwin wrote that Taylor "had turned a feckless company into a self-respecting and respected body of men".
Taylor was involved in designing courses across England and is attributed to being the inventor of the 'dogleg'. He was made an honorary member of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in 1949 and was president of Royal Birkdale, whose course he had designed, in 1957.