Over 101 years ago, on 12 June 1923, during the second day of the British Open qualifying rounds that year, which would take place a few days later in Troon (fancy that, just like this year), a player named Aubrey Boomer experienced a psychedelic accident that is still occasionally remembered today. In a round of golf plagued by wind and rain, Boomer was trying to execute a bunker shot as best he could, with such bad luck that the ball, high and soft, was caught by the wind and returned towards him, eventually landing in one of his jacket pockets…
The ball, indeed, returned to him like a Boomer-ang, but no, his surname is not the origin of the term boomerang, let’s not get carried away. The coincidence, however, is amusing, because good old Aubrey is almost better known for that incident than, for example, for having won the French Open five times, an absolute record of victories in the history of this century-old tournament which this week faces its 106th edition. Sometimes history is written with stupid, rather than crooked, lines.
Aubrey Boomer was no ordinary man, born in Grouville, Jersey, as we will see. He failed that windy British Open qualifying round in 1923, but by the time the ball decided to gently land in his jacket pocket, he had already won two editions of the French Open in 1921 and 1922. A few years later, in 1927, he would finish in second place in an Open held at the Old Course in St. Andrews. It’s true that runners-up are rarely remembered forever, but in his case, the curse goes further, as that edition was won by a certain Bobby Jones, and he did so by six strokes.
That same year of 1927, Aubrey Boomer was part of the British team that played in the first edition of the Ryder Cup. At that time, the Ryder format was different. A first session of four foursomes was played on Friday, over 36 holes, and on Saturday, eight singles matches were played. Nothing more. Well, in that mythical first edition, held at the Worcester Country Club (Worcester, Massachusetts), and in the first session, the foursomes, Boomer won the only point for the British team playing alongside Charles Whitcombe against Americans Leo Diegel and Bill Mehlhorn, with a resounding result of 7 and 6.
Boomer would also play in the 1929 Ryder, the first British victory, where he defeated Joe Turnesa in the singles.
As mentioned, Boomer was born in Grouville, a small community on the island of Jersey. But even in his homeland, he probably doesn’t receive all the recognition he deserves, since there, in Jersey, two giants of golf history, Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, were also born a few years before him. They honed their skills at the Royal Jersey Golf Club, which has been located in Grouville since the late 19th century. It’s very difficult to shine against such local competition: six Claret Jugs for Vardon; Ray won an Open and a US Open.
It’s curious, very curious. Vardon and Ray went to play the French Open on many occasions, from the first edition in 1906, but they never managed to win it. Harry Vardon was second twice and Ted Ray once more. Boomer had to arrive in 1921 to finally give the Jersey boys their first title.
Boomer, moreover, holds a record that probably cannot be matched until the end of time. He won the French Open five times, but he did so on five different courses: Le Touquet, La Boulie, St. Cloud, Fourqueux, and Deauville. Perhaps just for that reason, during this week of the French Open, his story deserves to be told again, without the narrative revolving solely around that pesky little ball that landed in a jacket pocket.
