Golf Comes to America

A name known by too few golfers is John Reid. Called “The Father of American golf,” Reid was a transplanted Scot living in Yonkers, New York, in the late 19th century. Reid was a restless fellow who, in his travels abroad, got the notion that golf, the game that had swept Scotland for several hundred years, would be fun and may take hold in America. He asked a friend to purchase a set of clubs and some golf balls while in Scotland and ship them to Yonkers. The clubs arrived (various reports of set make-up, but driver, brassie, 2 or 3 irons, sand iron, and putter were surely included). A few months later, on an unusually mild day in February in 1888, Reid and his friends dug three rudimentary holes in the ground in a cow pasture near Reid’s home, and the very first game of golf was played on American soil!

Future rounds were delayed as winter returned, but in the spring of 1888, Reid and his companions decided it best to form a club for their new leisure-time activity. They named the club, The St. Andrew’s Golf Club (of course) and golf, as we’ve come to know it, was officially introduced to the USA. Soon, the little field in the cow pasture became too confining for the growing club, and they moved to a much larger field a mile or so from the old one. This one was in an apple orchard, and the group became known as “the apple tree gang.” The story goes that they constructed a tent, a scoring/starters table under a big apple tree near the entrance to the field, hence the name.

By this time, other clubs were forming across the country. Newport (Rhode Island), Shinnecock Hills on Long Island in New York, and finally the Chicago Golf Club (still one of the most private clubs in the world) opened the first 18-club in America. Two other claims to the birthplace, Savannah, and Charleston (where some form of golf was likely played as early as the late 18th century) never really took hold enough to gain the homeland status. Historians tell us the War of 1812 likely played a role in this. Be that as it may, the Northeastern clubs mentioned are the pioneers.

One thing is clear: golf, from its very first days, was an expensive game, which is very likely why it remained aloof and largely disregarded. The people who founded the early clubs - John Jacob Astor, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Theodore Havemeyer - were among the wealthiest in the country. The first clubhouse built in America (Shinnecock Hills in New York) was capitalized for $150,000 (over five million dollars today) and of course, only the upper echelon of wealth in the nation could afford to belong and play there. This was a unique aspect of early American golf. The game in Scotland, by contrast, was accessible to virtually everyone. All but a few of the clubs were open to the public and still are. Although public access golf did come to America, it took a good while. In fact, it was not until the mid-20th century that it really got any traction.

Golf equipment was no exception. The original golf balls, known aptly as “featheries,” were very expensive and labor-intensive. A golf ball maker would take a piece of leather, stuff it with a top hat full of feathers and stitch the leather. In a regular eight-hour day, he might make three or four golf balls. To make the situation even worse, these featheries would easily explode (and often did) in mid-flight, creating good business for the pro but costing the public serious cash. Golf has become less expensive, although it remains a quite expensive hobby for many.

The first golf professionals were, predictably, Scottish transplants. Wille Anderson (four-time US Open winner), Willie Dunn, Laurie Auchterlonie, and Harry Vardon won every US Open from 1895-1912. However, in 1913 a young amateur named Francis Ouimet won the US Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, beating the best Scotland (read world) had to offer; none other than the” great triumvirate” of Harry Vardon, Ted Ray, and James Braid. It’s hard to imagine what that might be like today. But let’s say some unknown sophomore beats Tiger Woods in 2005 - that may be a close analogy. On that day, golf became an American sport. It was ripped from the grip of the Scots and announced to the world that Americans, at least a few, could really play their game! This was a sea change in the game.

The next era, the 1920s, brought us the greatest amateur golfer who ever lived - Bobby Jones. Jones single-handedly owned the new era. He won 13 major championships (remember the US Amateur was a major then), including four US Opens, 1923, 26,29, and 1930! And of course, in that final year, Bobby won what was then the Grand Slam of golf: The US and British Opens and the US and British Amateurs! A feat that was never and, of course, never will be repeated. Inexplicably, Jones retired at the ripe age of 28! Simply astonishing! The other great professional who “owned” those early days was the irascible Walter Hagen - the one and only. Stay tuned as I’m going to do a full article on Hagen!

America was now in full bloom on a grand golf scale. The economic prosperity of the twenties provided golfers with the ability to buy equipment, pay green fees, and join clubs. The average golf course went from 5,550 yards to 6,200 yards in 15 years. The number of golfers DOUBLED to over 500,000 between 1920 and 1930. All due to the popularity of our great game.

This concludes the first part on our brief history of golf. Stay tuned for more in future columns!