“Did You Know”
It took thirteen days for Sam Snead to win the L.A. Open over Ben Hogan!

It was late 1949. The PGA Tour would soon be kicking off a new year in January with the 24th annual Los Angeles Open at the 7,020-yard Riviera Country Club. With prize money of $15,000, only two tournaments offered larger purses that year-the PGA Championship and World Championship of Golf at Tam O’Shanter in Chicago.

Ben Hogan, who had won the 1948 US Open and the L.A. Open three times, all at Riviera CC, was home in Fort Worth, Texas recovering from a nearly fatal automobile accident. Even though his doctors had expressed doubt as to whether Hogan would play golf again, late in the year there was word “on the street” that Hogan had played a few holes.

On December 11 a Fort Worth newspaper reported that Hogan had been at Colonial CC and played 18 holes for the first time in ten months. Not walking, he rode a motor scooter. Hogan would only say “I didn’t hit them very well.” On December 15 the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce, sponsor of the L.A. Open, announced that it had invited Hogan to come to Los Angeles and referee the tournament.

Hogan walked 18 holes on December 20. He said, “I’m a mighty lucky guy.” Now weighing 155 pounds, which was 15 more than usual, he said he needed to lose some weight, which was something new for him. He said he might go to California to watch the L.A. Open and Bing Crosby tournament to get out of the bad weather in Fort Worth. Hogan said he thought he might be able to play some PGA Tour tournaments again sometime, but never 36 holes in one day. Hogan said one thing was sure he was not going to enter tournaments and shoot in the eighties.

The Hogans boarded a train for Los Angeles on December 28. Hogan filed his entry for the L.A. Open on Friday December 30, the last day to enter. The entry fee was $15, $1 for every $1,000 in the purse.

For six straight days Hogan played Riviera CC before taking Thursday off. At one point he said he was surprised by how well he was playing. The L.A. Open was scheduled to begin on Friday, January 6-with a Monday finish. 125 players would be in the starting field. Fifty were exempt, with 350 more golfers competing on Tuesday in 36-hole sessions at eight golf courses for the other 75 spots.

When the tournament began Hogan demanded that photographers not be allowed to take pictures of him during the round. He said cameras made him jumpy. Hogan felt that due to the circumstances more photographers would be following him than all the other players. The cameramen objected strenuously. Later Hogan agreed to be photographed, but only when he wasn’t playing a shot, which the photographers considered a ridicules request. A sign “No Cameras Please” traveled the golf course with Hogan.

On Friday the starter on the first tee introduced Hogan from Fort Worth, Texas. Hogan interrupted the starter, saying I’m from Hershey, Pennsylvania. Ed Furgol, who had to qualify on Tuesday, took the first-round lead with a 68. Hogan was around in 73 strokes. On Saturday Jerry Barber (69-68=137), who had also qualified on Tuesday, took a two-stroke lead over the rest of the field. Later that year Barber would win the Pennsylvania Open as the professional at the Cedarbrook Country Club near Philadelphia. Hogan, with a second round 69, was five back at 142.

Rain arrived on Sunday. As the day wore on conditions became so bad Hogan putted with his pitching wedge on one green. At one point Hogan said that he was crazy to be out there. Finally with Hogan on the 11th hole and facing a flooded fairway from a barranca filled with rainwater, someone was sent to the clubhouse for help. After a 20 minute wait an official arrived at the 11th hole and play was stopped. Some pros felt like the tournament, which was run by the L.A. Junior Chamber of Commerce rather than pay the PGA its $1,500 management fee, might have been handled better on Sunday.  The consensus was that play should have been halted at noon rather than 4:15. Sam Snead, Cary Middlecoff and Jimmy Demaret had walked off the course before play was stopped. Snead said that the Junior Chamber of Commerce could jump in the lake that used to be a golf course. All scores for the day were wiped so any disqualifying of Snead, Middlecoff and Demaret was negated as well.

Teeing off earlier than many of the leaders, Jerry Barber had posted a 73, while missing the worst of the bad conditions. At three under par 210, he would have had an insurmountable lead going into the last round. Hogan, who was doing the best of the other leaders, was four over par. With no gallery ropes along the fairways in those days, the leaders were spread out through the starting times for spectator management.

On Monday Barber tacked on a 72, to maintain his lead at 209, but Hogan was only two strokes back after a second consecutive 69. Barber fell away on Tuesday, while Hogan put together a third 69 for 280, which looked like the winning score. But the tournament wasn’t over. Sam Snead, playing six holes behind Hogan, was going low. At three under par for the day Snead needed two birdies to catch Hogan. With a chip and a 12-foot putt, Snead birdied the par five 17th hole, to get one of his needed birdies. His second shot on 18 finished 16 feet above and to the left of the hole. From there Snead put the Hogan victory party on hold by holing the putt for a 66, which put him in a tie with Hogan at 280.

In the locker room Hogan could hear the roar of the crown at the 18th green. He said Snead deserved to win and he wished Snead had. After five days of tournament golf his legs were tired. The Chamber of Commerce announced that an 18-hole playoff would be held the next day.

Dr. Cary Middlecoff, the golfing dentist, who said he knew something about medicine, called Hogan’s golf a near miracle.

On Wednesday rain returned to the usually sunny southern California. Fifteen minutes before play was to begin, the playoff was called off at the behest of Snead and Hogan and rescheduled for the next Wednesday. Hogan said, maybe they should play in Texas where it never rains.

From there Hogan and Snead left for Pebble Beach and the three-day Crosby Pro-Am. Snead finished in a 4-way tie for first at 214. There was no playoff.  Hogan played and took 223 stokes, tying for 20th and out of the money.

On Tuesday Hogan played a practice round at Riviera CC while Snead was playing Lakewood Country Club in preparation for the Long Beach Open, which was starting on Thursday.

On Wednesday January 18, twelve days after they teed off in the first round, Hogan and Snead played off for the L.A. title. Snead won the playoff, with a 72 against a 76 for Hogan. Snead received a check for $2,600 while Hogan was picking up $1,900. Along with that Snead and Hogan shared 50 percent of the playoff receipts garnered from the 7,500 spectators. The playoff was broadcast stroke-by-stroke across the country on radio. Thirty minutes was aired on television that evening and sold to stations throughout the country.

Hogan skipped Long Beach where he was the defending champion. Then he played at Phoenix where the tournament had been renamed the Ben Hogan Open for that year. Demaret won while Hogan tied for 20th, winning last money. Hogan didn’t enter another tournament until the Masters in April where he finished tied for fourth.

Later in the year Hogan won the US Open at Merion Golf Club with its 36-hole Saturday finish and then an 18-hole playoff the next day, 90 holes in four days.

Much to the bewilderment of Snead, in December Hogan was voted the PGA Player of the Year, even though Hogan won two times while Snead was winning eleven times. Other than the US Open, Hogan won Sam Snead’s tournament at the Greenbrier Resort. Of the 173 sportswriters and broadcasters voting, Hogan received 112 of the votes.

“Did You Know”
Sam Snead is owed one more victory by the PGA Tour!

The PGA Tour gives Sam Snead credit for 82 victories during his career. Often Snead would say that he was owed more wins by the PGA Tour, and he probably had a case for at least one more.

After holding a position as the playing professional at Pennsylvania’s Shawnee Inn and serving in the US Navy during World War II, Sam Snead returned to The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia as its head professional. In 1948 The Greenbrier began hosting a golf tournament that ran through 1961. The tournament became known as the Sam Snead Festival. Many of the leading PGA Tour professionals played in those tournaments. England’s Henry Cotton, Cary Middlecoff and Ben Hogan won the first three. Bobby Locke, Peter Thomson, Porky Oliver, Dutch Harrison, George Fazio, Al Besselink and Skee Riegel, along with other big names played there. The $7,500 to $10,000 in prize money over the years, was up to PGA standards, but the number of entries was limited. The first year there were 13 professionals teaming up with 39 amateurs in a pro-am format. Later there were as many as 62 golf professionals paired with 62 amateurs in the tournament. On the way to his 1959 win, Snead shot a 59 in the third round. Snead won the tournament six times, but they were not co-sponsored PGA tournaments, so the PGA did not credit Snead with those six victories, or his 59.

One could make a case either way for Snead’s wins at his tournament, but then there is the 1949 North and South Open.

The PGA of America and later the PGA Tour still don’t give Snead credit for winning the 1949 North and South Open. First held in 1902, for nearly fifty years it was one of the most important tournaments of the year. Held in late March for most of its years, the tournament was a favorite of the golf professionals. Until the late 1940s, even the best playing professionals had employment in the North during summer and the South during the winter season. In March they would be heading north for their summer employment, so the North and South Open was a perfect stopover. It was a chance to play in a great golf tournament on a great golf course and talk with other golf professionals about what was happening in the golf business. During tournament week, the Pinehurst Resort, which owned the Carolina Hotel, charged the golf professionals $1 for a room that included breakfast and dinner. Later the professionals paid $5. Through the Great Depression and World War II the Pinehurst Resort sponsored the tournament for 50 consecutive years.    

With the end of World War II, the United States was prosperous again and golf boomed. The PGA of America decided to boost the purses on its PGA Tour. In late 1946 the tournament sponsors were informed that a minimum of $10,000 was required to be on the schedule as an official tournament for 1947. For three years, 1947, 1948 and 1949, the North and South Open was played with total prize money of $7,500, as unofficial PGA tournaments.

Being unofficial didn’t hamper the 1949 tournament. 118 players who were not exempt filed entries to play in Monday qualifying for 50 spots in the tournament.  60 players were exempt. Sam Snead won the tournament against a strong field. Johnny Bulla and Cary Middlecoff finished second and third. Snead took home $1,500 from the $7,500 purse. Philadelphia’s Skee Riegel, who turned pro soon after the tournament, was the low amateur.

Then in 1950 and 1951, with total prize money still $7,500 like the previous three years, the tournament was again official, with the winner and the money recognized then and still, in the yearly records. Could the change in official status of the North and South Open come about because the Pinehurst Resort had agreed to host the 1951 Ryder Cup? In 1950 Snead successfully defended his title at the North and South Open, which he is credited for. Snead won a total of times that year, but Ben Hogan was the PGA Player of the Year. On returning from his near fatal automobile accident Hogan had won twice that year, the 1950 US Open and the Sam Snead Festival.

The 1951 North and South Open was played a few days after the Ryder Cup was wrapped up at Pinehurst.  Only five members of the US Ryder Cup, which included Playing Captain Sam Snead who was on hand to defend his title from 1949, stayed over to play in the tournament. All nine members of the British Ryder team played in the tournament. Tommy Bolt, who was not on the US team won. After that, there were no more North and South Opens.

In 1988, PGA Tour commissioner Dean Beman decided that a list of all-time wins by United States playing professionals should be created. A panel of golf executives and golf writers met at the 1989 Masters tournament. The panel was presented with a list of tournaments beginning with 1916 when the PGA of America was formed. The Philadelphia Opens from 1917 to 1939, which were all 72 holes, were on the list. The United States Amateur Championships were not included. The 1947, 48 and 49 North and South Opens were not on the list. Their assignment was to decide which U.S. professional tournaments would be deemed official, based on strength of field.  

As a result of the conclave’s meeting, Sam Snead was number one with 81 wins. Later when the PGA Tour made the British Opens part of the official PGA Tour schedule, Snead’s 1946 British Open victory was recognized, giving him 82 wins.

In the late 1990’s Tiger Woods arrived in professional golf and compiled a total of 82 PGA Tour wins.

It may be good for golf that Snead and Woods, two of golf’s greatest players, are tied for the most PGA Tour victories with 82 apiece. For years to come golf enthusiasts can argue over who was the greatest American golfer, including Nicklaus, Hogan, Nelson, Hagen, Jones and on-and-on.

With his 1949 North and South Open victory, it seems like Sam Snead should certainly be credited with one more PGA Tour win. 

“Did You Know”
US golf pros played an international match 14 years before the first Ryder Cup!

At the United States Golf Association’s annual meeting in early 1913, it was decided to move the US Open, which had been scheduled for June, to September. This change might encourage some of the leading golf professionals from Great Britain and France to make the voyage to the states for our Open. Along with that American professionals could play in The Open, which Americans call the British Open. The Open was scheduled for June.

At that same meeting the USGA accepted an invitation from the Federation Francaise de Golf, to send a team of golf professionals to France to play a match against French golf professionals. French golf was on the rise. The USGA agreed to send a four-man team. This was to be done with no expense to the USGA. It was expected that friends of the professionals would assist with their expenses.

Three homebred American professionals–Johnny McDermott, Tom McNamara and Mike Brady, were selected, with one more to be decided. While there, they would play in The Open before heading to France for the challenge match. Later, Alex Smith, a transplanted Scottish professional who was the professional at Wykagyl CC in Westchester County, New York, was chosen to fill out the four-man team. McDermott and Smith had won the last three US Opens. 

After McDermott won the 1911 US Open, A.W. Tillinghast and George Crump, had collected $300 from their fellow amateurs for McDermott to make the voyage to Europe for the 1912 British Open. They had also presented McDermott with a gold watch and gold chain.

At the 1912 British Open McDermott had failed to qualify by three strokes in what a newspaper described as half-gale winds. McDermott’s biggest problem was putting, with the roll of the smaller British golf ball more affected by imperfections on the greens. One week later, McDermott had a fifth-place finish in the French Open.

Now, having won the US Open for a second straight year in 1912, McDermott was ready to make another attempt at The Open. McDermott may have received some financial help but by now he didn’t need much. He had tournament money, fees from exhibitions and wealthy people were paying money, just to play golf with him.

To ensure his success abroad this time McDermott left early, giving himself every opportunity to acclimate himself to the British weather. He boarded a steamship in New York on May 20 for the voyage which could take ten days. The Open was scheduled for June 24-25, at Hoylake, England, with qualifying the week before.

Tom McNamara and Mike Brady left later than McDermott. Before leaving they played in their home state’s Massachusetts Open, which ended in a tie between McNamara and Brady. So another day was needed for an 18-hole playoff which McNamara won.

McNamara and Brady may have decided to play in the Massachusetts Open because the Massachusetts Golf Association was helping with their expenses for their overseas excursion. Two days later on May 24, they set sail from New York. 

Upon their arrival in Scotland, the American champion golfers were greeted with great interest. Along with McDermott having won the previous two US Opens, McNamara had finished second in two US Opens and was the current Metropolitan Open champion. Brady had lost to McDermott in a playoff for the 1911 US Open. There were invitations to play at many golf clubs along with opportunities for paid exhibitions. 

The American professionals had to be careful not to accept too many invitations. Time was needed for practice and rest. Also practice with the smaller English golf ball was important. A player did not have to play the smaller ball but playing it was necessary to compete on the wind-whipped golf courses near the coasts of Scotland and England. In some conditions the smaller ball went 20 yards farther than the larger American ball. Also putting with the smaller British golf ball was a challenge.   

There were 269 entries for The Open. Everyone, including the defending champion, had to pass a 36-hole qualifying test. There were three 36-hole sessions with the entries divided into thirds. In each session the low 20 and ties qualified for the starting field in the tournament. McDermott drew the first day, June 19. Playing in a driving rainstorm, McDermott passed the qualifying test, but only by one stroke. From the 90 players competing that day, only seven stokes separated the first and last successful qualifiers. McNamara successfully qualified on the third day, but Brady failed to qualify along with four other visiting American professionals who had been born in the British Isles.

With that, Johnny McDermott and Tom McNamara would be the first Americans to play in a British Open.

The Open was played at Royal Liverpool Golf Club with 36 holes a day for two days. On Sunday, the day before the start of the competition, the golf course was closed to all play. The weather had been unusually hot and the forecast was good. Then during the tournament on Monday and Tuesday, June 23 and 24, the weather was about as bad as it could be. On the first day the greens were flooded from rain that began during the night and continued throughout the day. The second day presented gale force winds and drenching rain at times. McDermott had his moments. An opening round 75 was just two strokes off the lead, but an afternoon 80 set him back. On the second day McDermott was one under fours for the first seven holes and after nine holes only three strokes off the lead. But, with problems on the second nine his total for the round was 77. With a final round 83 McDermott tied for fifth, winning seven pounds and ten shillings. With a compact swing, J.H. Taylor had the right golf game for the elements. His 304 total made him the winner of The Open for a fifth time, this one by eight strokes. But, if not for having holed a six-foot putt on the final green of qualifying, Taylor would not have even been in the tournament.

Now the US team of McDermott, McNamara, Brady and Smith were off to France for what the press was calling the Franco-American contest, USA versus France. Smith was the captain and McDermott played number one. The challenge match was played on the La Boulie Golf Links near Versailles on the last day of June and the first day of July. On day one there were two 36-hole four-ball matches. The McDermott/McNamara team lost 3&2 and the Smith/Brady team lost 3&2. Day two was 36-hole singles. At the lunch break McDermott had a lead of two holes, but with putting problems in the p.m., lost 3&2. The Americans lost all four matches, ending up with 0 points to 6 for France. The Americans thought they played well, but the French knew the golf course and played better. Only McDermott had played the golf course before, finishing fifth there in the 1912 French Open.

In September 1913, with some of Europe’s great golf professionals competing in the tournament, Francis Ouimet, an American amateur, won the US Open. It would be nine years before an American, Walter Hagen, would win The Open.

“Did You Know”
Only six golf professionals made expenses on the 1938 Winter Tour!

The 1938 PGA Winter Tour began with tournaments in Florida and the Bahamas in late December 1937. From there the Tour leap froged the country to the west coast, then back through Texas to Florida again, and from there up the eastern seaboard to North Carolina. Now at its last stop, the Winter Tour was in Augusta, Georgia for the fifth running of the Masters Tournament.

While meeting with the golf writers at Augusta, PGA Tour Manager Fred Corcoran stated that only six golf professionals had won enough money to cover their expenses that winter. Corcoran said that Byron Nelson had started out on December 1 with $1,500 in travelers’ checks thinking he would play as long as that lasted. As of the end of March, Nelson had spent $2,000, winning $2,280 and he was not known to toss any money away. The leading money winner was Johnny Revolta, with $4,390.83. Seventy-five players had lost money, with 20 having borrowed money from Corcoran in order to keep playing. The average professional spent $75 a week. Augusta was an exception for those who had an invite. There was no entry fee, and the players were housed at the swanky Bon-Air hotel with breakfast and dinner for only $5 a day. Still the total purse was only $4,950.

There were a few lucrative tournaments like Miami’s $10,000 and Los Angeles’ $8,000, but most were less than $5,000, and many were only $3,000. Corcoran said that he had to twist the arm of the Bahamas tournament sponsor to boost the prize money up to $3,500. He said the operator of the boat that transported the professionals to the island made out better than they did. Corcoran calculated that prize money on the 17-event winter tour totaled $85,000 and the professionals had spent about $160,000 playing the tour. Tommy Armour said that if he was the commissioner of the PGA Tour, the minimum purse would be $25,000.     

Corcoran was in his second year as the manager of the PGA Tour. Before Corcoran, Bob Harlow held the position. Harlow was more of a publicity man than promoter. He was a newspaper man who switched over to managing Walter Hagen’s exhibition tours until the Great Depression slowed all businesses. In late 1933 the PGA hired Harlow to organize and manage its fledging tour that followed the sun back and forth across the country. Harlow, whose pay was said to be meager, was writing a weekly newspaper article and managing some of the professionals on the side. In late 1936 he was fired by PGA President George Jacobus, who felt that Harlow was not giving his full attention to his position with the PGA. The professionals liked Harlow and complained to the PGA when he was relieved of his duties. From there Harlow moved to Pinehurst, North Carolina to be a publicity man for the Pinehurst resort. In 1947 he founded, Golf World, a weekly golf magazine that had a very successful 67-year run.  

Corcoran was a born promoter. Nearly every day of the week the PGA Tour and its playing professionals were mentioned in the newspapers. In an interview at Augusta, Corcoran stated there would be an increase in the 1939 purses. He said that he was receiving many requests to hold PGA Tour tournaments. To be assured of a date on the PGA Tour schedule, a sponsor would have to put up at least $5,000. He said that he was going to schedule the tournaments nearer each other geographically to save on travel expenses. Corcoran cited Harry Cooper, the leading money winner in 1937, who put 40,000 miles on his automobile and spent $10,000 to win $14,138.

Because he managed some professionals like Sam Snead on the side he was thought to show favoritism. More than once he was punched in the nose by a player.  Corcoran was fired and rehired several times by the PGA, but he was the best man for the job, lasting until 1948. It was Corcoran who saw the benefit of connecting the tournaments to a charity. Local businesses got on board and individuals gave their time to help manage the event. During World War II Corcoran managed charity golf events for the Red Cross. Later he helped found the LPGA. He managed golf events and golf tours along with the financial affairs of many professional athletes. Corcoran escorted professional golfers to 48 countries.

After the Masters, which Henry Picard won, the professionals all headed off to their club professional positions where they were assured a reliable remuneration. Picard was at Hershey CC, Nelson at Reading CC, and Snead the Greenbrier along with Cooper in Massachusetts and Revolta in Chicago.

It would not be until the early 1950s that golf professionals could make a living playing the PGA Tour. Then televised sports arrived in the 1960s and everything changed.

“Did You Know!”
The First Great Black Golfer was Bobby Jones’ Caddy Master!

Howard “Butch” Wheeler was born in Atlanta in 1911. He left school after the sixth grade to become a caddy at Atlanta’s Brookhaven Country Club, where he began playing golf. With limited access to left-handed golf clubs Wheeler played golf right-handed with his left hand on the grip below his right hand in an interlocking grip. This was called a cross-handed grip, which at that time was not uncommon for left-handed men. Wheeler was a beanpole, six-foot-two-inches and so slender that one man said, “Wheeler’s back pockets nearly touched”. As a teenage caddy at Brookhaven, Wheeler’s golf game began to blossom. When Bobby Jones would play at Brookhaven, Wheeler was said to be his favorite caddy.

Before the 1960’s, in the USA, access to golf tournaments for Black golfers was nearly nonexistent.  To play in a USGA championship one had to be a member of a USGA member club, and those clubs rarely had Black members. The PGA shunned Black golf professionals, and in 1934 inserted a clause in its constitution barring non-Caucasian membership.

Even with limited opportunities Black people learned to play golf, and some were playing well. Looking for a way to compete with other Black golfers an organization called United Golfers Association was formed. Tournaments were played during the year at various locations. The UGA’s first championship was held in 1925. Their championship became known as the Negro National Championship.  For some years after World War II; heavyweight boxing champion, Joe Louis, ran a tournament in Detroit.

Before Wheeler there was another Black Atlanta golfer named Robert “Pat” Ball, who had caddied for Jones as well. Ball won two of the first five Negro National Championships, along with two more in later years. By the mid 1920’s he had moved to Chicago and was operating a miniature golf facility in the city. Even though Ball was winning on the NGA Tour, he had not turned pro. In August of 1928, Ball and two other Black golfers were entered the USGA’s Public Links Championship, which was being played at Cobbs Creek Golf Club in Philadelphia. After playing 36 holes, Ball and one of the other Black men had successfully qualified for the match play rounds. They were then disqualified on “made up” violations of the rules during qualifying. A lawyer came to their assistance, obtaining a temporary injunction which prevented the tournament from proceeding. The USGA threatened to move the remaining rounds to New Jersey. Having won their objection and seeing they were not welcome, Ball and the other man simply withdrew. This event was supposed to be the USGA’s championship for amateurs who did not belong to USGA member clubs.

At the age of 20 and playing in his first professional tournament, Wheeler won the UGA’s 1931 Atlanta Open. About that time Wheeler became the caddy master at East Lake Country Club. In 1933 he won the UGA’s Southern Open. In late August, with the financial help of some Atlanta golfers, Wheeler and six other Black golfers left Atlanta for Illinois to play in the NGA Championship.  At the same time the World’s Fair was in progress in Chicago. Wheeler won the 72-hole tournament and $100 first prize by three strokes.

Wheeler resigned as the East Lake caddy master to play the UGA circuit. When he wasn’t playing tournaments, he could always return to caddying or part time caddy master employment in Atlanta.

Wheeler met bandleader Eddie Mallory at a UGA tournament, and in the late 1930’s Mallory hired Wheeler as a chauffeur for his wife and entertainer Ethel Waters. That year Wheeler won the UGA championship for a second time, setting a tournament record. One snowy night near Boston, Wheeler was involved in a three-car accident. No one was injured, but Wheeler moved to Los Angeles, where it didn’t snow, and he could play golf every day.

Not long after Wheeler had moved to L.A., Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in late 1941 and the United States was embroiled in World War II. Tournaments on the PGA Tour continued for some months. One was George S. May’s 1942 Tam O’Shanter Open in Chicago. May was a promoter. If daily tickets hadn’t sold, he would send agents into the streets of Chicago to give out free passes. May invited the Black golfers to enter the qualifying round for his tournament and he made Wheeler exempt from qualifying. Earlier in the summer Black golfers had been barred from playing in the Hale America Open, which had been in Chicago.

Wheeler was able to participate, just before reporting to the US Army. In the practice rounds Wheeler drew the largest following, an estimated 2,000 spectators each day. He teed his golf ball on match boxes and hit prodigious drives that carried over 250 yards. Wheeler made the cut with ease, but missed the money as 30 professionals won money.

From July 1942 to July 1946 Wheeler was in the US Army. The US armed services had been desegregated in 1942, but that was not adhered to in many situations like recreation facilities, and especially military golf courses. Most professional athletes were discharged in 1945 as the war was winding down, but Wheeler was in a year longer.   

With his US Army commitment nearing its end, Wheeler played in George S. May’s tournament in July 1946, missing the cut. Soon after that he was discharged from Fort Eustis, Virginia with the rank of Corporal. It had been four years without competitive golf and little golf of any kind. In September he won the UGA Championship for a third time.

After leaving the US Army Wheeler moved to Philadelphia. There may have been a lady involved. Richie Harris, a Philadelphia Black golfer and a great golf collector said, when he was young he would babysit Wheeler’s stepdaughter.

Wheeler found a home at Philadelphia owned Cobbs Creek GC, which was open to the public. There was a steady supply of money games with Black and White golfers. In 1947 he won another NGA Championship, this one at Cobbs Creek. He won it again in 1948, for three straight, and then one more in 1958, at the age of 47. That made it six NGA Championships, later equaled by Wheeler’s protégé Charlie Sifford.  

The golfers at Cobbs Creek had formed clubs and owned offsite houses. Wheeler joined the Fairview Club. Other clubs were Quaker City, Tioga and Green Ladies. Playing out of the Fairview Club, Wheeler qualified for the 1950 US Open at Merion GC and the 1951 US Open at Oakland Hills near Detroit.

In 1955 and 1956 the PGA Tour was in Philadelphia for the Daily News Opens at Cobbs Creek GC. Wheeler qualified and made the cut both years, but with only 30 money spots he missed the money.  Cobbs Creek’s Charlie Sifford showed his capability by finishing tied for eighth in 1956.

If given the opportunity, Wheeler may have been successful on the PGA Tour like Charlie Sifford, who came after him with a similar record. It would have been interesting.

“Did You Know”
The 1923 US Open was a marathon!

In the second week of July 1923, 360 golf professionals and amateurs came together at the Inwood Country Club on Long Island, New York for the United States Open. It was, by far, the largest entry in the history of the US Open. It was quite a commitment to travel from the western states without being assured a place in the tournament and only 12 money prizes to play for.   

In order to pare down the large number of entries for the championship, the USGA scheduled four days of qualifying. The players were divided into four groups of ninety. Each day, for four days, ninety players played 36 holes, with the low 18 and ties, qualifying for the championship. Even the defending champion, Gene Sarazen, had to qualify.

There was a match between East and the West teams on Saturday to lead off the tournament week. Led by Sarazen and Walter Hagen, the East team defeated the West team 9 to 3. Golf professionals west of Pennsylvania were on the West team. Emmett French, who had grown up working in the locker room at Merion Golf Club and was now working in Youngstown, Ohio, was on the West team.

The following day 200 players were on the course for practice rounds.

The first segment of 90 entries played their 36-hole qualifier on Monday. The defending champion was given the benefit of being in the first day’s pairings. That game him three days of rest before the first day of the tournament. Sarazen stepped right up, playing the two rounds in 148 strokes, which was four better than anyone else that day.

Tuesday was day two of qualifying. Joe Kirkwood, who had recently arrived from Australia, was going along nicely until he made a bogey on the 9th hole. On the 10th hole his second shot clipped a limb and the golf ball ended up under a ten-foot-high wire out-of-bounds fence. But, part of the ball was still inbounds. Kirkwood climbed a tree near the fence and then lowered himself to the ground from a limb. He banged the ball back in play. Then he hitched an automobile ride back to the club’s entrance which was near the 10th tee. His fourth shot reached the green and he holed the putt for a bogey. Kirkwood finished the round in 70 strokes. With a 74 in the afternoon for 144, he finished ten strokes lower that anyone else that day. No one shot lower than 70 that week and there was only one other 70.

On Wednesday Macdonald Smith, who had traveled east from San Francisco, was low at 150, and the next day Jim Barnes and Johnny Farrell were low, also with 150s.

On Friday the first 36 holes of the championship were played. At the end of the day many of the favorites, like Sarazen and Hagen, were already out of contention. Jock Hutchison held the lead at 142. While others were faltering during Saturday’s final 36 holes, a 21-year-old amateur, named Bobby Jones was going along without problems until his last three holes.  Jones finished bogey-bogey-double bogey, for a 76 to go with a morning 76. Still, he appeared to be the winner with a total of 296. Teeing off 90 minutes later than Jones in the last round, Bobby Cruickshank caught fire, playing seven holes on the front nine in 22 strokes. He stood on the 16th tee needing three pars to win. A double bogey on the 16th hole seemed to end his chances, but he finished with a par and a birdie to tie Jones. He had played the last two holes in four strokes less than Jones. Hutchison was third, six strokes back. Lancaster Country Club’s professional Cyril Hughes finished 11th.  

In deference to church services, the 18-hole playoff didn’t begin until Sunday afternoon. Cruickshank had faced far more challenging situations. During World War I he had suffered shrapnel wounds and had seen his brother die right next to him from the shrapnel. Cruickshank later rejoined the conflict and would then spend eight months in a German prison camp, before escaping and rejoining his regiment. But victory was not to be for the Scotsman, who was now a professional in New Jersey. All even with Jones on the 18th tee, Cruickshank hooked his drive into heavy rough, laid up short of a pond with his second, and hooked his third into a greenside bunker, making a six. Jones won, 76 to 78. It was Jones’ first of many major titles.     

After nine days in the middle of July, probably more with early practice rounds, the Inwood CC members got their course back. The USGA had decreed that the playoff, if still tied after the 18 holes, would not go into a second day, but be decided by sudden death.

The following year qualifying for the US Open was held before the tournament at two off site locations-one in the East at Worcester, Massachusetts and one in the West near Chicago, Illinois.

“DID YOU KNOW”

For three straight years the two-day Shawnee Open went 90 holes!

In the early 1900’s, the grand resort hotels played an important role in American golf. In 1910 Charles Campbell Worthington began building a 90-room hotel in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. He engaged one of Philadelphia’s leading amateur golfers, A.W. Tillinghast, to lay out a golf course on the property. Called Shawnee Country Club, it was Tillinghast’s first of many.

Between 1912 and 1937 Worthington hosted and sponsored 20 Shawnee Opens which, were won by the United States’ greatest golf professionals. Worthington always scheduled his Shawnee Opens close to the time other major tournaments were being played in the northeast.

For three straight years, 90 holes of golf were played in two days to determine a Shawnee Open winner.

n mid-July 1923, the eleventh Shawnee Open was played right after the US Open ended on Long Island. The US Open finished on a Saturday, and Shawnee began on the following Monday. Except for the US Open, the Shawnee Open was now regarded as the most important tournament in the eastern United States. Like all Shawnee Opens, this one was scheduled for two days and 72 holes. Par was (38-36) 74. On the first day Atlantic City CC professional Clarence Hackney held the lead at 141, with Gene Sarazen four strokes back in second place. On day two Harry Hampton, who had just played 72 holes at the US Open and now 72 holes at the Shawnee Open in six days, came to the last hole with a two-stroke lead, only to make a bogey four while New York’s George McLean was making a two. With the two professionals being tied at eight under par 288, the tournament committee decreed that there would be an 18-hole playoff that same day to determine a winner. As he had not qualified for the US Open, McLean was more rested. In the shadow of the Buckwood Mountains they completed their third eighteen of the day with McLean besting Hampton 74 to 76 as darkness closed in. Hackney and Sarazen ended up in third and fourth place. Hampton, who was working in Detroit, would be Hackney’s teaching professional at Atlantic City four years later. First prize was $700, which was $200 more than first place money had been at the US Open earlier that year.

The 1924 Shawnee Open kicked off three days after the Metropolitan Open ended in New York. Again, it was scheduled for 72 holes in two days. The players got a break as the high temperature in the Poconos for the two days was in the low 70’s. In a tightly contested tournament, Joe Kirkwood, who was living in Glenside, Pennsylvania and a member at Cedarbrook Country Club, led the first day, at 143. The second day Detroit’s Leo Diegel and Chicago’s Willie Macfarlane ended up in a tie for first at nine under par 287. As in 1923, the tournament officials sent them back out for an 18-hole playoff. Macfarlane said it wasn’t fair as Diegel was the best twilight golfer in the world. That seemed to be the case. With the sun sinking fast, Diegel put together a 69, which equaled the low round of the tournament, against a 76 for Macfarlane. Kirkwood finished third, one stroke out of the playoff. First prize was $500. In the late 1920s Diegel won the PGA Championship two years in a row, and later was the professional at Philmont Country Club.

The 1925 Shawnee Open was played in mid-July, ending three days before the Metropolitan Open in New York. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that with the exception of the US and British Opens, the starting field of more than 100 entries was the strongest in the history of golf. New York’s Johnny Farrell, winner of the two-day 72-hole Philadelphia Open the previous week, led by one stroke at the end of the first day, at 141. At the end of day two Willie Macfarlane, with a tournament record 283, appeared to be a sure winner. Beginning his final round at 2 p.m., New York’s Willie Kline played his first nine in 39 strokes to trail Macfarlane by five strokes. But then Kline made an eagle three on the tenth hole, which was followed by birdies and pars. He finished his day with a 20-foot curling putt for a birdie two on the 221-yard eighteenth hole. Kline finished with a seven under par 29 on the back nine, and 68 for the round. He had caught Macfarlane, picking up five strokes on the last nine holes. A two under par 34 on the last nine only earned Macfarlane a tie. For a third straight year the Shawnee Open had ended in a tie, and for a third straight year an 18-hole playoff was held that same day. Marathon golf was the norm for golfers of that time. In June that year the US Open, 72 holes in two days, had ended in a tie between Macfarlane and Bobby Jones. Macfarlane had won out over Jones in a 36-hole playoff the next day, but only after 108 holes in three days. One year earlier at Shawnee Macfarlane had lost to Diegel in a marathon playoff and now he was in another one. This time he was the winner with a 71 versus a 75 for Kline. 

In early 1925 the USGA had made steel golf shafts legal for tournament play, and now Macfarlane had won both the US Open and Shawnee playing with steel.  

With blisters on his hands Macfarlane telegraphed his withdrawal from the Metropolitan Open, beginning in two days, and headed home to Chicago. With steel golf shafts being new, the club makers were still learning how to put leather grips on steel shafts. Later cork under-listings were applied to the shafts as shock absorbers.      

William “Willie” “Bill” Kline’s name was often spelled Klein, even in the USGA record books and sometimes both ways in the same newspaper article. Macfarlane was often spelled MacFarlane, with a capital F.

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“DID YOU KNOW”
An amateur golfer saved the Ryder Cup!

First contested in 1927, the Ryder Cup was interrupted by World War II, and postponed twice. With war in Europe and then World War II, there were no meetings of the teams from 1939 to 1946. That could have been the last of the Ryder Cup if not for an amateur from Portland, Oregon.

With the United States at war there were only four tournaments on the PGA Tour in 1943. Byron Nelson and Jug McSpaden, who were judged to be unfit for military service and classified 4-F, were playing exhibitions for wartime charities. At Portland, Oregon they were introduced to Robert A. Hudson, the president of Portland Country Club. Hudson, a fruit grower and canner, asked them how much it would cost to host a Portland Open on the PGA Tour. They replied that there had been tournaments on the 1942 PGA Tour with purses as little as $5,000. Hudson said that he would do better than that.

In 1944 the PGA Tour was back with nearly a full schedule. Hudson sponsored a Portland Open with $13,600 in prize money, which was only second to the $17,500 Philadelphia Inquirer Open that year. In 1945 he sponsored a Portland Open again and raised the prize money to 14,500. The next year Hudson spent $25,000 of his own money hosting the 1946 PGA Championship with $17,950 in prize money. All of the other tournaments on the 1946 PGA Tour were played for less money.

With World War II over, Hudson decided the Ryder Cup should be revived. Hudson contacted the PGA of America to say that his club would host the match and he would provide whatever finances were needed.

Hudson paid the travel expenses for the Great Britain & Irish 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 GB&I Team’s housing, meals and everything else. To help the GB&I professionals make up for lost income while away from home, the PGA of America arranged paid exhibitions.

Hudson’s friends had told him he was crazy to host the Ryder Cup in Portland during what was their rainy season, but he did. Played on November 1 & 2, Portland had record rain in October and it rained for seven straight days leading up to the match. At midday of the first round more deluges of rain arrived. Sunday was a high of 58 degrees with light rain. The players were allowed to lift their golf balls from the wet, but they could not clean them. When dropped over their shoulders, the balls would plug slightly. A member of the GB&I team referred to the golf course as slop. He said that if it was in England they would not have played.

After years of war in Europe the GB&I team was not prepared for “world class” golf. The American Team swept the foursomes (alternate strokes), with Wilmington, Delaware’s Ed Oliver and Lew Worsham winning by 10&9. All matches were 36 holes. With playing-captain Ben Hogan benching himself for the eight singles matches, the GB&I won its lone point. Oliver won his singles match by 4&3. The feature singles match was Sam Snead versus GB&I captain Henry Cotton. It was reported, for the 32 holes the match lasted, neither player spoke to the other one and neither conceded a putt. Two-down after 9 holes, Snead won 5&4. The final score was USA 11-GB&I 1.

Hudson spent another $70,000 hosting that Ryder Cup. At Christmas Hudson sent food baskets to the GB&I team and the PGA officials who had accompanied the team. He continued to do that for many years. He is often referred to as the “The Savior of Ryder Cup” or “Ryder Cup Angel”.

In 1949 the US Team was off to England for the Ryder Cup with its non-playing captain Ben Hogan, who was recovering from his near fatal auto accident. The US team was properly fed. They left New York with 600 steaks, 6 hams, 12 sides of beef and 4 boxes of bacon. No one said it, but everyone assumed the meat was provided by Hudson.

With the 1951 Ryder Cup back in the states at Pinehurst, North Carolina, Hudson, a co-sponsor of the match, paid all of the travel expenses for the GB&I team from the time they arrived in New York to Pinehurst. Four years later he sponsored the 1955 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 for the GB&I team; travel, lodging and meals. Then, Hudson decided that he would like to host the 1959 Ryder Cup at another one of his Palm Springs clubs, the newly opened Eldorado Country Club. Again Hudson paid all expenses for the GB&I Team, including travel from England.

Hudson’s title while with the US Ryder Cup team was, “Ryder Cup Secretary”. In 1951 Hudson was made a vice president to the British PGA, the first American to hold that position.