1954 Amateur Championship: Doug Bachli wins at Muirfield
Doug Bachli won the 1954 Amateur Championship at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, beating William C. Campbell 2 & 1 in the final.
Updated 23 October 2026
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- Edition
- 59th
- Dates
- 24 May 1954 to 29 May 1954
- Course
- Muirfield, Gullane, East Lothian
- Format
- match play
- Champion
- Doug Bachli · age 32 · Australia
- Champion's title
- 1st Amateur Championship title
- Runner-up
- William C. Campbell · age 31 · United States
- Final
- 2 & 1 (36-hole final)
- Losing semifinalists
- Tony Slark and Joe Carr
- Defending champion
- Joe Carr · lost in semifinals
- Entries
- 305
What happened at the 1954 Amateur Championship
Final: the lead changed hands or the match was squared nine times; Campbell looked the winner until Bachli squared at the 32nd hole and won the next two, Campbell wasting four strokes in two bunkers - described as the greatest upset in the championship since the war.
Bachli beat Northumberland champion J. K. Tate at the 19th in the quarterfinal after being two down at the 5th, then beat Walter Slark 3 & 2 to become the first Australian finalist since Jim Ferrier in 1936.
The draw
Every match is recorded through the semifinal; earlier rounds are partial (quarterfinal (3 of 4 matches); round of 16 (2 of 8 matches)).
The final, 1954 Amateur Championship
| Winner | Beaten | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Bachli | def. | William C. Campbell | 2 & 1 |
Semifinals, 1954 Amateur Championship
| Winner | Beaten | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Bachli | def. | Tony Slark | 3 & 2 |
| William C. Campbell | def. | Joe Carr | 3 & 2 |
Quarterfinals, 1954 Amateur Championship
| Winner | Beaten | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doug Bachli | def. | J. K. Tate | won on 19th hole |
| William C. Campbell | def. | A. M. Bucher | 5 & 4 |
| Tony Slark | def. | Dalton Henderson | 3 & 2 |
Round of 16, 1954 Amateur Championship
| Winner | Beaten | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|
| William C. Campbell | def. | E. L. Dalton | 1 up |
| Bunny Millward | def. | Frank Stranahan | 4 & 3 |
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: runner_up_age.
Data: the-amateur.json.
Sources
- Weekly Times 1954-05-12 p.80 (Trove)
- Townsville Daily Bulletin 1954-05-25 p.3 (Trove)
- Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) 1954-05-30 p.55 (Chronicling America)
- Canberra Times 1954-06-09 p.5 (Trove)
- Barrier Miner 1954-05-29 p.1 (Trove)
- West Australian 1954-05-29 p.16 (Trove)
- Wikidata Q137274798
- Wikidata Q599622
- Wikipedia: William C. Campbell (golfer)
- Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) 1954-05-28 p.15 (Chronicling America)
- Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate 1954-05-29 p.3 (Trove)
- Barrier Miner 1954-05-29 p.7 (Trove)