1890 Amateur Championship: John Ball wins at Royal Liverpool Golf Club
John Ball won the 1890 Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, Merseyside, beating Johnny Laidlay 4 & 3 in the final.
Updated 23 October 2026
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- Edition
- 6th
- Dates
- 30 April 1890 to 2 May 1890
- Course
- Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside
- Format
- match play
- Champion
- John Ball · age 28 · England · Royal Liverpool
- Champion's title
- 2nd Amateur Championship title
- Runner-up
- Johnny Laidlay · age 29 · Scotland
- Final
- 4 & 3 (18-hole final)
- Match-play field
- 44
- Losing semifinalists
- Leslie Balfour-Melville and D. Leitch
- Defending champion
- Johnny Laidlay · lost in final
- Entries
- 44
What happened at the 1890 Amateur Championship
Semi-final: Laidlay beat D. Leitch 1 up with a three at the last after Leitch had led by two holes
Final: John Ball went out in 37 to stand 6 up at the turn and beat Laidlay 4 & 3 as rain and lightning swept Hoylake; Ball also won the Open later that year, the first to hold both titles
The draw
Every match is recorded through the round of 16.
The final, 1890 Amateur Championship
| Winner | Beaten | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Ball | def. | Johnny Laidlay | 4 & 3 |
Semifinals, 1890 Amateur Championship
| Winner | Beaten | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Ball | def. | Leslie Balfour-Melville | 6 & 4 |
| Johnny Laidlay | def. | D. Leitch | 1 up |
Quarterfinals, 1890 Amateur Championship
| Winner | Beaten | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leslie Balfour-Melville | def. | W. E. Fairlie | 5 & 4 |
| John Ball | def. | Harold Hilton | 3 & 2 |
| D. Leitch | def. | F. C. Crawford | 4 & 3 |
| Johnny Laidlay | def. | Horace Hutchinson | 1 up |
Round of 16, 1890 Amateur Championship
| Winner | Beaten | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| W. E. Fairlie | def. | William More Jr. | 4 & 3 |
| Leslie Balfour-Melville | def. | C. Plummer | 4 & 3 |
| John Ball | def. | J. Fairclough | 8 & 7 |
| Harold Hilton | def. | Charles Hutchings | 4 & 2 |
| D. Leitch | def. | C. E. Nesham | 5 & 3 |
| F. C. Crawford | def. | D. Anderson | 1 up |
| Horace Hutchinson | def. | Allan Macfie | 3 & 2 |
| Johnny Laidlay | def. | A. D. Blyth | 2 & 1 |
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: champion_nationality, runner_up_nationality.
Data: the-amateur.json.