In 1914 Johnny McDermott had the greatest staff in the USA!

“Did You Know”
In 1914 Johnny McDermott had the greatest staff in the USA!

As the professional at the Atlantic City Country Club in 1914, 22-year-old Johnny McDermott had a full schedule of important tournaments ahead of him. First there was the North and South Open in Pinehurst, North Carolina, and then in June he was off to Scotland for the British Open.  After that he would be defending his titles at the Western and Shawnee Opens. Along with that there was the US Open, Philadelphia Open, Metropolitan Open and exhibitions.

With the summer months being high season in Atlantic City, New Jersey, it was very important that the Atlantic City CC golf shop be covered by skilled golf professionals. Though skilled, they may have been the youngest.

George Griffin, at 21, was in his third year with McDermott at Atlantic City. Joining Griffin on McDermott’s Atlantic City staff that year were Charlie Hoffner, 18, Clarence Hackney, 20, and Tommy Robinson, 24. When the best golf facilities had an assistant professional and a club maker, McDermott had four assistants.

Griffin, a product of the Philadelphia caddy-yards, would go on to win the Philadelphia PGA Championship and the Philadelphia Open, along with being the professional at the Green Valley Country Club in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania for 38 years.

Tommy Robinson had gotten his start in golf as a caddy and apprentice golf pro at the Philadelphia Country Club. Before Atlantic City, Robinson had been employed making golf clubs for the sporting goods store Mitchell & Ness. At Atlantic City he made and repaired clubs. Beginning with 1915 Robinson was either the assistant or head professional at St. Davids Golf Club for 45 years.       

Charlie Hoffner was just beginning to show his potential as a tournament player. Two years before, at the age of 16, he had finished fifth in the Philadelphia Open as an assistant at Bala GC. Later that summer of 1914 Hoffner was with McDermott at the US Open in Chicago. He finished two strokes behind McDermott and in the money, tying for 13th. He went on to win the Philadelphia PGA, Philadelphia Open and Pennsylvania Open. His best showing on the national scene was when he tied for first in the 1916 Metropolitan Open with Walter Hagen and Jim Barnes, only to lose an 18-hole playoff to Hagen. In 1921 he was selected to travel to Scotland with a 12-man team of golf professionals to oppose a team of professionals from Great Britain. The US team lost but it was a forerunner to the Ryder Cup. In later years elder Philadelphia golfers would refer to Hoffner as the “Ryder Cupper”. He was head professional at Philmont Country Club along with five other Philadelphia clubs.

Clarence Hackney had immigrated from Carnoustie, Scotland where he had served his apprenticeship at the Carnoustie Golf Club. He would go on to win the New Jersey Open three consecutive years, along with winning the Philadelphia PGA Championship two times and the Philadelphia Open three times. In 1923, one week after winning the Philadelphia Open by 13 strokes at Pine Valley GC, Hackney won the Canadian Open. He also finished second in the 1920 Western Open and, in 1921 he was a member of the U.S. team with Charlie Hoffner that traveled to Scotland to play the British professionals.

Along with that, McDermott’s caddy, Jack Sawyer, at 28, was the head professional at the Torresdale Golf Club. The first time Sawyer, also a product of the Philadelphia Country Club caddy-yard, saw McDermott hit a golf ball he told him he had a winning future. From then on Sawyer was McDermott’s caddy for all important tournaments. He became McDermott’s advisor and practically his secretary, with a locker at the Atlantic City CC. He was with him at all of the important tournaments like: US Opens, Western Opens, Met Opens, Shawnee Opens, Philadelphia Opens. For 57 years Sawyer was the professional at Torresdale, which later merged with the Frankford GC, becoming Torresdale-Frankford Country Club.

That fall in 1914, McDermott at the age of 23, suffered a nervous breakdown. Hackney was named interim professional and later head professional. Hackney held that position until his untimely death in 1941. All of McDermott’s 1914 staff went on to long and successful careers in golf.