The final 4 spots on the 1931 Ryder Cup Team were decided by a 72-hole playoff!

“DID YOU KNOW”
The final 4 spots on the 1931 Ryder Cup Team were decided by a 72-hole playoff!

The PGA of America held its annual meeting in Chicago in November 1930. One topic of discussion was the Ryder Cup eligibility. Tommy Armour, who had been born in Scotland and was now a resident of the United States, had won the PGA Championship that year. There were PGA members who thought that Armour should be on the US Ryder Cup Team. After much discussion the delegates passed a by-law stating that all members of the Ryder Cup Team had to be born in the United States, which meant no Armour. Up to that time it was only an unwritten rule that the Team members had to be native born.

PGA President Charles B. Hall announced the PGA of America’s selections for the 1931 Ryder Cup Team, which was being held at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. Walter Hagen was the playing captain for a third time. Five other professionals; Gene Sarazen, Johnny Farrell, Horton Smith, Al Espinosa and Leo Diegel who would be the professional at Philmont CC three years later, were on the team. Having lost the Cup in 1929 Hagen was determined to take it back. At the 1929 Ryder Cup, British captain John Henry Taylor had his team out running on the beach at sunup each day. Hagen named 13 professionals that he was inviting to Scioto for qualifying, to determine the last five places on the team.

On Monday June 22, the contingency of professionals trying to qualify for the last four Ryder Cup spots were at Scioto. One of those professionals was Pennsylvania’s Ed Dudley, the professional at the Concord Country Club. Dudley, the winner of the Los Angeles Open in January, had won the Western Open on Sunday in Dayton beating runner-up Walter Hagen, by four strokes. Now on Monday, he had to battle it out for a berth on the Ryder Cup Team.

On Monday and Tuesday, the hopeful professionals played 36 holes each day. At the conclusion Billy Burke led with a one over par 289. (Bobby Jones had won the 1926 US Open at Scioto with a 293) Wiffy Cox (294) was next and Craig Wood (299) picked up the third place. Denny Shute, who would be the professional at Llanerch Country Club two years later, tied Frank Walsh and Henry Cuici for the fourth and last spot with 302 totals. On Wednesday they played an 18-hole playoff which Shute won with a 72. Dudley, who had been on the team the previous year, missed the playoff by one stroke with a 303 total.

On Thursday the Ryder Cup began. The matches, which were all scheduled for 36 holes, began with 4 foursomes the first day and 8 singles the second day. With 90 holes under his belt in three days, Shute was in Thursday’s starting lineup along with two of the other qualifiers, Burke and Cox. Hagen paired himself with Shute. They won their foursomes match 10 & 9. The next day Shute won his singles match 8 & 6. With temperatures topping out in the mid 90s each day the Brits were out of their element. The US Team won by 9 points to 3.

The US Open was one week later in Toledo at the Inverness Club.

July 25, 2020 2

The 1959 Ryder Cup was awarded to Atlantic City CC, but it was moved to California!

“DID YOU KNOW”
The 1959 Ryder Cup was awarded to Atlantic City CC, but it was moved to California!

The Ryder Cup, which was first contested in 1927, was interrupted by World War II, and postponed twice. The 2001 Ryder Cup was postponed to 2002 due to the 9/11 attack and now in 2020, due to COVID-19, it has been rescheduled for 2021.

With war in Europe and then World War II there were no matches from 1939 to 1946. That could have been the last of the Ryder Cup if not for Robert A. Hudson, a fruit grower and canner from Portland, Oregon. Hudson had been sponsoring the PGA Tour Portland Open and had spent $25,000 as the sponsor of the 1946 PGA Championship at the Portland Golf Club. He decided to revive the Ryder Cup. His club would be the host and he would provide whatever finances were needed for a 1947 match.

Hudson paid the travel expenses for the British Team on the Queen Mary. He met them in New York upon their arrival. They were wined and dined at the Waldorf Astoria, before boarding a train with Hudson to travel on the three-day cross-country trip to Portland. Hudson paid for the British Team’s housing, meals and everything else. To help the British professionals make up for lost income while away from home, the PGA of America arranged paid exhibitions. The American Team swept the foursomes and lost only one of the eight singles, posting an 11-1 victory. Hudson spent $70,000 of his own money hosting that Ryder Cup. He is often referred to as the “The Savior of Ryder Cup”.

In 1949 the US Team was at the Ganton Golf Club in England for the Ryder Cup with its non-playing captain Ben Hogan, who was recovering from his near fatal auto accident. Hudson wanted to be sure the US Team was properly fed. He shipped a half ton of meat to England with the Team; 600 steaks, 6 hams, 12 sides of beef and 4 boxes of bacon. The British newspapers ran articles about their food being not good enough for the Americans. Hogan said he read more about food in the sports pages than golf. In the end, the US Team shared their food with the British Team.

With the 1951 Ryder Cup back in the states, Hudson was a co-sponsor of the match, which was held at Pinehurst. Four years later he sponsored the Ryder Cup at the Thunderbird Golf & Country Club in Palm Springs, California, where he had a winter home. Just as before, Hudson paid the expenses; travel, lodging and meals, for the British Team.

In May of 1957 the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the officials of the Atlantic City Country Club had been practically assured that the 1959 Ryder Cup would be played at their club. In November, at the PGA’s national meeting it was announced that Atlantic City CC would be hosting the Ryder Cup in 1959. The club and its pro-owner Leo Fraser would be sponsoring the match. In December, an article in the Inquirer mentioned that new championship tees were being built at Atlantic City CC for the Ryder Cup, adding 400 yards to the course. As late as August of 1958, news articles were still mentioning the upcoming Ryder Cup at Atlantic City.

Later in 1958 Robert Hudson decided that he would like to host the Ryder Cup at another one of his Palm Springs clubs, the newly opened Eldorado Country Club. For all that Hudson had done for the PGA, its officials decided to grant his wish. Hudson was also a member of the PGA’s advisory committee. Leo Fraser agreed to release the PGA from its commitment. Again Hudson paid all expenses for the British Team, including travel from England.

As a favor to Fraser, the British Team would practice at Atlantic City CC before heading to California. The British Team had also practiced at ACC in 1955. They practiced for two days and then participated in a pro-am that was held in a driving rainstorm. Everyone played the 18 holes and then were treated to a five-course dinner. From there the British Team traveled to the White House to visit President Eisenhower, who would later become an honorary member at Eldorado. From Washington it was on to Augusta National and California. Having lost the Cup in 1957, the US Team won by a margin of 8-1/2 to 3-1/2 points.

July 18, 2020 1

Due to minority golfer issues, the PGA Championship was and was not at Aronimink GC!

“DID YOU KNOW”
Due to minority golfer issues, the PGA Championship was and was not at Aronimink GC!

In 1947 Charlie Sifford was in Detroit playing in the Negro National Championship. Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis and entertainer Billy Eckstine were playing in the amateur division. Louis sold Eckstine on hiring Sifford as his private golf pro and chauffeur. Sifford had been living in Philadelphia and honing his game at Cobbs Creek GC, but now he was on the road with Eckstine. They would spend winter months in California where it was warm and had golf courses open to them.

Sifford played on what was called the United Golfers Association tour, which was for Black golfers. The UGA tour offered two-day weekend events in various locations with meager purses, but it was an opportunity to compete. Beginning in 1932 the UGA held a national championship, which Sifford would later win six times.

Golf was the last professional sport in the United States with a national schedule to become integrated. The PGA of America had a by-law stating that only Caucasians could be PGA members. With the threat of lawsuits in the early 1950s, the PGA announced that Black golfers could play PGA Tour events if invited. Now many of the tour events, especially in the south, became invitation tournaments, in order to not invite the Black golfers.

Sifford began entering the Monday qualifying events for tour tournaments that were open to Black golfers. Most of those were in the northern states.

By the late 1950s, with the growth of golf and more golfers wanting to play on the PGA Tour, the PGA devised an “Approved Players Card”, for non PGA members. Those were attained through the local PGA Sections. Only non exempt PGA professionals and those with Players Cards could enter the Monday qualifying rounds for PGA Tour events.

In 1960 on his third attempt and now with the help of an attorney, Sifford’s application for an “Approved Players Card” was accepted by the PGA, after an eight week wait. Even with that he could still only play in the Monday qualifying rounds for tournaments that were open and not invitations. With such a limited schedule, winning enough money to be among the top sixty money winners and gain full exemption for the next year was difficult.

In July 1960 the PGA announced that its 1962 championship had been awarded to Los Angeles’s Brentwood Country Club. One month earlier in June of 1960 Sifford had qualified for and played in the US Open, but he was most likely not going to be playing in a PGA Championship. To play in the tournament as a non PGA member he would have to be in the top 25 money winners on the PGA Tour the previous year.

When California attorney general Stanley Mosk was informed of that, he announced that there would not be a PGA Championship in California unless Sifford was in the field. The PGA replied that because Sifford was not a PGA member or an exempt player, he was not eligible for entry. Then the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce, which was the sponsor of the tournament, decided they did not want to be involved in a segregation issue and asked out of its contract with the PGA. Instead they would run an L.A. Open in 1962, rather than skipping a year as planned.

The PGA came back with a statement that it had a valid contract with the Chamber, but at the same time went looking for a new venue. On the other side of the country near Philadelphia, the PGA found a club with a championship course that could host the tournament on short notice, the Aronimink Golf Club. Just a few years before the PGA had held a highly successful PGA Championship at Llanerch Country Club in 1958, which was not far from Aronimink, so there was some comfort in a shift to Philadelphia.

In the third week of May, 1961 the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an article stating that the 1962 PGA Championship might be coming to Philadelphia. PGA Tournament Director J. Edwin Carter was on his way to check out the course at Aronimink. At the annual meeting of the PGA in the fall of 1961, the Caucasian Only clause was removed from the by-laws. The tournament was played at Aronimink in June 1962 without Black golfers. The winner, Gary Player, was the first non PGA member to win the tournament and the first foreign born winner not domiciled in the United States.

In October 1988 the PGA announced that its 1993 PGA Championship would be held at Aronimink GC. In 1990 the PGA Championship was played at the Shoal Creek Country Club in Alabama. Leading up to the tournament it was learned by the press that Shoal Creek did not have any minority members and did not plan to. Now the press was on the case. With the 1993 championship on the horizon the press inquired as to whether Aronimink had minority members. When it was learned that they did not, there were more articles in the newspapers.

In early November 1990, officials of Aronimink GC informed the PGA that the club was withdrawing from its contract to host the 1993 PGA Championship. They said that with its current seven year waiting list for full golf privileges, the club was not going to be able to achieve minority representation in its membership prior to 1993.

If Joe Lewis had not introduced Charlie Sifford to Billy Eckstine, Aronimink GC may not have hosted the PGA Championship in 1962. Aronimink is now scheduled to host the PGA Championship in 2026.

July 12, 2020 3

Aronimink GC’s pro in 1899 was the USA’s first African American golf professional!

“DID YOU KNOW”
Aronimink GC’s pro in 1899 was the USA’s first African American golf professional!

John Matthew Shippen, Jr. was born in Washington D.C. on December 2, 1879. His father John Sr., was born into slavery in Virginia. When the Civil War ended he was a free man. He moved to D.C. and attended Howard University. Upon graduation he became an Episcopalian minister. In 1888 the church sent John Sr., his African American wife and children to the far end of Long Island to bring Christianity to the Shinnecock Indians.

The Shinnecock Hills Golf Club opened in 1891 and the golfers needed caddies. John and his brother Cyrus along with some of the Indian boys became caddies and some learned to play the game.

By 1896, with the US Open scheduled for Shinnecock Hills, 16 year old John Shippen was being proclaimed in newspapers around the USA. It was written that he was a long straight driver and could play all the shots. He was the holder of the Shinnecock Hills course record, having lowered the number set by then Shinnecock professional Willie Dunn, by six strokes. Dunn had given Shippen pointers on how to play the game.

When the 1896 US Open rolled around in July, Shippen was paired with Charles Blair MacDonald, 1895 US Amateur champion. Oscar Bunn, one of the Shinnecock Indian caddies was also entered. Some of the Shinnecock members paid their entry fees. When the British born professionals learned there was a black golfer entered they produced a signed petition, refusing to play. USGA President Theodore Havemeyer stated that there would be a tournament even if only Shippen and Bunn were in the field. The protesting players decided to play.

The tournament, one day of 36 holes, was won by James Foulis, a Scotland-born professional from Chicago with rounds of 78 and 74 for 152. Despite poor putting, Shippen posted a 78 in his morning round. In the afternoon he took 11 strokes on the 13^th hole when his tee shot ended up on a sandy road, where it took several strokes for him to escape. He finished with an 81 for 159 and a tie for sixth and last money. Some years later he said the hole was an easy par four, but his drive was a little too far to the right.

After working as the professional at Maidstone Golf Club, Shippen became the professional at Aronimink Golf Club in 1899, for that one year. His brother Cyrus was his assistant. At times his employers, to justify his employment, would say that he was not a black man but of English/Indian decent. It was said and written that Shippen was related to John Raife on his father’s side and Pocahontas on his mother’s side, which was far from realty. Shippen himself had registered for that 1896 US Open as a Shinnecock Indian, to avoid problems. In later years in an interview with his daughter, she said her father was 100 percent black.

As the professional at Aronimink, Shippen finished third in a driving contest at the 1899 US Open. He played in six US Opens, tying for 5th in 1902 along with his tie for 6th in 1896.

For many years Shippen was the professional and course supervisor at the Shady Rest Golf & Country Club in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. It was later Scotch Hills Country Club. In 1991 the John Shippen Foundation was created to offer golf instruction and competition for young minority golfers.

July 3, 2020 3