1885 Amateur Championship: Allan Macfie wins at Royal Liverpool Golf Club
Allan Macfie won the 1885 Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, Merseyside, beating Horace Hutchinson 7 & 6 in the final.
Updated 23 October 2026
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- Edition
- 1st
- Dates
- 20 April 1885 to 23 April 1885
- Course
- Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside
- Format
- match play (18-hole matches; halved matches let both players through)
- Champion
- Allan Macfie · age 31 · Scotland · Royal & Ancient
- Champion's title
- 1st Amateur Championship title
- Runner-up
- Horace Hutchinson · age 25 · England
- Final
- 7 & 6 (18-hole final)
- Match-play field
- 44
- Losing semifinalists
- John Ball and unknown
- Entries
- 49
What happened at the 1885 Amateur Championship
Semi-final (Thu 23 Apr): Horace Hutchinson beat John Ball 2 up, 79 strokes to 83, after Ball had knocked out his own father (John Ball Sr.) 4 & 2 in the third round
Final: Allan Macfie, who had the bye at the three-man semi-final stage, beat Hutchinson 7 & 6 over 18 holes; Hutchinson lost the 1st after putting his second into the ditch
The draw
Every match is recorded through the semifinal; earlier rounds are partial (fourth round (1885 format: halved matches both advanced) (complete as published); third round (1885 format: halved matches both advanced) (complete as published)).
The final, 1885 Amateur Championship
| Winner | Beaten | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allan Macfie | def. | Horace Hutchinson | 7 & 6 |
Semifinals, 1885 Amateur Championship
| Winner | Beaten | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horace Hutchinson | def. | John Ball | 2 up |
Fourth round, 1885 Amateur Championship
Listed as the record names this round; it cannot be placed in the bracket (in 1885 a halved match sent both players through).
| Winner | Beaten | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Ball | def. | D. Argyll Robertson | 5 & 3 |
| Horace Hutchinson | def. | William More Jr. | 5 & 3 |
| Allan Macfie | def. | W. M. de Zoete | 1 up |
Third round, 1885 Amateur Championship
Listed as the record names this round; it cannot be placed in the bracket (in 1885 a halved match sent both players through).
| Winner | Beaten | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Ball | def. | John Ball | 4 & 2 |
| D. Argyll Robertson | def. | John Dun | 6 & 5 |
| Horace Hutchinson | def. | W. J. Mure | 4 & 3 |
| William More Jr. | def. | F. H. Maitland Dougall | 2 & 1 |
| Allan Macfie | def. | Thomas Gilroy | 2 & 1 |
| W. M. de Zoete | def. | Samuel Mure Fergusson | 8 & 6 |
How this was built
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's Amateur Championship data set (research collected through 20 October 2026). "unknown" means no source confirmed it; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the R&A's own record is used.
Values found only on Wikipedia, kept and flagged: match_play_field_size, runner_up_nationality.
Data: the-amateur.json.