H. J. Whigham

Who was H. J. Whigham?

Henry James Whigham was a Scottish writer and amateur golfer. He won the U.S. Amateur in 1896 and 1897. Following his first win in the U.S. amateur, he wrote a golf instruction book.

Whigham was born in Tarbolton, Scotland, one of six brothers and four sisters. He went to America in 1893 for the Chicago World's Fair to demonstrate golf. This was arranged by Charles B. Macdonald, who was acquainted with Whigham's father, David Dundas, while they were students at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. Whigham would go on to become Macdonald's son-in-law, marrying his daughter Frances. They had a daughter, Sybil.

Whigham returned to Chicago as an instructor at Lake Forest College in English and also as a lecturer at other universities in the Midwest. Later he went on to become a drama critic for the Chicago Tribune, until leaving to work as a war correspondent.

Whigham became editor-in-chief of Town & Country magazine in 1910, a position he held until 1935.

Whigham was the author of How to Play Golf, a self-help book designed to teach the reader the basic rules of the game. A second edition of the book was republished and released in March 2011 by Library Tales Publishing.