AYRSHIRE LEGEND JACK CANNON DIES AT 93

R and A chief executive Peter Dawson (left) and Jack Cannon.

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Ayrshire golfing legend Jack Cannon has died at the age of 93. A member of Irvine Golf Club, Cannon and his good friends Hammy McInally and Jimmy Walker, were the county's version of the "Great Triumvirate."
They all hailed from the small mining village of Bartonholm which, at one time, was close to the 15th hole of the Irvine (Bogside) golf course.

Four times Ayrshire champion and winner of many other West Of Scotland events and local titles, it was in 1969, at the age of 52, that Jack Cannon won the Scottish Amateur Championship over the Old Course at Troon, beating Alan Hall by 6 and 4 in the final. He was and still is the oldest player ever to win the national title, a feat which saw him capped for Scotland in 1969 and again in 1974.
He held a scratch handicap for over 45 years and represented Ayrshire in county matches for 50 years. His last appearance was in 1985 when he was well into his 60s.
One of his proudest golfing moments came in 1969 when he partnered his son Ian to victory for Irvine Golf Club in The Evening Times Scottish Foursomes at Dunbar, the fourth occassion in which Jack was in a winning pairing in the event.
In his latter competitive years, Jack won the British Seniors Amateur Championship in 1980 at Prestwick St Nicholas as well as winning the Scottish Seniors Championship in the same year at Royal Burgess and being joint winner of that championship on two further occassions, in 1978 at Glasgow (Killermont) and again in 1982 at Royal Burgess.
In 1971 Cannon, McInally and Walker presented their Scottish amateur championship medals - numbering eight in total - to Irvine Golf Club who have them on display in the clubhouse.

+Picture at the top of the page shows R and A chief executive Peter Dawson with Jack Cannon at Irvine Golf Club, which co-hosted the 2003 British amateur championship stroke-play qualifying rounds with Royal Troon. Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency.